place

Punaluu, Hawaii

Census-designated places in Honolulu County, HawaiiPages with Hawaiian IPAPopulated coastal places in HawaiiPopulated places on OahuUse mdy dates from September 2022
Honolulu County Hawaii Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Punaluu Highlighted
Honolulu County Hawaii Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Punaluu Highlighted

Punaluʻu (pronounced [punəluʔu]) is a census-designated place and rural community in the Koʻolauloa District on the island of Oʻahu, City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. In Hawaiian, punaluʻu means "coral dived for", or in the case of the fishpond once located here, possibly "spring dived for". There is a very small commercial center located beside Punaluʻu Stream, and several condominium projects, including a high-rise building, located at Haleaha Beach and Kaluanui Beach. At the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 1,374. A fringing reef extends off the shoreline. There are several beaches and a beach park in Punaluʻu, including Punaluʻu Beach Park, Punaluʻu Beach, Haleaha Beach, and Kaluanui Beach. Sugar cane was once grown on the narrow coastal plain inland from the highway. The U.S. postal code for Punaluʻu is 96717.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Punaluu, Hawaii (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 21.5925 ° E -157.89694444444 °
placeShow on map

Address


96717
Hawaii, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Honolulu County Hawaii Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Punaluu Highlighted
Honolulu County Hawaii Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Punaluu Highlighted
Share experience

Nearby Places

Huilua Fishpond
Huilua Fishpond

Huilua Fishpond, in Ahupuaʻa O Kahana State Park on windward Oʻahu, is one of the few surviving ancient Hawaiian fishponds that were still operational well into the 20th century. It was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1962, shortly after it had been severely damaged by the 1960 tsunami. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 29, 1962.The fishpond may have started as a sandbar where ocean currents met the stream mouth. A 500-foot (152 m) permeable rock seawall (called kuapā in Hawaiian) was added along the shoreline to enclose about 7 acres (2.8 ha) of fertile brackish water. The wall was about 4 feet (1.2 m) wide and stood about 4 feet (1.2 m) above high tide, with two lashed-pole sluice gates (called mākāhā) that allowed little fish in but kept bigger fish from escaping. The name Huilua, which can be translated 'join-twice', may refer to the two gates. The favorite type of fish in the pond were ʻamaʻama (flathead grey mullet), which reproduce in the ocean but can live in either fresh, brackish, or salt water.Many Hawaiian fishponds were built between about the early 1400s and early 1600s. They were especially numerous in large expanses of shallow sea, such as Kāneʻohe Bay and Pearl Harbor. Each fishpond had a pondkeeper (kiaʻi loko) who lived nearby and oversaw its maintenance. Sam Pua Haʻaheo was the pondkeeper for Huilua from 1924, just after the 1923 tsunami, until 1946, when another tsunami hit. The fishpond suffered further tsunami damage in 1957 and 1960. The most recent restoration work began in 1993 as a cooperative project between the State Park service and Friends of Kahana, an organization of local residents.