Kīholo Bay

Kīholo Bay on Hawaiʻi Island is a protected coastal area in North Kona, about two miles long and shaped by lava flows from Hualālai around 1801 and Mauna Loa in 1859. Beginning in 1820, it was developed as a man-made fishing pond for King Kamehameha the Great, enclosed by substantial rock walls, until the 1859 eruption submerged the pond and destroyed them. The same eruption created the bay’s distinctive black pebble beaches, while stones near the tide pools remain from the earlier construction. The bay is also known for Wainanaliʻi Pond, green sea turtles, the 2006 Hawaiʻi earthquake, and ongoing conservation of its waters, habitats, and fisheries.

Waikoloa Beach Resort, Hawaii · United States