Introduction of freshwater from natural and anthropogenic sources directly and indirectly impacts important physiological and life history processes in corals. A common source of freshwater to nearshore environments is submarine groundwater discharge (SGD), which is fresh or brackish water that enters coastal ecosystems from terrestrial zones usually by passing through aquifers or the marginal seabed. In these studies, I analyzed the effect of SGD across the life history of a tropical fringing reef coral, Pocillopora acuta. I first hypothesized that SGD would inhibit the settlement of P. acuta larvae. To test this hypothesis, I quantified the effect of SGD from two different groundwater sources on the immediate settlement of larvae in a 24-hour experiment. Brooded larvae were collected and exposed to different concentrations of groundwater and then assessed for settlement in each of these treatments after 24 hours. Additionally, I deployed terracotta settlement tiles at two sites with the groundwater sources used in the lab experiment, and assessed the effect of SGD in situ. Using these settlement tiles, I assessed the percent cover of nearby adults and SGD as driving factors of settlement and whether survivorship was impacted by density dependence and SGD. For both the lab experiment and in situ settlement, SGD significantly affected the settlement of P. acuta; however, the significant relationship between SGD and settlement was only found in one of the groundwater sources/sites in the lab and field experiment. For the more southern groundwater source, Varari, in the 24-hour lab experiment there was a positive linear relationship between SGD and settlement, but in situ there was a nonlinear relationship. Using previously calculated percent cover data of adult P. acuta near the tile locations, I hypothesized that higher percent cover of adult corals near the tile would increase settlement. Percent cover positively influenced the settlement of larvae on the tiles at both sites. In addition to testing settlement, I also analyzed survivorship of settlers on the tiles by recording settlers as either dead or alive. As the number of settlers on a tile increased, the survivorship decreased, which indicates that density dependence may be significantly affecting the survivorship. The effects of SGD showed a curvilinear relationship at Varari. Lastly, to test the hypothesis that SGD alters adult coral metabolism, I measured the metabolic rates of adult corals exposed to an experimentally created gradient of SGD using groundwater collected from the same two sources as used in the first experiment. SGD had a curvilinear relationship with respiration and gross photosynthetic rates, and negatively impacted the calcification rates. Both of these studies highlight the direct and indirect impacts that land-sea interactions, such as SGD, can have on important processes in the coral life cycle.