A 1.5-mile paved coastal walk linking five crescent beaches along Maui's manicured south shore, past sea turtles, tide pools, and some of the island's most polished resorts.
Wailea is the part of Maui I approach with mixed feelings — a stretch of manicured resort coastline that represents everything the guidebooks warn against, the version of Hawai’i built entirely around infinity pools and valet parking. And yet the Wailea Beach Path, a mile and a half of paved walkway threading between five separate beaches and a run of five-star properties, won me over almost against my will.
Walking Between Beaches
The path starts near the Wailea Beach Marriott and runs south past Ulua, Mokapu, Wailea, Polo, and Keawakapu beaches, each one distinct enough — some rockier, some wider, some better for snorkeling — that the walk becomes less a stroll past hotels and more a survey of the coastline’s small variations. We started at sunrise, when the resorts were still quiet and the path belonged mostly to joggers and a few early snorkelers heading for Ulua’s reef.
At Mokapu Beach we watched a green sea turtle haul itself onto the sand to bask, close enough that a small crowd gathered at a respectful distance, phones out but voices lowered instinctively. Nobody had to tell anyone to keep back — there’s something about a turtle on land that makes people behave better than they otherwise might.
The Lava Point at Ulua
Between Ulua and Mokapu, a low outcrop of lava rock forms a natural point worth climbing for the view alone — the whole crescent of beaches visible in one sweep, Kaho’olawe and Lana’i sitting flat on the horizon beyond. Lia found a tide pool tucked into the rock crevices, small fish trapped between tides, and spent ten minutes crouched over it while I sat on the warm lava and did nothing in particular, which felt like the correct use of the morning.
When to go: Walk it at sunrise or in the last two hours before sunset — midday sun on the exposed path is intense and the beaches crowd with resort guests. Free public parking exists at each beach access point, a detail the resorts do not advertise.