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Kihei Town & Wailea
Maui Island
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The bustling tourist town of Kihei, once a busy fishing port, sits in the centre of the west coast but is referred to as South Maui. Kihei has three excellent swimming beaches in the south end of town. These sandy swimming beaches, blandly named Kamaole Beach Park I, II and III, are popular with families and general tourists with good snorkelling, safe swimming, manned by life guards, and are flanked by hotels and condominiums. Although nothing compared to Waikiki Beach, Kamaole is the second busiest beach area in Hawaii and is great for people watching.
In the heart of Kihei Town is the large Kalama Park. Whilst the beach here is small (and non-existent in winter when the sand gets washed away), there is a large lawn area with picnic tables, tennis courts, volleyball, baseball and basketball courts.
Several beaches at the northern end of Kihei Town have good swimming, some excellent wind-surfing in the afternoons although the beach itself is quite narrow and not particularly very scenic with large condominium complexes blocking the views.
Maalaea, about 2 miles to the north of Kihei Town, is three miles long and is a great area for strolling, watching outrigger canoes in the early mornings and generally enjoying the beach atmosphere and stunning views of West Maui. The fine white sandy beach is backed by a few coconut palms and ironwood trees. However, by mid morning the wind usually kicks in making it unbearable for sunbathing.
The upmarket Wailea resort area is located a few miles south of Kihei Town and has two beautiful crescent shaped beaches between which a rocky outcrop breaks the two large resorts of Grand Wailea. A paved walkway runs along its entire length and is popular with morning and evening joggers. These sheltered beaches, which both have public access, are good spots for swimming, snorkelling and even scuba diving.
Less than two miles south of Wailea takes you to Makena and the end of the sealed highway. Makena boasts two of the loveliest beaches in Maui. Big Beach has a long stretch of fine white sand and extends for almost a mile with some excellent body surfing but sometimes raging surf. A short walk on a rough track takes you over the bluff and down into the sheltered Little Beach, popular with top-less and nude bathers. To the south of Makena is a small cove beach where between 8am and 5pm a continuous stream of couples come to be married. Here the paved road ends giving way to the inhospitable South Coast scenery of volcanic lava flows.
The most popular snorkelling in Hawaii is the tiny curved collapsed crater of Molokini off the south west coast of Maui with its colourful and rich endemic marine life and fantastic visibility. Small boat charters shuttle tourists here throughout the day departing from several harbours along the west coast, including Lahaina and Kihei, as well as from several resorts.
search for ... Maui Resorts
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continue to ... North Maui & Haleakala
Readers may also be interested in the following destinations:
Cook Islands Travel Guide
Fiji Travel Guide
Samoa Travel Guide
Tonga Travel Guide
Tahiti Travel Guide
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