A curving sandy beach with dark lava rocks in the surf, palm trees and low condominiums, and a mountain under cloud

Hawaii, United States

Kihei

Kamaʻole Beach Park on Kihei's South Shore. (dronepicr / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0)

A long, low beach town on Maui's dry South Shore, strung for miles along South Kihei Road on the leeward side of Haleakalā. Once a near-empty stretch of kiawe scrub, it grew quickly from the 1970s into a sprawl of condominiums, shopping centres and beach parks, now home to about 21,000 people and a base for Molokini, Wailea and Mākena.

Neighbourhoods

  • South Kihei and the Kamaʻole beaches
    • First-time visitors
    • Beaches
    • Best for food

    The busiest stretch of South Kihei Road, where the three Kamaʻole beach parks face rows of condominiums, small shopping centres and casual restaurants. Most visitors stay here, within a short walk of the sand, and snorkel boats leave from the Kihei Boat Ramp.

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  • Central Kihei
    • Local life
    • Parks
    • Quiet and residential

    The middle of town around Kalama Park, Cove Park and the restored Kalepolepo fishpond, with supermarkets and side streets of houses running inland towards the Piʻilani Highway.

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  • North Kihei
    • Long walks
    • Birdwatching
    • Quiet stays

    The quieter northern end, where condominiums give way to Sugar Beach, a long sand strand curving round Māʻalaea Bay, and the wetlands of Kealia Pond, a wildlife refuge on both sides of North Kihei Road.

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  • Wailea
    • Resorts
    • Beaches
    • Golf

    The master-planned resort community immediately south, developed from 1971, with large hotels, golf courses and a string of beaches — Keawakapu, Mokapu, Ulua, Wailea and Polo.

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Things to do

Beaches

  • Kamaʻole Beach Parks I, II and IIIbeach

    Three neighbouring beach parks on South Kihei Road, with some coral for snorkelling off Kamaʻole III.

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  • Mākena State Parkbeach

    A park just south of Wailea holding Big Beach, 1.5 miles of wide sand, smaller Little Beach and Oneʻuli's black sand, around the cinder cone of Puʻu Ōlaʻi.

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  • ʻĀhihi-Kīnaʻu Natural Area Reservepark

    A protected lava field and reef at the end of Mākena Road, set aside in 1973, covering Maui's most recent lava flow, coral reefs and anchialine ponds.

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Nature and heritage

  • Kalepolepo Fishpondlandmark

    A walled Hawaiian fishpond of lava rock and coral, thought to date from the 15th century, also called Koʻieʻie, restored since 1996 in Kalepolepo Park.

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  • Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refugepark

    A coastal salt marsh between Kihei and Māʻalaea that shelters the endangered Hawaiian stilt and Hawaiian coot, with migratory birds in winter.

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  • Sanctuary Education Centermuseum

    The Kihei centre of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, with exhibits on the whales that winter in the channels offshore.

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Short trips from the town

  • Molokiniattraction

    A crescent-shaped, partly sunken volcanic crater and seabird sanctuary offshore, whose sheltered inner bowl makes it one of Maui's best-known snorkelling and diving sites, reached by tour boat.

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  • Maui Ocean Centermuseum

    An aquarium at Māʻalaea, opened in 1998, showing only marine life from Hawaiian waters, with living coral reefs, sea turtles, rays and sharks.

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  • Haleakalā National Parkpark

    The summit crater of the great East Maui volcano, reached by a long winding road, where visitors gather for sunrise and sunset and trails lead down among the cinder cones.

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Eat and drink

Long-standing places and food districts in Kihei. Hours, ratings and directions come from your maps app, always current.

Kihei classics

  • South Kihei Roadneighborhood

    The town's main street holds almost all its restaurants — fish taco counters, breakfast cafés, pubs and beach bars in small shopping centres across from the beaches.

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  • Supermarket hot foodmarket

    Kihei's supermarkets sell ready-cooked food, often cheaper than a restaurant meal.

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Cafés and bars

  • Maui Brewing Company breweryrestaurant

    A brewery and tasting room on Lipoa Parkway, inland from the beaches, brewing many beers on site.

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Experience Kihei

History

Long before the resorts, this dry coast was known as Kamaʻole, a Hawaiian word meaning childless — barren — after land that received very little rain. Hawaiians farmed the sea rather than the soil here: the Kalepolepo fishpond, also called Koʻieʻie, a walled pond of lava rock and coral with a wooden sluice gate, is thought to have been built between about 1400 and 1500, and fish such as mullet and milkfish were raised in it.

In 1890 a landing pier was built on Māʻalaea Bay, where freight steamers called until it silted up in 1915. Attempts to grow pineapples in the 1930s failed; the kiawe tree was almost the only thing that thrived, and the settlement then had only about 350 people. In 1940 the government auctioned half-acre beach lots, and only six of eleven found buyers.

Change came when water was piped in from central and west Maui in the 1950s. In 1970 Maui County adopted the Kihei Civic Development Plan to open the thinly settled district to tourism, built on its white sand, views and sunny climate; at the time there was a single hotel. The plan set off heavy land speculation and the beginning of Maui's property boom. By 2005 about 20,000 people lived here, with as many visitors on a typical day.

Culture & Customs

Kihei is a town of beach parks and outdoor life. The Kamaʻole beaches, Kalama Park and Cove Park fill at weekends with local families, surfers and paddlers, and the town's canoe clubs paddle from its shore. The Kīhei Aquatic Center hosts swim meets, and the town's own high school, Kulanihakoi, opened in 2022 — before then students travelled to Maui High School in Kahului.

The coast carries a long Hawaiian story. The Kalepolepo fishpond was built between about 1400 and 1500, and the restoration of the Koʻieʻie fishpond has been a community project since 1996, led by an association of Maui fishponds working with the whale sanctuary.

Winter is whale season. The main offices of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary are in Kihei, and humpbacks can be seen from the shore in the winter months, when thousands gather in Hawaiian waters. The town's population is mixed — white, Asian, Pacific Islander, Hispanic and of mixed descent — and its tone is more relaxed and residential than the polished resorts next door in Wailea.

Daily Life

About 21,400 people lived in the Kīhei census-designated place at the 2020 census, making it one of Maui's largest communities. Life runs along South Kihei Road and the Piʻilani Highway, between beach parks, small shopping centres, supermarkets and streets of houses and low-rise condominiums climbing gently inland.

Tourism provides much of the work, from condo management to boat crews and restaurants, but Kihei also has a technology sector unusual for a beach town. The Maui Research and Technology Park holds the Maui High Performance Computing Center and the Pacific Disaster Center, and the whale sanctuary and an agricultural seed operation have offices here too.

The rhythm follows the weather: early mornings for swimming and paddling before the afternoon wind, evenings for sunsets over the West Maui Mountains and Kahoʻolawe. Rapid growth has brought strains of its own, and after the 2023 wildfires that destroyed Lahaina the county's buses suspended fare collection.

Food

Kihei eats like the rest of Maui, casually and from many traditions. The plate lunch — two scoops of rice, macaroni salad and a main such as teriyaki beef or kalua pork — is the everyday meal, poke, cubes of raw fish dressed with soy, sesame or seaweed, is widely sold, and shave ice, finely shaved ice soaked in flavoured syrups, is the standard cool-down after the beach.

Almost all the town's restaurants are along South Kihei Road, in small shopping centres across from the beaches: fish taco counters, breakfast cafés with large portions, pubs and beach bars. Supermarkets along the same road sell ready-cooked food that is often cheaper than a restaurant meal.

Inland, the Maui Brewing Company has a brewery and tasting room on Lipoa Parkway, with many more beers than are available elsewhere. Luau evenings with Polynesian music and dancing are held nearby, including one at the Maui Ocean Center in Māʻalaea.

Planning tools

Budget

Kihei is one of the cheaper bases on Maui: condominiums with kitchens are plentiful, and supermarkets and casual restaurants keep food costs down compared with the resorts of Wailea and West Maui. A rental car is the main extra, along with snorkel boat trips to Molokini and park fees.

Daily Budget Midrange
USD 300–550 (condominium or mid-range hotel, restaurant meals, rental car, a snorkel boat trip)
Daily Budget Shoestring
USD 120–200 (budget condo or room shared, supermarket meals and plate lunches, free beaches, the bus)

A condo with a kitchen and food from the supermarkets saves a lot; the beach parks are free.

Best Time to Visit

Kihei is dry and sunny all year. In winter humpback whales can be seen from the shore. From about April to early October strong afternoon winds blow along the coast, so the sea is calmest in the morning.

Suggested Number of Days

Kihei is a base rather than a sight: four or five days suit a beach stay with a boat trip, and a week or more allows the rest of Maui, which is small enough for day trips from here. The time of year makes little difference beyond whale season.

First Visit
4–5 days
With Surroundings
7–10 days

Transportation

The town is strung along the coast for several miles but is never more than a mile wide. South Kihei Road runs beside the beaches, and the Piʻilani Highway parallels it about half a mile inland for faster trips. Maui Bus routes link Kihei with Kahului and Māʻalaea, but stops and hours are limited, so most visitors rent a car. Both main roads have bike lanes.

Locals use road names, not numbers: the Piʻilani Highway, not Highway 31.

Airport & Station Connections

Kahului Airport, Maui's main airport, is about 10 miles north, a drive of 20 to 30 minutes across the island's central isthmus. It has flights from the mainland and frequent hops from Honolulu, one of the busiest air routes in the country.

Walkability

Within one part of town, walking works: most condos are a short stroll from a beach, shops and restaurants. The whole town is too long to walk end to end, so a car or bike is needed to get around more widely. Heat and sun are strong at midday.

Safety

Crime against visitors is low, though car break-ins at beach parks happen. The ocean is the main danger: shore breaks, currents and wind chop can catch swimmers out, and not every beach has lifeguards. Sun and heat are strong on this dry coast.

For most visitors the US is safe, with the main risks being petty theft and car break-ins in tourist areas of some cities, road accidents over long distances, extreme weather, and the hazards of the outdoors. Leave nothing in parked cars, swim at lifeguarded beaches and get in the water early, before the afternoon wind. Check current official travel advice before travelling.

Climate

An arid climate on the leeward side of Haleakalā, with no more than about 10 inches of rain a year — known as one of the hottest places to stay on Maui. Afternoon trade winds can blow strongly from spring to early autumn. No source gives Kihei's own temperatures; the figures below are the Hawaii region's sea-level ranges.

Summer
for the Hawaii region, 79–88°F at sea level, drier, with steady trade winds
Winter
for the Hawaii region, 72–81°F at sea level, with more showers

Local Customs

Tipping follows the US norm of roughly 18–22 per cent in restaurants. Dress is beach-casual, and shoes come off at the door of homes. Aloha — warmth, respect and patience — is expected in return, including on the road. The 2023 wildfires killed at least 102 people in Lahaina, so the subject calls for sensitivity.

The legal age for alcohol is 21. Give turtles and monk seals plenty of space, and do not stand on or touch coral.

Common Payment Methods

The currency is the US dollar. Cards and contactless payment are accepted almost everywhere, and ATMs are easy to find in the shopping centres. A little cash helps at food trucks and roadside stands.