Kāneʻohe is a town and census-designated place (CDP) included in the City & County of Honolulu and located in Hawaiʻi state District of Koʻolaupoko on the Island of Oʻahu. In the Hawaiian language, kāne ʻohe means "bamboo man" (from an ancient story)An ancient hawaiian story says that at a time a man and wife lived there and she compared his cruelty to the sharp edge of cutting bamboo, thus the place was named Kane'ohe or "Bamboo man". As of the year 2000, the CDP had a total population of 34,970. Kāneʻohe is the largest of several communities along Kāneʻohe Bay and one of the two largest residential communities on the windward side of Oʻahu (the other is Kailua). The commercial center of the town is spread mostly along Kamehameha Highway.
From ancient times, Kāneʻohe was important as an agricultural area, owing to an abundance of rainfall. Today, Kāneʻohe is mostly a residential community, with very little agriculture in evidence. The only commercial crop of any consequence in the area is banana.
Features of note are Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Garden and the new Hawaiʻi National Veterans Cemetery. Access to Kāneʻohe Bay is mainly from the public pier and boat ramp located at nearby Heʻeia Kea. Access to Coconut Island (restricted) is from the state pier off Lilipuna Road. Marine Corps Base Hawaii lies across the south end of Kāneʻohe Bay from the central part of Kāneʻohe, although the town stretches along Kāneʻohe Bay Drive to the base perimeter.
The U.S. Postal Code for Kāneʻohe is 96744. High school students from the surrounding area attend James B. Castle High School. Windward Community College, part of the expanding state college system, is located on the south side of central Kāneʻohe. Hawaiʻi Pacific University has a campus just east of town on Kamehameha Highway near Castle Junction.
There are three golf courses in Kāneʻohe: Pali Golf Course (public), Koʻolau Golf Club (privately owned but open to the public), and Bayview Golf Park (privately owned but open to the public).
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