Big Beach is long, wide, beautiful, and extreme.

Rating: 4.85 out of 5 stars

In a nutshell: Big Beach is a beautiful, long, wide, undeveloped sandy beach. Impressive, with huge views and a large shore-break. Big Beach is a must-see.
Minuses: A wicked shore-break exists here when the surf is up that can be dangerous for the inexperienced.
Sound-bite: [monster crashing wave]

DETAILS:
One of the most outstanding beaches in Maui. Big Beach is well over a half a mile long, and is also uncharacteristically wide by Maui standards. That means loads of real estate to stake out your claim, and this beach, while always drawing lots of people – is never so crowded as to be packed.

Sign on the lifeguard stand warns people not to go in unless they are experienced using this beach.

Let me start by saying this: don’t let the warnings below scare you off – even if you don’t swim well, this is not a beach to miss.

Big Beach has a significant on-shore break that can be downright brutal when there is a large south swell. This is never a beach that is safe for small children or inexperienced swimmers. Adults might want to think twice during high surf, as well.

Recently three lifeguard stands were added. If any beach on Maui should have had lifeguard stands, this is it. This is one point glossed over in most guidebooks, and is very important that visitors know: the waves here are often big, and powerful. The shore break crashes right at the water’s edge, and you should always enter the ocean here cautiously. If in doubt, consult a lifeguard.

Yeah, this guy stuck the landing. 10.0!

When the surf is up, you’ll also be front-row to the most extreme boogie boarding you’re likely to see during your visit. The photos below were taken during the tail-end of a receding south swell.

Taking a break from shreddin'

There are also a handful of food vendors that operate out of trucks inside and just outside the park. Jawz Tacos is usually in the parking lot and you really can’t do wrong with them, they’re particularly ono.

Access to Little Beach, perhaps the most famous nude beach on Maui, is from Big Beach. (see the Little Beach page, which also has a nice helicopter-shot video of both beaches.)

Key Info:
Location: Makena Alanui Rd., (4 Mi S of Grand Wailea Resort)
GPS Coordinates: 20.631901,-156.447265
Facilities: Bathrooms, lifeguards, picnic tables.
Get directions

View Makena Big Beach in a larger map

You may also be interested in:

• Palauea Beach (aka White Rock)
• Po’olenalena Beach
• Kama'ole Beach Park (I, II, III & Charley Young)

Comprehensive, intermediate & advanced wind/kite/sail lessons. Note: rating reflects intermediate and advanced lessons.

Key Info:
Location: Kanaha Beach & Kihei
Phone: 808-871-5857
Rating source: Google
Web: http://www.actionsportsmaui.com
Price: $80 – $1000+

View Larger Map

You may also be interested in:

• Sunset Luau at Black Rock
• Ka'anapali Beach
• Tavares Beach (aka Lamalani aka Blue Tile House Beach)

Small team, high quality dive charters for certified divers only.

Key Info:
Location: Kihei Boat Ramp, Kihei
Phone: 808-879-3584
Rating source: Yelp
Web: http://www.mauiscuba.com/erd1.htm
Price: $130-$170

View Kihei Boat Ramp in a larger map

You may also be interested in:

• Hawaii Ocean Rafting
• Lahaina Divers
• Ulua Beach

Kayak & snorkeling tours of South & West Maui. They also offer surf lessons.

Key Info:
Location: Meet at launch site(varies), South & West Maui
Phone: 808-874-7652
Rating source: Google
Web: http://www.keliiskayak.com
Price: $50 – $150

View Larger Map

You may also be interested in:

• Hike Maui
• Maui Eco Tours (Reported Closed)
• Black Rock (Pu'u Keka'a)

Ocean views from every hole.

Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

In a nutshell: The perfect balance of design, scenery & price in South Maui.
Minuses: Less competitive course than Gold.
Sound-bite: “This is the first time I can honestly say whales were my biggest distraction!”

SUMMARY:
18 hole regulation | 72 par | 6,765 yards | 72.2 USGA | 129 slope | Driving Range | GPS | Proper resort attire | Spikes not required

DETAILS:
The Wailea Old Blue Golf Course has a split personality. One personality is independent, yet playful – and the other is rooted in the past and its strong connection to its sister courses (Wailea Gold & Emerald.) Blue has its own clubhouse and facilities – heck, it even has a more playful and less refined logo when not presented alongside distinguished family members. (And two distinctly different websites: Wailea Golf family website | Old Blue website)

Beautifully landscaped

Perhaps the reason they portray this course both ways is because it does largely live up to either image. It is fun to play. It is beautifully landscaped. It has fountains, flowers, and spectacularly situated views. It is also easier on average players with forgiving, wide fairways and large (although challenging) greens. But it is also meticulously maintained, the service is stellar, and not a pushover course by any stretch of the imagination.

Now sitting between her two sister courses, the more fun and carefree imagery is true to life for Blue and Emerald. If you’re up for a serious challenge, or become easily annoyed when the foursome in front of you (assuming there is one that close) is focused just as much on having a great time as they are on playing the game, you may be more satisfied playing the Gold.

Opened in 1972, one Blue website states that this course was “the first thing built in Wailea.” That is actually not entirely true – native Hawaiian villages once thrived in this area, and you can see evidence of that in the old lava rock walls which were preserved in the construction of the course.

Blue is a classic resort design, built to preserve the character of the “lay of the land.” This course plays with absolutely stunning scenery. When it was built, the natural rocky terrain of sparse and dry kiawe forest was the only confining element to an open palette. You can see the limitless space they had to work with, and the attention to delivering grand views from every hole in the sprawling and meandering design.

Over the years, more resort development has come to the area and much of the vast open space between fairways has been filling in with houses, a sprawling garden-style resort hotel, restaurants, and even two office complexes with retail space have sprung up.

Course Helicopter Flyby & Narrative
(Click for video player popup)

Wailea Old Blue is typically uncrowded and wide open. You can even frequently get a prime tee time booked on the same day.

Also on the course is Maui’s only authentic Irish Pub.

Arthur Jack Snyder design. Barry Helle, General Manager

Key Info:
Location: 120 Kaukahi St., Wailea
Phone: 888-328-6284
Rating source: Maui Guidebook & Google
Web: Wailea Golf family website | Old Blue website
Price: $80 – $160

View Larger Map

You may also be interested in:

• Wailea Gold Course
• Wailea Emerald Course
• The Dunes at Maui Lani

Wailea Beach

Rating: 4.65 out of 5 stars

In a nutshell: Consistently rated one of the world’s best beaches. An absolutely outstanding beach.
Minuses: Crowded with resort guests and their accouterments.
Sound-bite: “Hey, is that Paris Hilton?”

DETAILS:
If you don’t mind a resort vibe and a crowd to go with it, Wailea Beach is truly an outstanding beach. The sand is perfect, the water calm most days of the year, and the swimming is perfect. Snorkeling is also very good around the rocky points and outcrops defining either end of the beach. There are also bathrooms, showers and plenty of parking.

Video Credit: HawaiianOBrien.com

Now, all that said, the Four Seasons and the Grand Wailea resorts sit like jewel-encrusted Maltese-Falcon bookends smack on either end of this beach. So, unless you show up at the crack of dawn, the beach is always packed, 365 days a year, with beach chairs and cabanas. While this beach is unquestionably a study in beach perfection, I don’t find myself there very frequently since just down the road there are beaches that are just as perfect, but far less crowded.

Key Info:
Mile Marker: #0.4 – Wailea Alanui Rd.
GPS Coordinates: 20.681288,-156.441944
Facilities: Showers, bathrooms. No lifeguards.
Get directions

View Wailea Beach in a larger map

You may also be interested in:

• Polo Beach
• Keawakapu Beach
• Mokapu Beach

Molokini during rush hour
(Photo: Ron Garnett/HTA)

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

In a nutshell: Molokini is a world-class snorkel and SCUBA destination with exceptional water clarity and marine diversity.
Minuses: It is usually very crowded.
Sound-bite: “Hey, I wonder what is on the other side?”

DETAILS:
Molokini Crater is a highly popular snorkel and SCUBA destination. Home to hundreds of species of fish and coral (some found nowhere else but Hawai’i), and near perfect visibility, Molokini deserves the attention it attracts.

Now all that said, like any hyped place where multiple businesses are vying for your tourism dollars, exaggerated marketing materials abound. Also, this is a natural wild habitat, with the same kinds of variations in conditions as any natural habitat – some visitors may come away disapointed that “it did not live up to the hype”, while others won’t be able to stop raving about it.

The Molokini Islet lies in the Alalakeiki Channel between South Maui & Kaho’olawe. Formed by a volcanic activity about 200,000 years ago, Molokini formed in a lop-sided manner. Since this crater lacks a northern wall, the crescent-shaped southern side conveniently blocks the majority of the wave action, while the crater basin opens to the ocean. A large, protected reef with calm water is the perfect shelter for abundant marine life – and also for world-renowned snorkeling and diving.

Note: Alalakeiki Channel has strong currents. So even though it may look close, don’t try and kayak here without appropriate knowledge and skill.

One time when I took a boat out here, and against repeated warnings of the crew, one of the passengers decided to go for a long swim around the points of the crater. Well, that wasn’t smart. The boat wound up having to go pick him up, because he couldn’t escape the current. He’s lucky all that happened to him was a bunch of stink-eye from the crew. The currents are notoriously strong in this part of the channel, and outside the protective shield of Molokini, an inexperienced swimmer has little chance of going anywhere the current doesn’t want him to go.

The waters around Molokini are designated as a Marine Life Conservation District, protecting 260 fish species and 38 coral species. The land itself is also a State bird sanctuary – and due to the sensitive (and small) habitat, visitors are not permitted on land. (Nevermind the potential of crossing paths with some unexploded ordinance…oh, did the glossy snorkel-boat brochure forget to mention that?)

Starting in WWII, and continuing for a time after, not unlike Kaho’olawe, her closest neighbor to the West, the military used Molokini as a bombing target. Impact craters, shell fragments, and spent casings have been found on the island and in the surrounding waters. While floating on top of the water is not much of a risk, hundreds (or thousands) stomping around on a few acres of land every day would definitely prove detrimental to the habitat, (although it would definitely clear any remaining ordinance!)

A rare view: photo of botanist Kim Starr on Molokini. Kim and her husband Forest are well-known among Hawaii naturalists, botanists and geologists for their work photographing, cataloging & identifying threatened and invasive species. (Photo: Forest and Kim Starr)

Hawaiian Lore & Traditional Usage
Early Hawaiians visited Molokini to fish, hunt birds & eggs, and collect feathers. Divers still find stone sinkers and lures which were used in traditional Hawaiian fishing techniques. Hawaiian mythology holds that Molokini was formed when both the Goddess Pele and her rival, a mo’o (gecko) fell in love with the same prince. Pele cut her rival in two, turned her to stone, and threw her into the ocean. Molokini is said to be the lizard’s tail, and Pu’u Ola’i, her head.

One of the many reasons that makes Molokini so stupendously popular with so many different people is the wide range of snorkeling and diving abilities it can satisfy. From first-time snorkelers, to highly experienced divers – Molokini truly does have places for all of them. Intermediate and beginner divers can dive in many locations within the crater basin – all with varying levels of skill required. The back side of the crater is left to more advanced divers, and consists of ledges and walls descending over 200′. [Some good local info for Molokini divers]

Boats typically leave from Ma’alaia Harbor, or Kihei boat ramp. Rough seas and wind (more likely later in the day) cancel trips somewhat often. The fish are also more active earlier in the day. Most will find the boat ride enjoyable, and if you pay attention to the water, you have a good chance to see larger marine life on the way. During the height of whale season (December-April) you’re also practically guaranteed to spot whales if you’re looking (and maybe even if you’re not!) Boats from Lahaina are long rides, and can be rough on the return.

Once you arrive, the boat will need to anchor. Years ago, boats used to just drop an anchor here, but over time the heavy anchors began demolishing coral. As a sustainable alternative, mooring pins were installed in the crater basin so boats could anchor without destroying coral. If you pay attention when your boat arrives here, you will see one of the crew dive off with a rope. The crew member is diving to the pin.

Key Info:
Location: Alalakeiki Channel between South Maui & Kaho’olawe – you must take a boat to get here.
GPS Coordinates: 20.63182,-156.496639
Facilities: None