Ancient history Settlement on Kealakekua Bay has a long history.
Hikiau Heiau is a
luakini temple of
Ancient Hawaii located at the south end of the bay, at coordinates . Cook recorded the large platform being about high, long, and wide. The sheer cliff face called Ka-pali-poko—a-Manuahi overlooking the bay houses burials of Hawaiian royalty and their accompanied companions and funerary items. The northwestern part of the cliff is called Ka-pali-kapu-o-Keoua. The name means "sacred cliffs of Keōua" in honor of
Keōua Nui. He was sometimes known as the "father of kings" since many rulers were his descendants. The difficulty in accessing the cliff kept the exact burial places secret. The village of
Kaawaloa was at the north end of the bay in ancient times, where the
Puhina O Lono Heiau was built, along with some royal residences. The name of the village means "the distant
Kava", from the medicinal plant used in religious rituals. The name of the bay comes from
ke ala ke kua in the
Hawaiian language which means "the god's pathway". This area was the focus of extensive
Makahiki celebrations.
Captain Cook and Kalaniʻōpuʻu , artist aboard Cook's ship Although there are theories that Spanish or Dutch sailors might have stopped here much earlier, the first documented European to arrive was Captain
James Cook. He and his crews on the
Resolution and
Discovery sighted Kealakekua Bay on the morning of January 17, 1779. He estimated several thousand people lived in the two villages, and many thousand more in the surrounding areas. On January 28, he performed the first
Christian service on the islands, for the funeral of a crew member who had died. Kamehameha won control of the west and north sides of the island, but Keōua escaped. It would take over a decade to consolidate Kamehameha's control. In 1786, merchant ships of the
King George's Sound Company under command of the
maritime fur traders
Nathaniel Portlock and
Captain George Dixon anchored in the harbor, but avoided coming ashore. They had been on Cook's voyage when he was killed by natives. In December 1788, the
Iphigenia under
William Douglas arrived with Chief
Kaiana, who had already traveled to China. The first American ship was probably the
Lady Washington around this time under
Captain John Kendrick. Two sailors, Parson Howel and James Boyd, left the ship (in 1790 or when it returned in 1793) and lived on the island. In 1791 Spanish explorer
Manuel Quimper visited on the ship . He avoided anchoring in Kealakekua Bay, but met some men in canoes who were interested in trading. The common request was for firearms, which Vancouver resisted. One included chief
Kaʻiana, who would later turn against Kamehameha. Vancouver suspected Kaiana intended to seize his ships, so left him behind and headed up the coast. There he was surprised to encounter a Hawaiian who in broken English introduced himself as "Jack", and told of traveling to America on a fur-trading ship. Through him, Vancouver met
Keeaumoku Pāpaiahiahi, who gave him a favorable impression of Kamehameha (his son-in-law). He spent the rest of the winter in
Oahu. ) Vancouver left in March 1793 after visiting the other islands to continue his expedition, and returned again January 13, 1794. He still hoped to broker a truce between Kamehameha and the other islands. His first step was to reconcile Kamehameha with Queen Kaahumanu. He dropped off more cattle and sheep from California, and discovered a cow left the year before had delivered a calf. The
cattle became feral and eventually became pests. They were not controlled until the "Hawaiian cowboys", known as the
paniolo, were recruited. The ship's carpenters instructed the Hawaiians and the British advisers how to build a European-style ship, which they named the
Britania. On February 25, 1794, Vancouver gathered leaders from around the island onto his ship and negotiated a treaty. Although it is sometimes supposed that this treaty "ceded" Hawaii to Great Britain, the British parliament never acted upon it. The wood
Kii carvings were burned, and the temples fell into disrepair. A small Christian church was built in 1824 in Kaawaloa by the
Hawaiian missionaries, and the narrow trail widened to a donkey cart road in the late 1820s, but the population declined due largely to introduced diseases and people shifted to other areas. In 1825,
Admiral Lord Byron (cousin of the famous poet) on the ship erected a monument to Cook and took away many of the old, sacred artifacts. The last royalty known to live here was high chief
Naihe, known as the "national orator," and his wife
Chiefess Kapiolani, early converts to Christianity. In 1829, she was saddened to see that the destruction of the temples included desecrating the bones of her ancestors at the
Puuhonua o Hōnaunau. She removed the remains of the old chiefs and hid them in the
Pali Kapu O Keōua cliffs before ordering this last temple to be destroyed. The bones were later moved to the
Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii in 1858, under direction of King
Kamehameha IV. In 1839 a massive stone church was built just south of the bay. It fell into ruin, and a smaller building called
Kahikolu Church was built in 1852. This also fell into ruin, but has been rebuilt. In 1894 a wharf was constructed at the village at the south of the bay, now called Napoopoo. A steamer landed in the early 20th century when
Kona coffee became a popular crop in the upland areas. It marks the approximate location of Cook's death. It is located at coordinates . The Cook monument is unreachable by road; this remote location is accessible only by water or an hour-long hike along a moderately steep trail. Many visitors have rented
kayaks and paddled across the bay, about from its southern end. State conservation regulations prohibit kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, surfboards, and bodyboards from entering the bay unless part of a tour with a licensed local operator. The pier at
Napoopoo can be accessed down a narrow road off the
Hawaii Belt Road. The beach sand was mostly removed by
Hurricane Iniki in 1992. Boat tours are also available, leaving from
Honokōhau harbor,
Keauhou Bay, and the Kailua pier. A short single-day eruption of
Mauna Loa volcano took place underwater within Kealakekua Bay in 1877, and within a mile of the shoreline; curious onlookers approaching the area in boats reported unusually turbulent water and occasional floating blocks of hardened lava. Hawaiian
spinner dolphins frequent Kealakekua Bay, especially in the morning. The bay serves as a place for them to rest and feed, and as a nursery for mothers and their calves. Due to the calm water conditions, extensive coral reef, and thriving underwater life, Kealakekua Bay offers some of the best snorkeling and diving in Hawaii, especially in the shallow waters adjacent to the monument. The bay is a protected marine environment so visitors can snorkel but no fishing is allowed in this area.
Parks About around the bay was designated the
Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park in 1967, and it was added as a Historic District to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1973 as site 73000651. A narrow one-lane road to the south leads to
Puuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, which contains more historic sites. Image:Starr 000621-1281 Prosopis pallida.jpg|The former village of Kaawaloa is now overgrown with
Kiawe trees. Image:Cook Monument Kealakekua.jpg|Cook Monument on the northern shore of the bay File:Coral and Sand in Kealakekua Bay.jpg|alt=This is an underwater photograph of coral and sand in Kealakekua Bay. Rocks, a fish, and two sea urchins are also in the scene.|Coral and sand in Kealakekua Bay File:Coral and Other Invertebrates in Kealakekua Bay.jpg|alt=This photograph depicts rock, coral and other invetebrates in Kealakua Bay. It was taken in 10 to 25 feet of water. A sea urchin is clearly visible in the lower right middle of the picture. Other invertebrates, either sea urchins or sea anemones, are also visible.|Sea life in Kealakekua Bay ==In popular culture==