From Hakipuu, going mauka, because the pali projected into the sea, Hiiaka found and killed Mokolii, a moo, cut off his tail and threw it in the sea and hence the island of Mokolii, near Kualoa. His body formed the lowland makai, below the pali of Kualoa. Collection of Hawaiian Antiquities and Folklore, 1916-1920 Abraham Fornander

Kualoa Regional Park, one of five parks on the shore of Kaneʻohe Bay, is listed in the National Register of Historical Places. Kualoa means "long back," but may be translated symbolically as "long ancestral background." The name may refer to the time when Oʻhu's chiefs brought their children here to be trained as rulers and to learn the traditions of their heritage. In deference to the sacredness of Kualoa, canoes passing by had to lower their sails. The plains of Kualoa that make up the beach park were called ʻApua.

Kualoa Regional Park is fronted by a narrow sand beach. The ocean bottom off the beach is shallow, a mixture of reef and sand pockets. The center of the beach is called Hokuleʻa Beach in honor of the famous Hawaiian voyaging canoe. Hokuleʻa landed here in 1988 to conclude a voyage from Tahiti, and the beach was named in honor of this event.