Koko Head is the

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

that defines the eastern side of Maunalua Bay along the southeastern side of the Island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. On its western slope is the community of Portlock, a part of Hawaii Kai. Koko Head (at 642 ft or 196 m) is an ancient

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

cone that is somewhat dwarfed by its neighboring tuff cone,

Koko Crater Koko Crater ( Hawaiian: ''Kohelepelepe'' or ''Puʻu Mai'') is an extinct tuff cone located on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu near Hawaiʻi Kai. It is northeast of Hanauma Bay and south of the Koʻolau Range. Geology Koko Crater is a part o ...

, with its peak, ''Kohelepelepe'' (or ''Puu Mai''), rising to 1208 ft or 368 m. Koko Head itself has three significant depressions or old vents, the largest of which forms the well-known Hanauma Bay. Koko Head's last eruption was 3,000-5,000 years ago and it is part of the Honolulu Volcanics. This eastern end of Oahu is quite scenic and most of the area is part of Koko Head Regional Park, administered by the

City & County of Honolulu Honolulu County (), officially known as the City and County of Honolulu (formerly ''Oahu County''), is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Hawaii, one of five counties in the state. The city-county includes both Urban Honolulu (t ...

. The following features and natural areas are found between Koko Head and the eastern end of the island at Makapuu: * Koko Crater is a large tuff cone that visually dominates the area. Within the crater are horse stables and the Koko Crater Botanical Garden specializing in

cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

and succulents. *

Hanauma Bay Hanauma (; ) is a marine embayment formed within a tuff ring and located along the southeast coast of the Island of Oahu in the Hawaii Kai neighborhood of East Honolulu, in the Hawaiian Islands. Hanauma is one of the most popular tourist dest ...

is a tuff ring breached by the ocean. * Lānai Lookout is a scenic lookout that features a very distant view of the Island of Lānai to the southeast of Oahu.

Molokai Molokai or Molokai ( or ; Molokaʻi dialect: Morotaʻi ) is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its g ...

, directly across the Ka'iwi Channel, is closer and nearly always visible during the day; Lānai is visible only under good atmospheric conditions, although if visible from anywhere on Oahu, it will be visible from this pull-out/parking area. The cremated ashes of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

and maternal grandmother were scattered here in 1995 and 2008.Obama Bids Farewell to Grandmother
New York Post. December 24, 2008 * Hālona Blowhole is a blowhole in the rocky shore. A large pull-out/parking area is present. The adjacent Hālona Cove is best known as the site of the love scene between

Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor. Initially known for playing tough characters with tender hearts, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year caree ...

and

Deborah Kerr Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a Scottish actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first person from Scotland to be no ...

in the movie ''

From Here to Eternity ''From Here to Eternity'' is a 1953 American romantic Drama (film and television)#War drama, war drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and written by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1951 From Here to Eternity (novel), novel of the same name by J ...

''. * Sandy Beach is a popular beach for surfing and a park popular for kite flying because

trade winds The trade winds or easterlies are permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere ...

(offshore here) are strong and steady most days. Sea conditions off the beach tend to be rough most of the time and the bottom drops away relatively quickly, so this is not a beach for relaxed swimming, but very popular for more extreme water sports and watchers.

References

Gallery

File:Koko Crater.jpg, Koko Crater from the base of the old railway trail File:Koko Head from the South, with Koko Crater and Makapu'u point, 2005.jpg, Koko Crater as seen from a boat, with Koko Crater and Makapu'u point File:Lookout2618.jpg, The coastline, looking northwest, from Lanai Lookout File:Sandy Beach Oahu.jpg, Sandy Beach from the Hālona Blowhole lookout. The far distant ridge is Makapuu Head, the eastern end of Oahu File:KokoStairs.JPG, Koko Stairs hike up the side of Koko Crater File:SouthRimKokoCrater.JPG, Koko Crater South Rim with Hawaii Kai in background File:Lanai lookout 03.JPG, The coastline, looking southeast, from Lanai Lookout File:Lanai lookout 01.JPG, Aerial view of Lanai Lookout, below Koko Crater File:Koolau Range 02.JPG, View of Koko Crater (far left) over the Koolau Range. File:Kokocrater.jpg, View of Koko Crater from the Kalanianaole Hwy File:Kokocrater.j.turse201011.jpg, View of Koko Crater from the Kalanianaole Hwy, stairs visible ascending the slope. File:Koko Head From Lookout.jpg, A view of Koko Crater from the lookout point nearby. File:Koko Head From Park.jpg, A view of Koko Crater from the park at the base of the mountain.

External links

{{Commons category, Koko Head Headlands of Hawaii Volcanoes of Oahu Landforms of Oahu Extinct volcanoes of the United States Monogenetic volcanoes Tuff cones Pleistocene volcanoes Pleistocene Oceania Cenozoic Hawaii