#Maalaea

The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation is advising highway users to use caution and expect delays on Saturday, March 15, as the Valley to the Sea Half Marathon, along with its 10k and 5k races run through the Wailuku and Māʻalaea area.

The community is invited to participate in sand dune restoration efforts at Haycraft Beach Park, located at the end of Hauoli Street in Mā’alaea, from 7 to 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.

Nonprofit For the Fishes said it has found that the Maui Ocean Center has repeatedly violated its special permits over the years, and that the state has allowed them to do so with minimal consequences.

After the devastating Lahaina fire swept through the town last year, one of Maui’s voyaging canoes was floating offshore—the 62 foot, 12 ton Moʻokiha o Piʻilani. She was in waters fronting 525 Front St., outside of Kamehameha Iki Park where she was built. Hui O Waʻa Kaulua is celebrating Moʻokiha O Piʻilani’s 10th birthday Nov 23, 2024 at the Seascape Restaurant in Māʻalaea.

For the last two weeks, Hōkūleʻa has been docked at Māʻalaea, where the crew has been hosting students and the community for tours and presentations as part of the Pae ʻĀina Statewide Sail. The crew departed Māʻalaea early Friday morning and arrived in Kahoʻolawe later that day.

The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation (HDOT) advises highway users that crews will be conducting traffic signal work at the intersection of Honoapi‘ilani Highway (Route 30) and Kūihelani Highway (Route 380) in Māʻalaea from 8 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 3 to 6 a.m., Friday, Oct. 4.

The Public Utilities Commission granted Expeditions the right to increase its passenger fares in all rate categories earlier this month. In a filed order, the Commission recognized several impacts to operations in granting Expeditions’ request for the rate increase including: the Maui wildfires, Expeditions’ losses and change in operations to Māʻalaea Harbor, a reduction in tourism, a loss of alternative forms of income, issues with the financial viability of the ferry services, and the lingering impacts of the COVID pandemic. It also noted that Expeditions has not increased its fares in over 16 years, despite dramatically increased costs of operation.

A Brown Water Advisory has been issued at multiple coastlines around Central, South and West Maui including: Waihe’e to Kahului Harbor; Uwapo Road to Cove Park; Māʻalaea to McGregor Point; Puamana to Pāpalaua; Kahana Village; Hanakaʻōʻō Beach Park; and DT Fleming Beach Park.

“We got a request for help late on the night of Aug. 8, 2023, and we deployed a boat and three personal watercraft from the Māʻalaea Small Boat Harbor. Normally the 13-mile trip takes a half hour. With hurricane force winds in our face and very rough sea conditions it took us more than an hour to get to Lahaina,” said DOCARE Lt. Jeff Kinores.

A 62-year-old Pukalani man reported trolling in his boat near the shoreline between the “Pali” lookout and tunnel when he observed a fishing pole bobbing in the water and an unresponsive male nearby. The victim has since been identified as a 23-year-old Kīhei man. 

“It’s important because it is connected to a much larger set of lands that go all the way to the summit (of the West Maui Mountains),” said Scott Fretz, the Maui branch manager of DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife. “Fires often start at those mauka lands and come down in the direction toward the highway. And often they start at the highway and go up this parcel into the mauka lands. So, that connectivity is important.”

Operating since 2006, Kaheawa Wind 1, Maui’s first wind farm, was recently selected to the Final Award Group for the Stage 3 request for proposal (“RFP”) from Hawaiian Electric to continue operations at the existing wind farm. The facility has a production capacity of 30 megawatts of power, serving approximately 17,000 homes annually and is located in Ukumehame above Mā‘alaea Harbor.

Maui Ocean Center has been named the seventh best aquarium in the nation as part of USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards 2024.

The Maui Ocean Center Marine Institute hosts a reef cleanup at Kamaʻole Beach I on Saturday, June 1, from 9 to 11 a.m. 

Maui Mauka hosts a conservation awareness training event from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on April 11, 2024 at the Ocean Science Discovery Center in Māʻalaea.

Maui activities for HMSA members include opportunities for free admission to Maui Ocean Center and Kula Country Farms.

The state Department of Transportation will be conducting road work this week that will result in lane closures at various locations. Lane closure schedules may change at any time without further notice. All projects are weather permitting.

A whale calf spotted in distress off of Māʻalaea Bay on Maui Friday, is likely suffering from blunt force injuries caused by a vessel strike, according to researchers with the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

Registration is open for the 13th annual Maui 5K Run and Walk, set to take place, rain or shine, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on March 3, 2024. Participants will receive medals and T-shirts honoring Lahaina.

Starting next week, the damaged seawall at Māʻalaea Small Boat Harbor will undergo repairs to shore up its protection against current and wave action. Mocon Corporation will begin construction of a new, reinforced concrete seawall on Monday, Feb. 5.