Kealakekua Bay is located on the Kona coast of the island of Hawaiʻi about 12 miles south of Kailua-Kona. Settled over a thousand years ago, the surrounding area contains many archeological and histor
Kealakekua Bay in the morning
Kaʻawaloa in 1779 by John Webber, artist aboard Cook's ship
An illustration of the Hikiau heiau at Kealakekua Bay, by William Ellis
Priests traveling across the bay for first contact rituals, by John Webber
Captain James Cook was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer who led three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans between 1768 and 1779. He completed the first re
Kealakekua Bay
…historical sites such as religious temples (heiaus) and also includes the spot where the first documented European to reach the Hawaiian islands, Captain James Cook, was killed. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places listings on the island of Hawaiʻi in 1973 as the Kealakekua Bay Historical…
Portrait of James Cook c. 1775
This drawing of a Māori warrior by Endeavour artist Sydney Parkinson was published in his posthumous book about the first voyage.
Cook's first landing in Australia, at Botany Bay, was opposed by the Gweagal people.
HMS Resolution and Adventure retrieved ice to melt for drinking water. Watercolour by expedition artist William Hodges, 1773.