Kāneohe Bay, at , is the largest sheltered body of water in the main

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...

. This

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

-dominated

embayment A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

constitutes a significant scenic and recreational feature along the northeast 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 ...

. The largest population center on Kāneohe Bay is the town of Kāneohe. The Bay is approximately long and wide, with a mouth opening of about wide and a maximum depth of in the dredged channel. It has one of the two barrier reefs in the archipelago, the other being the barrier reef of Molokai island, and also has extensive development of shoaling coral reefs within a large

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

. Two navigable channels cut across the northern and southern ends of the barrier reef. The deeper, northern channel, located off Kualoa Regional Park, provides entrance from the North

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 ...

to a ship channel dredged the length of the lagoon between 1939 and 1945. The lagoon contains extensive patch and fringing reefs and its southern end is partly enclosed by the Mokapu Peninsula. This

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

is occupied by

Marine Corps Base Hawaii Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), formerly Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay and originally Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, is a United States Marine Corps, U.S. Marine Corps facility and air station located on the Mokapu Peninsula of windward ...

. There are five named

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

s or

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

s within Kāneohe Bay. A sand bar (Ahu o Laka), Kapapa, and Kekepa (Turtleback Rock) are all islets on the barrier reef. Two islands within Kāneohe Bay are prominent: Mokolii and Moku o Loe (

Coconut Island Coconut Island may refer to: * Coconut Island (Florida) * Coconut Island (Hawaii Island), in Hilo Bay * Coconut Island (Oahu Island), in Kaneohe Bay * Coconut Island (Queensland) * another name for St. Martin's Island, Bangladesh See also ...

), the largest of the five. Mokolii is a volcanic remnant at the very north end of the Bay, site of former Kualoa Airfield. The community on the northern side is called Waikane, or North Koolaupoko. Coconut Island is an isolated volcanic remnant located in the southwest part of the bay. Coconut Island is owned by the state of

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 ...

and home to the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, and Pauley-Pagen Laboratory (SOEST). Coconut Island was used for the opening sequence of the

television program A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via Terrestrial television, over-the-air, Satellite television, satellite, and cable te ...

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...

''. In August 2010, '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' was filmed on the bay. Geologically, Kāneohe Bay forms part of a former caldera of the Koolau volcano. In prehistory, most of the volcano cataclysmically slid into the Pacific Ocean, leaving behind only the Range and the Bay.

References

External links

*
Chinaman's Hat
* Estuarine Area

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaneohe Bay Bays of Oahu Lagoons of Hawaii Submarine calderas Bodies of water of Oahu