Honokōhau Harbor

Sportfishing weigh-ins are a working harbor activity, not a tourist spectacle — give crews space while they unload, ice down catches, and clean boats. Catch-and-release for marlin is the norm except in tournament conditions; the largest fish are typically photographed and released. Sea turtles haul out on the beach immediately south of the harbor entrance; they are federally protected — stay ten feet back, do not touch, do not feed. Do not photograph charter customers without permission. The harbor was constructed in the 1960s on a modified shoreline; the natural pre-contact bay shape was reshaped by the construction.