In the summer, the bay offers excellent mooring for sailboats, stand up paddle boarding and swimming.
[1] The covered pier's location near the mouth of the Hanalei River and Black Pot beach has long been a favorite family gathering place for fishing, picnicking, swimming, and playing.
A large section of the ship's hull washed ashore in 1844 in a winter storm surge, but most of this historic wreck remains buried in silt in the bay.
In 1995–2000, archaeologists from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History excavated the wreck and recovered more than 1,200 artifacts.
[4] Japanese author Haruki Murakami wrote a short story entitled "Hanalei Bay" set in the area.