Kahului Travel Information
Kahului, Maui's deep-water port, is home to nearly a third of the
island's resident population and busy with shipping traffic. While
commerce keeps the city bustling, it also means that Kahului's
waterfront is more ships and sailing-vessels then sand. Beaches east
of the city center are certainly nothing to sniff at though, whether
you're after a swim or a few hours of sun. Less than a landing
strip away from Maui's main airport in Kahului, the Kana Beach County
Park is rated one of the best places to learn how to sailboard in the
world and consequently most visitors happily let the sound of the surf
drown out the noise of the flights landing behind the trees. The same
winds that made the area popular with sailboarders have lured in
kite-boarders, though sea-kayakers and tentative surfers also find the
regular breeze and gentle swell a good way to get up to speed before
venturing on to the house-high breaks Hawaii is famous for. If you
think water sports are better left to the birds, stop in at the Kanaha
Pond State Sanctuary, also close to the airport, for views of
commercial airlines, migratory waterfowl and the endangered Hawaiian
stilt and coot. Kahului's city center boasts such home-town
amenities as shopping malls and the Alexander and Baldwin Sugar
Museum. For more of the historic and less of the air-conditioned
mall, head out of town along Route 320 to Wailuku, Maui's county-seat
with several historic buildings and a museum that exhibits relics from
the missionaries-in-Hawaii era. Continue up Route 320, the 'Road to
'Iao', for 'Iao Valley State Park. A rock pillar, 'The Needle' rises
up out of the foliage to a height of 2,250 feet above sea level. It
was once a look-out and also an altar. Exploring the views and
verdant greenery in the park on a number of short hikes requires,
however, no big sacrifice. Watch for sugarcane fields on the drive
out of Kahului. The city is 20 miles—a 45 minute
drive—east of Lahaina around Puu Kukui, at 5,788 feet the
highest peak in the West Maui Mountains. Kahului is 38 miles north
of Haleakala National Park and 23 east of Lahaina.
| 
