CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons (via Flickr)Beach· Maui· Hawaii
Big Beach (Makena State Park)
20° 37.9′ N · 156° 26.8′ W · approximate
Oneloa, Maui's grandest undeveloped beach: 1.5 miles of golden sand more than 100 feet wide below the red cinder cone of Puu Olai, with Little Beach over the headland and black-sand Oneuli to the north.
Practical
Approx: beach position from OpenStreetMap (way 45054863); Wikipedia gives the park at 20°37'52"N 156°26'46"W. 165-acre state park. Hours (DLNR): Oneloa (Big Beach) and Oneuli (Black Sand) daily 5:00 am to 7:00 pm, to 7:45 pm in May, June and July; Little Beach has shorter weekend hours. Non-residents pay $5 per person entry and $10 per vehicle parking (DLNR; Hawaii residents free with ID); pay by card at the pay stations. Lifeguards on duty. The shorebreak is heavy and dumps right onto the sand: one of Maui's most dangerous for neck and back injuries, so swim only when it is flat. Little Beach is a 5-minute scramble over the lava point; nudity there is common but illegal. Not a dinghy landing: approach by land or from Makena Landing.
Best for
A big-beach day and sunset with Kahoolawe on the horizon
Season
Calmest in winter; summer south swell makes dangerous shorebreak
Nearby
- Puu Olai Cinder Cone Hike0.3 NM away
- Puu Olai Reef Dive (Makena)0.6 NM away
- Turtle Arches and Keawalai Reef Dive0.9 NM away
- Maluaka Beach (Turtle Town)1 NM away
- Keawalai Congregational Church (Makena)1.1 NM away
- Makena Anchorage (Nahuna Point)1.3 NM away
- Makena Landing1.4 NM away
- Makena Offshore Moorings1.4 NM away