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, John ...

that defines the eastern side of

Maunalua Bay Maunalua Bay is a bay in the southeast of Honolulu, the capital of Hawaiʻi. The bay extends about from the southern tip of Diamond Head, the ''Black Point'', also called ''Kūpikipikiʻō'' , in the west to Portlock Point, also known as ''Ka ...

along the southeastern side of the Island of

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. On its western slope is the community of Portlock, a part of

Hawaii Kai Maunalua (Hawaii Kai) is a largely residential area located in the Honolulu County, Hawaii, City & County of Honolulu, in the East Honolulu, Hawaii, East Honolulu CDP, on the island of Oahu, Oahu. Maunalua, (Hawaii Kai) is the largest of ...

. 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 cont ...

cone that is somewhat dwarfed by its neighboring tuff cone, Koko Crater, 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 30,000–35,000 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. The following features and natural areas are found between Koko Head and the eastern end of the island at Makapuu, 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 and succulents. *Hanauma Bay is a tuff ring breached by the ocean. * Lānai Lookout is a scenic lookout that features a very distant view of the Island of Lanai, Lānai to the southeast of Oahu. Molokai, Molokai, directly across the Hawaiian islands channels, 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's Ann Dunham, mother and Madelyn Dunham, 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 (geo), 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 and Deborah Kerr in the movie ''From Here to Eternity''. *Sandy Beach (Oahu), Sandy Beach is a popular beach for surfing and a park popular for kite flying because trade winds (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, 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. {{coord, 21.261585, N, 157.702949, W, display=title, name=Koko Head Headlands of Hawaii Volcanoes of Oahu Landforms of Oahu Extinct volcanoes Monogenetic volcanoes Tuff cones Pleistocene volcanoes Pleistocene Oceania Cenozoic Hawaii