Cook Landing Site (Waimea) that the land has actually grown since 1778 due to deposition of sediment, so the exact spot is unknown. A small plaque was erected by Kauai County in 1928 which maintains a small county park. The landing site is accessible via Lucy Wright Park. Across the river Russian Fort Elizabeth is preserved in a state park. Cook Landing Site (Waimea) The Cook Landing Site in Waimea on Kauai island in Hawaii, is where Captain James Cook landed at the mouth of the Waimea River on January 20, 1778. Cook was the first European reported to have sighted the Hawaiian Islands,
Captain Cook Hotel became a major node since these were the major routes in and out of the area. The site of the Captain Cook hotel was owned by the Australian Gas Light Company in 1860. A photo dated 1864 by the Freeman Bros shows the site to be vacant and the ground level is somewhat lower than the road indicating some local quarrying. The State Heritage Inventory datasheet notes that there was a small timber cottage on the site in the late 1860s in which a Henry Labat lived in 1868. The buildings were occupied by a Mrs McBride in 1873. This