Kapalua Resorts

Kapalua Beach lies on Maui's northwestern coast between Napili Bay and D.T. Fleming Beach Park. This beach is well protected by two rock outcroppings that make for some the of safest and best swimming conditions on the island. The wide, sandy beach slopes gently to deep water. Good snorkeling conditions can be found on the northern end of this cove and around the rock outcropping in Namalu Bay. Facilities include a parking area, showers and restrooms.

The history of Kapalua began before books, when the names of all living things and all of history were passed down through ancient chants and hulas. When the first Hawaiians settled here centuries ago, they grew taro in the fields and harvested fish from the bay. It was an area rich in blessings. Much of the land was sacred. Poets and musicians resided here and chiefs and their families would come to relax and play in this place that they deemed a special retreat.

In 1836, for his missionary services, Dwight Baldwin was granted 2,675 acres of land, originally the Mahinahina and Kahana ahupua´a. An ahupua´a was an original Hawaiian land division, under single ownership, that ran from the ocean to the mountains. Through royal grants, purchases, marriage and mergers the holdings grew to 24,500 acres in 1902. This vast land parcel was known as Honolua Ranch. Later, 20 acres of pineapples were planted and a cannery was constructed. In 1914 the first pineapples were harvested by Baldwin Packers and shipped to mainland markets. The company eventually merged with the Maui Land and Pineapple Company, today the largest employer on Maui. Looking towards the future, Colin Cameron, the company's president, envisioned a resort on some of the prime oceanfront pineapple land—a place of culture and a haven fit for royalty, in a setting that would renew spirits. The resort would honor the past and protect the pristine environment. By 1975 the first of Kapalua's three golf courses, The Bay Course, was completed, and three years later Kapalua Bay Hotel officially opened its doors. Condominiums and houses were built for new residents, along with homes for company employees.

The 1,650-acre Kapalua Resort consists of three world-class hotels (The Ritz- Carlton Kapalua, Kapalua Bay Hotel, The Kapalua Villas) and 9 communities of condominiums (The Coconut Grove on Kapalua Bay, Bay Villas, Golf Villas, Ironwoods, The Ridge) and single family homes (Plantation Estates, Pineapple Hill, Pineapple Hill Estates, Kapalua Place). There are three golf courses, two tennis facilities, three white sand beaches, including "America's Best Beach" Kapalua Bay, award-winning restaurants and shopping. And just as Colin Cameron envisioned, the resort is a sanctuary that abides in harmony with its environment.

D.T. Fleming Beach Park lies on Maui's northwestern coast near the communities of Kapalua and Honokohau. This site has a long, sandy beach that slopes steeply into the water. An offshore sandbar often creates a dangerous shore break, known for injuring the unaware swimmer.

This site is popular with local families. Good conditions for surf boarding and body surfing can be found at this beach throughout the year. Winter is especially good, and dangerous, for surfing due to high surf. Caution should be practiced by everyone who enters the water at this beach. This site is backed by a stand of ironwood trees and the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Facilities available at Fleming beach include showers, restrooms, picnic tables and a telephone. Lifeguards are on duty daily.