#Lahaina Small boat Harbor

Regular maintenance dredging of the Lahaina Small Boat Harbor begins on Monday, June 1. All dredged material will be disposed at the landfill, due to the potential presence of debris from the 2023 wildfires in the sediment.

Senator Angus McKelvey (District 6, West Maui, Mā‘alaea, Waikapū, South Maui) announced that approximately $250 million in capital improvement project (CIP) funding has been secured in the Senate draft of the state budget bill, HB 1800 HD1 SD1. The funds will support critical infrastructure, recovery, and community investment projects across South and West Maui.

The County of Maui Office of Recovery invites commercial property owners who lost property in Lahaina during the 2023 Maui wildfires to attend a dedicated commercial permitting workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, from 3 to 5 p.m. at Morgado Hall at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului.

Mayor Richard Bissen told state lawmakers Monday that his administration has shifted its focus from immediate wildfire recovery to housing delivery and large-scale infrastructure investments, forecasting the construction of approximately 3,000 affordable and workforce homes by 2030.

Following one week of operations at the State of Hawaiʻi’s Lahaina Small Boat Harbor, some adjustments are being made to the public access plan for the Lahaina Historic District. Working in partnership with members of the community and tour boat operators, the County of Maui is making the following changes:

In coordination with state updates to its Lahaina Small Boat Harbor, certain County of Maui streets in Lahaina town near the harbor will reopen for daytime (8 a.m. to 6 p.m.) access starting Dec. 15, 2025, according to the County Office of Recovery. These streets have been closed and under repair since the 2023 Maui wildfires.

In a milestone for Maui Nui and Lahaina wildfire recovery, the DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation will resume limited commercial boat operations at Lahaina Small Boat Harbor starting Dec. 15, 2025, for the first time since the August 2023 wildfires.

Most commercial boat companies on Maui were just recovering from the COVID pandemic’s six-month shutdown of tourists, when the 2023 Lahaina fire led to visitors being told initially to stay away, a message that still lingers two years later.

The budget measure, finalized in a conference committee after both chambers passed different versions, now moves to a final reading before heading to the Governor’s desk for approval.

Maui County highlights in the House Finance Committee draft budgets for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 include $1.6 million in both fiscal years for Kamehameha III temporary school in Lahaina and $12 million in fiscal 2026 and $6 million in fiscal 2027 for Maui Health System.

There is much uncertainty about the rebounding of the Lahaina fishing industry with only two of the commercial fishing boats docked in the harbor having survived the fire and a timeline of at least two more years before the damaged harbor can reopen.

Nearly a year after wildfire overwhelmed Lahaina Small Boat Harbor, exploding fuel tanks and incinerating vessels moored dockside, a quiet Hawaiian blessing ceremony was held Monday for the harbor’s repaired fuel dock, now ready for business.

Commercial operators, with permits, will again be able to use Māla Wharf seven days a week beginning Saturday April 13.

More than 450 people attended a virtual community meeting on Tuesday to get updates on the status of West Maui’s commercial and recreational vessel activities.

To measure the longterm affects of the Lahaina fire on nearby ocean waters, scientists are using three sophisticated sampling instruments that are on loan from the US Geological Survey.

Unified Command has completed the search for sunken, derelict or displaced vessels, along with associated marine debris from the Aug. 8 Lahaina fire, and has identified 78 “targets.”

“Most of the 13 boats, as well as the pier they’re tied to, appear to be largely untouched by the flames of Aug. 8,” according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. “One boat, the Reel Luckey, the last name of its owners, is a metaphor for the line of white vessels, still afloat in stark contrast to the blackened landscape, buildings, and harbor structures.”

Before the Lahaina Small Boat Harbor and surrounding waterways can reopen, much work needs to be done including the removal of burned vessels.

Underwater search efforts for human remains that began last Saturday, continued today in near-shore waters near the Lahaina Small Boat Harbor and along the Front Street breakwater. 

About 85 people were flown from Lānaʻi Airport to Kapalua Airport on Sunday with MEO buses transporting about 40 people from Kapalua Airport to Lahaina Small Boat Harbor and other destinations in Lahaina near parking lots.