Koko Head is the headland that defines the eastern side of Maunalua Bay

Maunalua Bay

Maunalua Bay is a bay on the Southeast shore of the island of Oahu, between Diamond Head and Koko Head, and forming the shoreline of the Hawaii Kai area of Honolulu. "Maunalua" in Hawaiian means two mountains.-History:...

 along the southeastern side of the Island of Oahu

Oahu

Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...

 in Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

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

Hawaii Kai, Hawaii

Hawaii Kai is a largely residential area located in the City & County of Honolulu, in the Honolulu CDP on the island of Oahu. Hawaii Kai is the largest of several communities at the eastern end of the island. The area was largely developed by Henry J. Kaiser around the ancient Maunalua...

. Koko Head (at 642 ft or 196 m) is an ancient tuff

Tuff

Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...

 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.

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:

• Koko Crater is a massive cinder cone that visually dominates the area. Within the crater are horse stables and the Koko Crater Botanical Garden
  Koko Crater Botanical Garden
  The Koko Crater Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located within the Koko Crater on the eastern end of Oahu, Hawaii.The garden is part of the Honolulu Botanical Gardens, and first established in 1958...
  
   specializing in cacti
  Cacti
  -See also:* RRDtool The underlying software upon which Cacti is built* MRTG The original Multi Router Traffic Grapher from which RRDtool was "extracted".* Munin -External links:******...
  
   and succulents.
• Hanauma Bay
  Hanauma Bay
  Hanauma is a marine embayment formed within a volcanic cone and located along the southeast coast of the Island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands....
  
  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
  Lanai
  Lānai or Lanai is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is also known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The only town is Lānai City, a small settlement....
  
   to the southeast of Oahu. Molokai
  Molokai
  Molokai or Molokai is an island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is 38 by 10 miles in size with a land area of , making it the fifth largest of the main Hawaiian Islands and the 27th largest island in the United States. It lies east of Oahu across the 25-mile wide Kaiwi Channel and north of...
  
  , directly across the Kaiwi Channel
  Hawaiian islands channels
  In an archipelago like the Hawaiian Islands the water between islands is typically called a channel or passage. Described here are the channels between the islands of Hawaii, arranged from southeast to northwest.- Alenuihāhā 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 President
  President of the United States
  The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
  
   Barack Obama
  Barack Obama
  Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
  
  's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham
  Ann Dunham
  Stanley Ann Dunham , the mother of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, was an American anthropologist who specialized in economic anthropology and rural development. Dunham was nicknamed Anna, later known as Dr. Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro, and finally Ann Dunham Sutoro...
  
   (1995) and maternal grandmother, Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham
  Madelyn Dunham
  Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham was the American maternal grandmother of Barack Obama, the 44th and current President of the United States of America...
  
   (2008) were scattered here.
• Hālona Blowhole
  Halona Blowhole
  Halona Blowhole is a rock formation and a blowhole on the island of Oahu, Hawaii off of Hanauma Bay overlooking the Pacific Ocean. On windy days when the tide is high, the ocean breeze sends the waves rolling on to the shore where the rock formation then shoots sea spray high into the air through...
  
  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
  Burt Lancaster
  Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
  
   and Deborah Kerr
  Deborah Kerr
  Deborah Kerr, CBE was a Scottish film and television actress from Glasgow. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time...
  
   in the movie From Here to Eternity
  From Here to Eternity
  From Here to Eternity is a 1953 drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and based on the novel of the same name by James Jones. It deals with the troubles of soldiers, played by Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra and Ernest Borgnine stationed on Hawaii in the months leading up to the...
  
  .
• Sandy Beach
  Sandy Beach
  Sandy Beach is a beach on the South Shore of Oahu in Hawaii. It is known for its excellent bodyboarding and bodysurfing opportunities due to shore break that breaks very close to the shore. Consequently, more injuries occur per year at Sandy Beach than any other beach in Hawaii, earning it the...
  
  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.