Ulua Beach

Quarter-mile long pocket of sandy beach; great snorkeling.

Good swimming, boogie boarding and excellent beginner to intermediate snorkeling around the rocky outcrop on the north end of the beach. Ulua Beach is more crowded that its neighbor to the north, Mokapu Beach – here you know you’re in the Wailea Resort.

A very popular destination for scuba lessons.

Like nearby Polo Beach, the name was changed when Wailea Resort began marketing. Ulua is the name of what is perhaps the most popular Hawaiian game fish, so it was definitely a winner for the brochures. The old Hawaiian name reported by those who remember this beach prior to WWII was “Kaula’uo.” During WWII US Marines renamed the beach to “Little Tarawa” (for the mission they were training) and that name stuck with many local folks.

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