This West Maui beach was off limits for 50 years. The $1.77 million fines still won’t open it…yet (what to know)

MAUI – If you’ve ever stood on the sidewalk along Lower Honoapiilani Road in Honokowai and wondered why you can’t just walk down to that beautiful stretch of beach, you’re not imagining a problem.

There’s a real one. And it’s been there since the 1970s.

A West Maui condo called Hale Mahina Beach Resort was supposed to build a public path and stairs down to the beach back in 1977.

It never did.

Now, after racking up almost $1.77 million in fines, the property’s owners have finally agreed to fix it.

Here’s what that means for your trip, and the honest answer is: not much yet.

A permit requirement that sat ignored for decades

Back in 1977, when Hale Mahina was still called Mahinahina Beach Resort and wanted to redevelop, Maui’s Planning Commission approved its permit on one condition.

The property had to set aside a paved, approved public right of way and stairs down to the beach at the seawall.

That condition never got fully met.

There is a path on the north side of the property, but it stops at the top of the seawall with bars across it. You can see the ocean.

You cannot get down to it.

Nobody official seemed to notice, or at least nobody acted on it, until 2020, when the county’s planning department got a complaint.

Even then, it took until 2023 for the county to issue a formal warning, and until May 2024 for an actual notice of violation with real fines attached.

That’s the kind of timeline that makes you wonder if anyone was actually checking.

Permits, it turns out, are very good at getting approved and very bad at getting enforced.

The fines added up fast once they started

Once the county got serious, the fines piled up quickly: an initial $50,000, then $1,500 a day starting in May 2024, then $2,500 a day starting that November.

By this month, that put the total at nearly $1.77 million.

Facing that bill, the homeowners association and several fee owners appealed, then went into mediation with the county in January.

The result is a settlement the Maui Planning Commission approved last week.

Under the deal, the association has 45 days to file permit applications for a new public pathway on the south side of the property, running from the parking lot to the bottom of the existing stairway.

Once permits are approved, the association has up to a year to actually build it. If they hit both deadlines, the county wipes out the violation and waives the fines.

If they miss either one, the fines come back as if the settlement never happened.

So this is real progress. It is not yet a beach you can walk to.

What you can actually expect on your trip

If you’re staying in Honokowai, Kaanapali, or Kapalua sometime in the next year, plan your beach days the way you already would.

This particular access point is not open, and there’s no firm date for when it will be.

Worth knowing: this isn’t an isolated problem. Three neighboring properties, Lokelani Condominiums, Hoyochi Nikko, and Kuleana Resort, were all built before Hawaii’s 1977 Coastal Zone Management Act took effect, and none of them currently provide public beach access either.

Those aren’t part of this settlement, so don’t expect those gates to open anytime soon.

For now, the easiest nearby beach access remains Kaanapali Beach itself, where public access is well established and resorts sit right across the beach walk.

What to watch for over the next year

The real test starts now.

The association has 45 days from approval to file for permits. Once permits clear, the clock starts on a one-year build window for the pathway, stairs, and required fencing.

If you’re a regular West Maui visitor and curious whether this actually gets built on schedule, the Maui Planning Commission’s agenda center is the place to check for updates, since any extension requests or compliance issues would show up there first.

This doesn’t affect existing public beach access points elsewhere on Maui, and it’s not a sign of a broader closure trend. It’s a single, specific property finally being held to a permit condition it should have met decades ago.

FAQs

Can I access this beach right now?

No. The pathway and stairs have not been built yet. There’s currently no legal public access through this property.

Where exactly is this? Hale Mahina Beach Resort sits at 3875 Lower Honoapiilani Road in Honokowai, on West Maui’s coastline between Kaanapali and Kapalua.

When will the new beach access open?

There’s no fixed opening date yet. The association has 45 days to apply for permits, then up to a year after approval to complete construction. Realistically, this is at least many months away, possibly longer.

Why did this take 50 years to fix?

The access requirement was part of Hale Mahina’s original 1977 redevelopment permit, but enforcement didn’t really begin until a complaint in 2020 led to a formal county investigation.

Are other condos in the area required to provide beach access too?

Some are exempt because they were built before 1977, before Hawaii’s Coastal Zone Management Act required this kind of access as a permit condition. Lokelani Condominiums, Hoyochi Nikko, and Kuleana Resort are examples nearby that currently don’t provide public beach access.