Big Island · South Kohala
ʻAnaehoʻomalu Bay (A-Bay)
ʻAnaehoʻomalu
ʻAnaehoʻomalu Bay (commonly A-Bay) is a salt-and-pepper sand crescent at the Waikoloa Beach Resort. The Hawaiian name translates as "restricted mullet," referring to the kapu status of the ʻamaʻama (mullet) raised in the two fishponds behind the beach for the aliʻi. The fishponds — Kuʻualiʻi (larger) and Kahapapa — are loko kuapā construction, walled stone fishponds with mākāhā sluice gates, dating to pre-contact use; they remain semi-functional today. Beach is reef-protected; faces directly west, making it the principal sunset beach of the Waikoloa resort cluster. The Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail crosses the bay. Public parking between the Waikoloa Beach Marriott and Queens' MarketPlace.
The fishponds behind the beach are not water features for the resort — they are loko iʻa, walled fishponds, that have been here for centuries. Stay out of them. Do not feed the fish. The ponds have interpretive signs explaining what they are; read them before walking past. Sea turtles haul out on the beach; the federal protection rules are the same as everywhere on the island. The beach is a working sunset spot for the resort and gets crowded in the late afternoon — there is space for everyone if you don't fight for the water's-edge stretch.