Best Beaches in Maui?

[TwoByFour]

Originally Posted by maui-intoxicated

Any beach is better than no beach. But defining best depends on if you like lots of people, seclusion or neckedness, white sand with little waves, no sand with big waves, nothing to do at the beach, lots of extra curricular activities to do, if you want to go in the morning or in the evening etc.

True dat. Here are a few of our favorites of the many many beaches. Other ideas welcome:

Big Beach (Makena) - Pros: wide and long, so can accommodate lots of folks. Good parking. Has shade under the trees. Cons: course sand; steep entry to water results in shore pound. Not that great for shore-line walking.

Kealia Coast (Maalaea) - Pros: fine silky sand, gentle slope, and miles of walking make this a great place to walk the water's edge. Swimming is OK but you have to avoid off shore reefs. Cons: limited parking. Wind can howl through here; best in morning or non-windy days.

Baby Beach (Spreckelsville) - Pros: OK sand, protected shallow area for kids to swim; extremely popular with families, can walk to Baldwin Beach. Cons: limited parking, fills up quickly. Swimming outside of the tide pool can be challenging when wind and waves are up. Good/OK for beach walking - shore is a little steep.

Hamoa Beach (Hana) - Pros: beautiful setting - small cove with palms and a park. Great sand, nice swimming, shade; you can sit on the beach or in the park next to the beach. Cons: Long drive to Hana.

Fleming Beach (past Napili) - Pros: nice broad cove, great sand. BBQ grills and lifeguards make good for family outings. Cons: limited shade, long drive unless you live in Napili.

Between Maalaea and Lahaina - there are miles of beaches along this stretch. It is really easy to pull over, park the car under a tree, and get out the beach chairs and hang out. Pros: Extremely accessible; you only walk 10' from the car; lots of shade trees; good place to learn things like SUP or surfing; there is some OK to good snorkeling. Cons: Traffic noise, not good for swimming since there is a reef.

Paia Bay (Paia) - Not sure I would recommend this as a destination. I go here for one thing - to swim laps in the bay. It is good for that. Pros: easy parking, showers. Cons: Paia has a lot of oddballs hanging around. I like oddballs but not everybody does.

I admit that we are not really beach people - we don't just go and sit for hours. But we often stop for an hour on one of these beaches if we are doing something else in the area and relax/read a bit in the shade, or go for a walk.

[Tinyyogini]

I found this awesome beach the last time I was there. Mokapu beach park, right next to Ulua beach park. Take Ulua Beach Road off of Wailea Alunui Dr. There is parking. There was an amazing reefy area sitting there on it's own. We grabbed our snorkels and swam around it. There were even people diving around it! Besides that, everyone else was swimming like normal. I loved that beach.

[Jungjohann]

Maluaka beach, just before Pu'u Olai on the south end of Maui is by far the best beach south Maui side. Not too many people, clean public restrooms, nice grassy point above by the golf course, fresh water shower, and, easy walk to the bar at Makena Resort, in case you would like a cold,,, uuurrrrrppppp, scuze me, beverage. Only downside is that there is a rather steep drop off when entering the ocean, and, (well kept secret), the place is infested with killer opihi.. Sharks are one thing, but killer opihi????? Stealthy, quiet, maneating, (it takes them a while), killer opihi....

It's never safe


beep......beep.......beep...