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is a census-designated place (CDP) included in the City & County of Honolulu and located in Hawaii state District of Koolaupoko on the Island of Oahu. In the Hawaiian language,
means "bamboo man". According to an ancient Hawaiian story a local woman compared her husband's cruelty to the sharp edge of cutting bamboo; thus the place was named Kaneohe or "Bamboo man". The population was 34,970 at the 2000 census. Kaneohe is the largest of several communities along Kaneohe Bay and one of the two largest residential communities on the windward side of Oahu (the other is Kailua). The commercial center of the town is spread mostly along Kamehameha Highway.
From ancient times, Kaneohe was important as an agricultural area, owing to an abundance of rainfall. Today, Kaneohe is mostly a residential community, with very little agriculture in evidence. The only commercial crop of any consequence in the area is banana.
Features of note are Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden and the new Hawaii National Veterans Cemetery. Access to Kaneohe Bay is mainly from the public pier and boat ramp located at nearby Heeia Kea. Access to Coconut Island (restricted) is from the state pier off Lilipuna Road. Marine Corps Base Hawaii lies across the south end of Kaneohe Bay from the central part of Kaneohe, although the town stretches along Kaneohe Bay Drive to the base perimeter.
The U.S. Postal Code for Kaneohe is
There are three golf courses in Kaneohe: Pali Golf Course (public), Koolau Golf Club (privately owned but open to the public), and Bayview Golf Park (privately owned but open to the public).
Kaneohe is located at (21.409200, -157.799084). Nearby towns include Kailua to the east, reached either by Kaneohe Bay Drive (State Rte. 630) or Kamehameha Highway (State Rte. 83), the former also providing a connection to Marine Corps Base Hawaii, and the latter connecting to Interstate H-3 and (at Castle Junction) Pali Highway (State Rte. 61) to Honolulu. Likelike Highway (State Rte. 63) runs southwest over and through the Koolau to Honolulu. Likelike provides connections to Kahekili Highway and Heeia, and H-3 southbound to Halawa. The first three exits on the windward side of Interstate H-3 east (north) bound access Kaneohe. Following Kamehameha Highway northward from Kaneohe (State Rte. 830) leads through Heeia to Heeia Kea.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 8.5 square miles (22.0 km²), of which, 6.6 square miles (17.0 km²) of it is land and 1.9 square miles (5.0 km²) of it is water. The total area is 22.80% water, although this is merely a portion of Kaneohe Bay included in the census tract.