Pōhue Bay

Pōhue Bay is a natural bay on the southern flank of Mauna Loa, within the 16,451-acre Kahuku–Pōhue addition to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Kaʻū residents distinguish the bay from its adjacent beach, Kahuku Beach. Public shoreline access is currently restricted, and no day-use permit procedure is listed as operating, so don't plan a shore visit unless the park confirms access. When an authorized visit is possible, frame the pale sand and turquoise water between coconut palms and dark lava to show the coast's contrast.

A well-preserved section of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail, also called Ala Loa, follows this coast. The wider parcel preserves fishing shrines, village remains, petroglyphs and lava tubes, as well as Hawaiʻi's largest recorded abrader quarry. Kahuku is the historic mauka-to-makai ʻahupuaʻa, or land division, that contains Pōhue.

This shoreline is critical habitat for endangered honuʻea (Hawaiian hawksbill turtles) and Hawaiian monk seals. Anchialine ponds in the area support endemic ʻōpaeʻula (red shrimp). The park also notes ʻiwa (great frigatebirds), koaʻe kea (white-tailed tropicbirds), kōlea (Pacific golden plovers), ʻūlili (wandering tattlers) and ʻaukuʻu (black-crowned night herons) among birds that frequent the area; sightings are not guaranteed.

The Trust for Public Land transferred the 16,451-acre parcel to the National Park Service in July 2022 after resort proposals had threatened the undeveloped landscape. The acquisition had been identified as a high-priority protection in local and park planning.

As of October 17, 2026, the park's page still says public access is temporarily restricted while safe, resource-protective procedures are prepared. Existing roads and trails to the shoreline cross private property, and the park cannot authorize those crossings; do not use them. There is no formal parking or bathroom facility, no trash-removal capacity, and emergency response is very limited. The park describes a day-use permit pilot as planned, not operating; check its current access notice before making plans.