Beaches
South Maui has the island’s best lineup of easy, swimmable, golden-sand beaches — and most of them are within fifteen minutes of Kihei. Here’s how a local picks between them.
If you only came to Maui for the beaches, you chose the right side of the island. Kihei and the coast just south of it — Wailea and Makena — have a string of wide, sandy, swimmable beaches that face the calm leeward water. You could spend a whole week beach-hopping and never drive more than twenty minutes.
We live on the north end of Kihei, so our own backyard is three-mile Sugar Beach. But every beach down this coast has its own personality — some for swimming, some for snorkeling, some purely for the sunset. This is how we’d send our own guests out the door.
Sugar Beach runs roughly three miles along the north end of Kihei, from the old Kihei wharf up to Maalaea — the longest continuous stretch of sand on Maui. It’s right across the lawn from our bungalows. The north end is the quietest and calmest, ideal for a long sunrise walk, a swim before the trade winds pick up, or just watching for whales in winter.
It’s not a snorkeling beach — the bottom is mostly sand, not reef — but for an everyday, walk-out-the-door swim and an unbeatable morning stroll, nothing else is this convenient.
Go early. South Maui is windiest in the afternoon, so the glassy, swimmable water is usually before 11am. Mornings are also the best light for whales and the calmest conditions for snorkeling anywhere on this coast.
Three sandy beaches in a row in central Kihei, known to everyone as “Kam I, II and III.” These are the classic Kihei swimming beaches: golden sand, lifeguards, restrooms, showers, grassy parks behind them, and gentle water most of the year.
Kam III has the biggest grassy park and is the family favorite for picnics and sunset. Kam II has rocky points at each end that are decent for a quick snorkel. Kam I is the longest and easiest for a straight swim. All three are about ten minutes south of us and have lifeguards — the reassuring choice if you’re traveling with kids.
At the south end of Kihei, where it blends into Wailea, Keawakapu is a long, soft-sand beach that locals love for sunset and for a longer, less-crowded swim. Charley Young, tucked at the north end of Kam I, is a quieter pocket of the same stretch. Both face due west, so this is where you bring a drink and watch the sun drop into the ocean.
Drive fifteen minutes south into Wailea and the beaches get even more polished. Wailea Beach and Mokapu front the big resorts, but they’re public — all Hawai’i beaches are — with free parking lots if you arrive early. Ulua Beach has the best easy-access snorkeling in the area, with a reef on its left point that’s reliable in calm morning conditions.
About twenty-five minutes south of Kihei, Makena’s Big Beach (Oneloa) is the dramatic one: a huge, wide arc of golden sand with no development behind it, backed by the cinder cone of Pu’u Ola’i. Make the drive down at least once.
Respect it, though — the shorebreak here can be powerful and there’s a strong current, so it’s for confident swimmers and best admired when the surf is small. There are lifeguards; swim near them. Over the cinder cone to the north is Little Beach, a longtime clothing-optional spot.
Maui’s leeward beaches are mostly gentle, but conditions change. Check the daily ocean-safety and surf report, swim where there are lifeguards if you can, never turn your back on the waves at Big Beach, and if you see a posted warning sign, believe it.
| Beach | From us | Lifeguard | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar Beach | 2-minute walk | No | About 3 miles long; calmest from sunrise to about 10 am |
| Charley Young | 8 min | Tower at Kamaole I, a short walk south | Small free lot on Kaiau Place that fills early; some shade |
| Kamaole I | 10 min | Yes, daily | Biggest of the three Kams; faces due west for sunset |
| Kamaole II | 10 min | Yes, daily | Rocky points for a morning snorkel; free parking, arrive by 9 am |
| Kamaole III | 12 min | Yes, daily | Kihei’s best playground, pavilions and BBQ grills |
| Keawakapu | 15 min | No | Three free lots; snorkel the rocky ends in the morning |
| Wailea and Ulua | About 15 min | – | Public resort beaches with free shoreline-access lots |
| Big Beach (Makena) | 25–30 min | Yes | State park; visitors pay $5 a person and $10 a car |
However you spend the day, you’ll end it back on the calm north end of Kihei — which, after a week of exploring, tends to become everyone’s favorite beach anyway.
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Four beachside bungalows on the calm north end of Kihei, hosted by the same island family since 2012.