Meandering along Maui's Kihei coast

• Map of the Kihei coastline

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Travel Editor

Kihei in South Maui boasts some of the most beautiful beaches. Kama'ole Beach Park III offers a great mountain view, soft sand and snorkeling spots. Advertiser library photo Feb. 3, 2002

I was born and raised on Maui, and lived for a brief time in the sun-drugged, sleepy Kihei of old — when Azeka's was still a store and you'd drive by a beach if there was anyone else on it (unless you spotted your cousin's truck). But even I was surprised at the breadth of experiences available along this close-packed coastline.

In a single, unhurried morning, I:

• Toured the informative Maui Ocean Center amidst a gaggle of bubbling schoolchildren.
• Spent a calming half-hour listening to birds in the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge.
• Negotiated the narrow north end of Kihei Road with its genteel older condos with names like Nona Lani Cottages and Kuleana Kai.
• Poked through the shops and eyed the beaches between Kihei Center and Kama'ole III Park.
• Did a quick check of the tres chic Shops at Wailea.
• Skirted chickens in the road near Makena Landing and respectfully toured the small graveyard at Keawala'i Church (founded1832).
• Lost the radio but gained a view of the cliffs of Moloka'i at popular Oneloa ("Big") Beach.
• Found myself in an eerie and beautiful landscape of tortured lava and sharp reddish shadows that forms the 'Ahihi-Kina'u Natural Area, where it's a crime to walk off with a rock.
• And turned around at windy, white-capped and beautiful La Pérouse Bay, where the road becomes a test of the springiness of your shocks (and your poor 'okole).
• A few minutes later, I was lunching at Sarento's on the Beach, and a short time after that, lounging in an immense furo at one of Wailea's best-kept secrets, the quiet, hillside Diamond Resort.

In that short bit of time and distance, I had witnessed remnants of pre-contact times (heiau and fishing shrines), the arrival of Westerners (the La Pérouse monument), missionary days (David Malo's Kilolani Church), plantation times (remnants of cane fields at Ma'alaea and along Mokulele Highway), the hippie era (the famed nude beaches of Makena), the entire sweep of tourism (from '60s time-share apartments to lavish resorts such as Four Seasons Wailea and the Grand Wailea), eco-consciousness (the turtle fences along Pi'ilani Highway, the Pacific Whale Foundation headquarters on Kihei Road), the Japanese economic bust (Diamond Resort, now seeking the pay public, was once a lavish private club for Japanese millionaires) and today's housing boom (from the gated communities of Wailea and the secluded mansions of Makena to the "affordable" subdivisions on the east side of Kihei town and condos, condos, condos).

All of which is to say that there is much more to Kihei than tacky pareau stands and franchise restaurants, much more to Wailea than mega-cost resorts and clean golf courses. These excesses exist, but so does history, so do many free and inexpensive places to enjoy, and so does the particular blend of aloha and unbridled energy that characterizes Maui and Mauians.

Here are my five favorite ways to spend time in the area:

A beautiful morning

Here, as elsewhere in Hawai'i, my advice is to start early in the day to see things at their best — while others are still asleep, when you'll share the road only with runners and the beaches only with birds. The light is exquisite from dawn to breakfast and it feels as though you own the world. On an early-morning drive out to La Pérouse Bay, I saw barely a human being until I got to the bay, around 8 a.m., where vanloads of tourists were readying for their morning kayak-snorkel excursions. It's a great time to sightsee, walk, run, swim or kayak.

Take a walk

Whether or not you're staying at one of the Wailea resorts, you can enjoy the 1.5-mile paved public walkway that runs from Polo Beach on the south to the Renaissance Wailea Beach Resort on the north ("the old Intercontinental," as it is will ever be known to locals). It's one of the nicest features of the area and a rare find in Hawai'i, where parks rarely offer long pathways.

There are several public access routes or you can make your way to the beach through any of the hotels. It's a great place from which to watch whales in season and to see how the other half lives in the swank resorts. This route gets a bit crowded with runners and walkers as soon as the sun is well up.

See what you can sea

Take advantage of the many and varied ways to get out on the water: whale watch cruises, dolphin encounters, kayak rentals or guided excursions, snorkeling or scuba-diving adventures, fishing charters. These are offered in a wide range of prices and at all levels, from roughing it to luxury. Check with the concierge if you're staying in a hotel or consult a current guide book. (I like my friend Virginia Wageman's "Essential Guide to Maui" from Island Heritage Publishers.) Racks at the airport are also covered with free brochures, and publications such as This Week Maui offer discount coupons.

A little bird

If you're at all interested in wildlife or the history of the area, find the Mile 6 marker on the Mokulele Highway; right across the way is the entrance to the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge. It isn't much — a trailer where the rangers hang out, a few yards of raised paths where you can walk between the ponds. But here you can see Hawaiian waterbirds, shorebirds and migratory waterfowl. And, from the free brochure provided by the ranger, you can learn a little of the cultural history of this rare, preserved brackish water pond, which covers 400 acres during winter's rainy season, then shrinks to a group of interconnected waterways and dried ledges, where Hawaiians gathered salt and tended fish traps. Take binoculars, sunscreen and closed-toed shoes and wear a hat.

Peel me a grape

My day above of all others in Wailea was spent a few feet from the water in a rented cabana at the Outrigger Wailea. Here, the shoreline is a rocky outcropping and my awning-shaded, cushion-covered double chaise lounge was just a couple of feet from the grassy verge. For $15 (hotel guests only), I had this little space to myself for the day. (Most of the resort hotels offer cabanas for rent, by the sea or around the pool.) My only task was to lug a capacious tote down to my chair, containing a bag of ice, cooling drinks, several books, sunglasses, sunscreen, a manicure kit, a notebook and pen and assorted snacks. This is the perfect antidote to running crazed: watching turtles peek up from the surf, scanning for whale signs (this was January), listening to the soothing susurration of the wavelets. Sounds are muffled by the cabana, which surrounds you on three sides, and it seems as though you're all alone even though the seaside path is just a few feet away. I thought I would read, write, paint my nails. Instead, my gaze found the hazy blue horizon and I spent the day in quiet contemplation. OK, I admit it: I napped.