Lahaina native Clifton Akiyama drives down the roughly paved road to the Māla Boat Ramp once a week to put his 15-foot Boston Whaler into the Pacific Ocean to fish for food.

“Oh, it’s really bad,” the 81-year-old said. “There’s a lot of potholes.”

On Wednesday, he arrived early to a community meeting at the ramp, eager to hear the State of Hawaiʻi’s plans to renovate the public ocean access heavily used by recreational and commercial fishermen, recreational boaters and commercial boat operations, divers, snorkelers and other users since the state built it in 1979.

The state Department of Boating and Ocean Recreation received $3.2 million to improve the site from the state Legislature two years ago. It already used $1 million to dredge the incoming channel, which was finished a year ago.

Finn McCall, an engineer for the state boating department, and consultants from Kaula Architecture and Engineering unveiled the plan for the remaining $2.2 million during an hourlong presentation to approximately 50 people.

The plan calls for repaving that pothole-riddled access road, which a state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokesperson said had not been repaved since at least 2012, and maybe longer.

Coy Owens, who lives across the street from the access road to the facility on Ala Moana Street, said the road is horrible, “with trailers hitting the stop sign, trailers having wheels fall off of their trailers because of the road being so bad.”

McCall said the access road paving would be done one lane at a time to allow the facility to remain open to all boaters.

The entire parking lot also will be repaved and re-striped, keep the same 24 parking stalls for boat trailers up to 45 feet long and 27 parking stalls for vehicles.

Chris Takushi, an engineer for Kaula Architects and Engineering, said the plan also includes putting in a new leach pond, the only addition to the current facility.

“They’re designed to capture the stormwater runoff from the boat wash area and contain it, filter it into the ground so that it doesn’t discharge it to the ocean,” Takushi said. “The rest of the project is to fix what’s there. But this one is an important improvement on the drainage system.”

Rounding out the plan is renovating the 32-year-old bathroom facility and putting in new signs.

The restroom was built in 1994 and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources does not have any record of it ever being renovated.

Owens said the 15 commercial boats permitted to operate at the ramp bring in hundreds of tourists daily to go on whale watches, snorkeling tours and other activities. At times, two commercial operations are boarding people at the same time.

Signs to guide the people is vitally important, Owens said: “They’re on vacation. They leave their brains everywhere. Making (the signage) as dumb as you possibly could for everybody would improve things here.”

The boat ramp is next to the historic Māla Wharf, which was built in 1922 as a landing dock for ships transporting sugar from the Pioneer plantation and pineapples from the Baldwin Packers pineapple cannery in the town. Strong currents led to it being neglected and eventually falling into disrepair, with Hurricane Iniki in 1992 doing more damage. Now the waters around the old pier is a popular shore site for divers and snorkelers.

McCall said bid packets must be distributed by the first week of May. Once the contractors are chosen within the monthlong process, the project should be completed within four months, which is expected to be the end of November.

Many non-commercial boaters were concerned about the overcrowding. They also need a state permit to use the ramp, and they are good at state facilities across the state. The commercial permits issued for use at Māla Boat Ramp are only for that site.

Akiyama was among the people pleased with the plans: “It’s a big improvement, better than what we have right now. … We didn’t lose any parking stalls for boat trailers. That’s good news for guys like me.”

Owens said while fixing the parking lot will help, it won’t solve the overriding problem of simply not enough parking.

“I see people trying to drive their trailers and trucks, trying to find parking and seeing the frustration on their faces when they can’t find anywhere to park,” Owens said.

Owens said he has a list of things that are needed at the ramp, including the building of more parking, “because there’s not going to be less people down here in the future.”

McCall said the project outlined at Wednesday’s meeting has a specific scope and conceded the need for additional parking would have to be addressed at a later date.

“We can only work with funding that we have approved,” McCall said. “The funding is designated for doing certain things. We can’t just take that money and spend it on something else.”

Keahi Ho, owner of GungHo Sailing that is based out of Mā‘alaea Harbor after losing a boat in Lahaina Harbor during the 2023 wildfire, came to the meeting with an idea.

“I’m suggesting that we build another boat ramp down on the south side of the island, near the beginning of the Lahaina Bypass, Cut Mountain,” Ho said. “There’s a big flat area and there’s a beach. You could put all the commercial people down there, all the boats from the other side would go there. It would take a lot of pressure off of Māla.”

Yayoi Hara, who lives in the neighborhood, said: “We would love to see more local people being able to use this area. The question becomes how? How do local people come down here and use the area when the area is already so inundated with visitors?”

Akiyama estimates he has been using the Māla Boat Ramp for “about 40 years.” He lost a 19-foot Boston Whaler along with his house in the Lahaina wildfire, but has continued to fish from the West Side even though he now lives in Wailuku as he awaits the rebuilding of his Lahaina home in the Wahikuli neighborhood.

“I think today was a good step forward, they are doing a very good job,” Akiyama said. “I think it’s 100 times better than what we have today.”