{{Short description|Bay in Maui County, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{use mdy dates|date=November 2021}} thumb|right|La Perouse Bay, looking south'''Keone{{okina}}ō{{okina}}io''' or '''La Perouse Bay''' is located south of the town of Wailea on Maui, at the end of Mākena Alanui Road (State Highway 31) at {{coord| 20|35|54|N| 156|25|12|W| type:landmark_region:US-HI| display=inline,title }}. The bay's Hawaiian name is Keone{{okina}}ō{{okina}}io.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://wehewehe.org/cgi-bin/hdict?a=q&j=pp&l=en&q=Keoneoio |title=lookup of Keoneoio |work= on Place Names of Hawai'i |author= Pukui and Elbert |year=2004 |publisher= Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library, University of Hawaii |accessdate= 2010-01-22 }}</ref> It was later named for the French explorer Captain Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse. But has been referred to the French explorer. In 1786, La Pérouse surveyed and mapped the prominent embayment near the southern cape of Maui opposite the island of Kahoʻolawe. The bay is the site of Maui's most recent volcanic activity, about 500 years ago.<ref>{{cite web |title= Youngest lava flows on East Maui probably older than A.D. 1790 |date = September 9, 1999 |publisher= United States Geological Survey |url= https://www.usgs.gov/news/volcano-watch-youngest-lava-flows-east-maui-probably-older-ad-1790 }}</ref> 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 basaltic lava that originated in the southernmost landward expression of the Haleakalā Southwest Rift Zone. A small string of cinder cones extending inland to the northeast marks the axis of the rift zone.

Keoneʻōʻio lies directly south of the ʻĀhihi-Kīnaʻu Natural Area Reserve. Fishing is prohibited within the reserve, which is home to many endemic and other fish species, marine mammals, green sea turtles, and coastal plants.<ref>{{cite news|author=Wianecki|first=Shannon|date=Winter 2005|title=a Rock and a Hard Place: Four conservationists explore the past and future of Keone'o'io|volume=8|work=Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine|issue=4|url=http://www.mauimagazine.net/Maui-Magazine/Winter-2005/Between-a-Rock-and-a-Hard-Place/|url-status=dead|access-date=2010-01-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100915061645/http://www.mauimagazine.net/Maui-Magazine/Winter-2005/Between-a-Rock-and-a-Hard-Place/|archive-date=2010-09-15}} Article about La Perouse Bay and efforts to conserve the natural environment.</ref> The area contains many archaeological sites, including fishing shrines, salt pans, and heiau, or religious platforms. The road ends at the parking lot/entrance to the seashore and marks the start of the King's Highway,<ref>{{cite news|author=Samson|first=Jon|date=Fall 2002|title=Along the King's Trail|volume=6|work=Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine|issue=3|url=http://www.mauimagazine.net/Maui-Magazine/Fall-2002/Along-the-Kings-Trail|url-status=dead|access-date=2010-01-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426173007/http://www.mauimagazine.net/Maui-Magazine/Fall-2002/Along-the-Kings-Trail/|archive-date=2012-04-26}} Article about exploring the trails and marine life near La Perouse Bay.</ref> a trail that circumnavigated the island, originally built by Piʻilani and later improved by Governor Hoapili, sometimes called the Hoapili trail.<ref>{{cite web |title= Hoapili Trail |publisher= Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources |url= http://www.hawaiitrails.org/trail.asp?TrailID=MA+18+001 |work= Na Ala Hele Trail System |accessdate= 2010-10-22 }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== {{commons category|La Perouse Bay}} *{{cite book | last = Clark | first = John R. K. | title = The Beaches of Maui County | publisher = University of Hawaii Press | year = 1989 | location = Honolulu, Hawaii | pages = 33–34 | isbn = 0-8248-1246-8 }}

Category:Bays of Hawaii Category:Beaches of Maui Category:Bodies of water of Maui

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