Pūpūkea, Hawaii
census-designated place in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States of America
Pūpūkea (Hawaiian pronunciation: [puːpuːˈkɛjə]) is a community and census-designated place (CDP) in the Koʻolauloa District on the island of Oʻahu, City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. In Hawaiian, pūpūkea means "white shell". As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 5,130. The Koʻolauloa District ends at Waimea Bay, with the Waialua District extending south and westward.
Pūpūkea is a popular area on Oʻahu's North Shore for living and for visiting. The best known surfing sites of Velzyland, Sunset (at Sunset Beach Park), Kammieland, Pūpūkea, ʻEhukai, Pipeline (these latter two off adjacent ʻEhukai Beach Park and Banzai Beach) and lesser breaks are arrayed off this shore. Popular diving and snorkeling areas known as Three Tables and Sharks Cove are located at Pūpūkea Beach Park. At the southwest end of Pūpūkea is Waimea Bay, with one of the most popular beaches on the island forming the shore at Waimea Beach Park.
Popular residential areas here include the beach lots at Sunset Beach and the uplands of Pūpūkea. As the properties in this area were subdivided in the 1950s and 60s and classified then as country, the lots in the uplands were all measured out in 1 acre or greater parcels.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Pūpūkea, Hawaii” as census-designated place in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States of America. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as census-designated place in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States of America. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2000499. Authority coordinates are 21.670, -158.049. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Pūpūkea, Hawaii”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Pūpūkea, Hawaii primary sources, Pūpūkea, Hawaii archive and Pūpūkea research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Pūpūkea, Hawaii”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Pūpūkea, Hawaii” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.