The community, within the land division of Kealakekua, is so named because the post office for the area was located in the Captain Cook Coffee Co. during the early 1900s.

As of March 2022, a resolution was under consideration to rename the town to "Kaʻawaloa", meaning "long landing place".

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Captain Cook CDP has a total area of 12.9 square miles (33.3 km2), all of it land.

Prior to the 1960s, most of Captain Cook was part of the vast Kealakekua Ranch, founded in the 1850s by English immigrant Henry Nicholas Greenwell.

Both districts are situated on active volcanoes and contain large sections of land that are in Lava Flow Hazard Zone 2.

Additionally, new lava hazard zones 11, 12, and 13 are being established to account for current flow activity to reduce redlining.