Kāʻanapali's Long Golden Mile: Maui's Resort Coast Beyond the Pool

Once a sugar-plantation shoreline, Kāʻanapali became Hawaiʻi's first master-planned resort coast — and it still sets the standard. The three-mile arc of golden sand fronting West Maui's hotels is wide, walkable and backed by an oceanfront path that links resorts, restaurants and one very famous rock.

Puʻu Kekaʻa

At the north end, the lava promontory known as Black Rock, or Puʻu Kekaʻa, marks both the best snorkeling on the beach and the site of a nightly torch-lighting and cliff-diving ceremony that reenacts a Hawaiian tradition. Turtles and reef fish gather in the calm water at its base most mornings.

Making the Most of It

The beachfront boardwalk strings together Whalers Village shopping, sunset restaurants and easy beach access, so you can leave the car parked all day. Come in winter and the channel between Maui and Lānaʻi fills with humpback whales, often visible from the sand.

Kāʻanapali is where Maui learned how to do a resort beach — and it has never really been topped.

If You Go

• Snorkel the calm water around Black Rock in the morning
• The nightly cliff-diving ceremony happens at sunset off Puʻu Kekaʻa
• Walk the beachfront path instead of driving between resorts
• Winter brings humpback whales to the channel offshore

However you plan it, this is the kind of place that rearranges your idea of a good day off.