La Perouse Bay is located south of the town of Wailea-Makena, Hawaii

Wailea-Makena, Hawaii

Wailea-Makena is a census-designated place in Maui County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 5,671 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Wailea-Makena is located at ....

 at the end of Makena Alanui Road (State Highway 31) at 20°35′54"N 156°25′12"W. The bay's Hawaiian name is Keoneoio.
It was later named for the French explorer Captain Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse

Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse

Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse was a French Navy officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania.-Early career:...

. In 1786, La Pérouse surveyed and mapped the prominent embayment near the southern cape of Maui

Maui

The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...

 opposite the island of Kahoolawe

Kahoolawe

Kahoolawe is the smallest of the eight main volcanic islands in the Hawaiian Islands. Kahoolawe is located about seven miles southwest of Maui and also southeast of Lanai, and it is long by wide, with a total land area of . The highest point on Kahoolawe is the crater of Lua Makika at the...

. The bay is the site of Maui's most recent volcanic activity. The rounded peninsula that dominates the northern half of the bay and extends up the coast a short distance was formed about 900,000 years ago by an eruption of basalt

Basalt

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

ic lava

Lava

Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...

 that originated in the southernmost landward expression of the Haleakala

Haleakala

Haleakalā , or the East Maui Volcano, is a massive shield volcano that forms more than 75% of the Hawaiian Island of Maui. The western 25% of the island is formed by the West Maui Mountains.- History :...

 Southwest Rift Zone. A small string of cinder cone

Cinder cone

According to the , Cinder Cone is the proper name of 1 cinder cone in Canada and 7 cinder cones in the United States:In Canada: Cinder Cone In the United States:...

s extending inland to the northeast marks the axis of the rift zone

Rift zone

A rift zone is a feature of some volcanoes, especially the shield volcanoes of Hawaii, in which a linear series of fissures in the volcanic edifice allows lava to be erupted from the volcano's flank instead of from its summit...

.

La Perouse Bay lies directly south of the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve

Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve

Established in 1973, Āhihi-Kīnau Natural Area Reserve includes a coastal lava field and surrounding waters on the southwest coast of the island of Maui, Hawaii. It consists of on land and of ocean along of Maui's southwestern coastline...

. Fishing is prohibited within the reserve, which is home to many endemic and other fish species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

, marine mammal

Marine mammal

Marine mammals, which include seals, whales, dolphins, and walruses, form a diverse group of 128 species that rely on the ocean for their existence. They do not represent a distinct biological grouping, but rather are unified by their reliance on the marine environment for feeding. The level of...

s, green sea turtles, and coastal plants.
The area contains many archaeological

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

 sites, including fishing shrines, salt pan

Dry lake

Dry lakes are ephemeral lakebeds, or a remnant of an endorheic lake. Such flats consist of fine-grained sediments infused with alkali salts. Dry lakes are also referred to as alkali flats, sabkhas, playas or mud flats...

s, and heiau

Heiau

A heiau is a Hawaiian temple. Many types of heiau existed, including heiau to treat the sick , offer first fruits, offer first catch, start rain, stop rain, increase the population, ensure health of the nation, achieve success in distant voyaging, reach peace, and achieve success in war . Only the...

, or religious platforms. The road ends at the parking lot/entrance to the seashore and marks the start of the King's Highway, a trail that circumnavigated the island, originally built by Pi'ilani

Pi'ilani

Piilani was a political leader of ancient Hawaii.He ruled the island of Maui as the 15th Moʻi of Maui.The time of King Piilani is synonymous with the Golden Age of Maui...

 and later improved by Governor Hoapili

Hoapili

Ulumāheihei Hoapili was a member of the nobility during the formation of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was a trusted military and political advisor to King Kamehameha I, known as "Kamehameha the Great"...

, sometimes called the Hoapili trail.