Captain Cook, Hawaii by Honaunau-Napoopoo. Hawaii Route 11, part of the Hawaii Belt Road, passes through the community, leading north to Kailua-Kona and south to Naalehu. Hawaii Route 160 diverges from Route 11 in Captain Cook, leading south by a winding road to Napoopoo on Kealakekua Bay. According to the United States Census Bureau, the Captain Cook CDP has a total area of , all of it land. Most of Captain Cook lies between the and elevation, which makes it ideal as a coffee-growing region. It sits on the top of an ancient fault which created the famous Kealakekua Bay. Prior to the
Aoraki / Mount Cook mountain in 1851 by Captain John Lort Stokes to honour Captain James Cook who surveyed and circumnavigated the islands of New Zealand in 1770. Captain Cook did not sight the mountain during his exploration. Following the settlement between Ngāi Tahu and the Crown in 1998, the name of the mountain was officially changed from Mount Cook to Aoraki / Mount Cook to incorporate its historic Māori name, Aoraki. As part of the settlement, a number of South Island placenames were amended to incorporate their original Māori name. Signifying the importance of Aoraki / Mount Cook, it is the only one