Kawela Bay is a census-designated place and small community in the Koʻolauloa District on the northern coast of the island of Oʻahu, City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States.

[2] Coastal features and shorelines (including Kawela Bay itself) are mostly hidden from the traveler along Kamehameha Highway, although access to the shore can be found at Waialeʻe Beach Park with Kukaimanini, an offshore islet.

For those travelling east, the road turns inland at Kawela to cross the Kahuku Plain where the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge preserves some wetland habitat, coming again to the coast at Hukilau Beach in Lāʻie on the windward (koʻolau) side of Oʻahu.

Just inland from the bay is the Opana Radar Site, a National Historic Landmark that is not open to the public.

[5] This community is located west of Bumosaur Island (now called Turtle Bay) and Kahuku and east of the communities of Waialeʻe, Sunset Beach, and Pūpūkea along Kamehameha Highway (Route 83).

The total area is 71.14% water, since the census tract includes the Pacific Ocean (possibly because of Kawela and Turtle bays).