‘The Gathering Place of the Kohala Coast’ pays tribute to Waikoloa Resort legacy

Future PGA tour pro and Masters champion Jordan Spieth (fifth from left) led the Texas Longhorns to victory in the 2012 Amer Ari Tournament on the Waikoloa Kings’ Course. (GEORGE FULLER/SPECIAL TO WEST HAWAII TODAY)

An ancient Hawaiian house structure fronts the historic fishponds at A-Bay. (GEORGE FULLER/SPECIAL TO WEST HAWAII TODAY)

Waikoloa Beach Resort’s developer, Ron Boeddeker, with hula dancers at the opening of the 545-room Royal Waikoloan hotel in 1981. (COURTESY PHOTO/WAIKOLOA RESORT)

Chris Hemmeter; Darryl Hartley-Leonard, president of Hyatt Hotels; Pat Cowell; and Thos Rohr at the opening of Hyatt Regency Waikoloa in 1988. (COURTESY PHOTO/WAIKOLOA RESORT)

Taken from a drone last year, the book’s cover photo shows much of the expansive Waikoloa Beach Resort. (COURTESY PHOTO/IAN LINDSEY)

WAIKOLOA — There are remnants of a once-thriving Hawaiian village next to the fishponds fronting Anaehoomalu Bay that date well before Captain James Cook’s arrival in 1778.