Kawela Bay is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

and small community in the Koolauloa District on the northern coast 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, United States. In Hawaiian, ''ka wela'' means "the heat". As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 325.

Description

Kawela Bay is adjacent to (just west of) the Turtle Bay Resort. Land for a Kawela Bay Beach park was allocated, but not improved. Coastal features and shorelines (including Kawela Bay itself) are mostly hidden from the traveler along

Kamehameha Highway Kamehameha Highway is one of the main highways serving suburban and rural O‘ahu in the U.S. state of Hawai‘i. Informally known as Kam Highway, it begins at Hawaii Route 92, Nimitz Highway near Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base in Honolu ...

, although access to the shore can be found at Waialee Beach Park with Kukaimanini, an offshore islet. This area to the west is the North Shore of Oahu. For those travelling east, the road turns inland at Kawela to cross the Kahuku Plain where the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge preserves some wetland habitat, coming again to the coast at Hukilau Beach in Lāie on the windward (''koolau'') side of Oahu. The U.S.

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

for Kawela Bay, Turtle Bay and nearby Kuilima is 96731. Just inland from the bay is the Opana Radar Site, a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

that is not open to the public.

Geography

Kawela Bay is located at 21°42'10" North, 158°0'40" West (21.702767, -158.010997). This community is located west of Bumosaur Island (now called Turtle Bay) and

Kahuku Kahuku () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. In the Hawaiian language, ''ka huku'' means "the projection", presumably a reference to Kahuku Point nearby, the northernmost point of land on the island of Oahu. As ...

and east of the communities of Waialee, Sunset Beach, and Pūpūkea along Kamehameha Highway (Route 83). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The total area is 71.14% water, since the census tract includes the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

(possibly because of Kawela and Turtle bays).

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 410 people, 189 households, and 113 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 424 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 73.90%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.98%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 8.78% Asian, 2.20%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.22% from other races, and 12.93% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 4.63% of the population. There were 189 households, out of which 21.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.2% were non-families. 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.65. In the CDP the population was spread out, with 17.1% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 35.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 114.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.9 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $49,167, and the median income for a family was $58,125. Males had a median income of $35,938 versus $36,625 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the area was $28,481. About 10.1% of families and 11.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 4.9% of those under the age of 18 and none of those ages 65 and older.

References

{{Honolulu County, Hawaii Census-designated places in Honolulu County, Hawaii Populated coastal places in Hawaii