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Kealakekua Bay, Captain Cook, HI

Photo: Nnachappa64, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & OutdoorsOutdoor AdventureHistory Buff

Kealakekua Bay

Snorkel a protected marine bay and see the white monument marking where Captain Cook was killed in 1779 on the Kona coast.

End of Napoopoo Rd at Napoopoo, Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park · Captain Cook, HI

About Kealakekua Bay

Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island's Kona coast is a Marine Life Conservation District where you can snorkel but not fish, and Hawaiian spinner dolphins often rest here in the morning. Captain James Cook arrived in 1779 and was killed on its shore; a white monument at Ka'awaloa marks the site, reached by the steep Ka'awaloa Trail or a permitted guided kayak tour. At Napoopoo stands Hikiau Heiau, a sacred temple platform you are asked not to climb onto.

  • #snorkeling
  • #kayaking
  • #captain cook monument
  • #marine sanctuary
  • #state historical park

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What's around here?

The closest stops to Kealakekua Bay, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sightseeing

    Kona Coffee Living History Farm

    Under $25

    A self-guided historic coffee farm on the Big Island that shows how Kona's early 20th-century coffee families worked and lived.

    1.1 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden

    Check prices

    A 15-acre biocultural garden in South Kona showing native and Polynesian-introduced plants, plus an ancient Hawaiian agricultural site.

    1.2 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park

    Under $25

    Walk the Royal Grounds and a centuries-old place of refuge guarded by carved wooden kiʻi on the Kona coast.

    3.7 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sightseeing

    Hulihe'e Palace

    Under $25

    A lava rock royal residence on Kailua Bay, built in 1838 and now run as a museum by the Daughters of Hawai'i.

    12 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Kekaha Kai State Park

    Under $25

    A coastal state park on the north Kona side of the Big Island with sandy beaches, a historic shoreline trail, and a cinder cone hike.

    23 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Manuka State Wayside Park

    Check prices

    A roadside state park on Hawaii island with a mix of native and introduced trees, picnic space, and access to a nature trail.

    26 mi awayMore like this

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