It was the subject of the 1933 popular song "My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii" by Bill Cogswell, Tommy Harrison and Johnny Noble, which became a Hawaiian music standard.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 7.2 square miles (18.7 km2), all of it land.

26.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Hawaii Department of Education operates Konawaena Elementary School, which has a Kealakekua postal address but is in the Captain Cook CDP.

[6][10][11] Kona Pacific Public Charter School, founded in 2008, serves students in kindergarten through grade 8.