Airport Beach (Kahekili Beach Park)

Airport Beach (Kahekili Beach Park)

Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii
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Difficulty
beginner
Viz (last reported 19717h ago)
Max Depth
40ft

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Airport Beach (Kahekili Beach Park)

Kahekili Beach Park is the park that includes Airport Beach Maui. It’s sometimes called North Beach because it is the north half of Kaanapali Beach. Airport Beach Maui in Kahekili Beach Park is one of Maui’s best beaches for several reasons. It is adjacent to Kaanapali Beach, the most famous beach in Maui, but it is not nearly as crowded as the main section of Kaanapali Beach, because it does not have any of the major resort hotels found in that nearby area (the Hyatt, Marriott, Westin, and Sheraton). It has a long wide stretch of smooth light sand. The ocean near shore is shallow. The waves are usually not too big for swimming. It’s a great snorkeling spot with plenty of fish to see, including the Hawaii state fish, the humuhumunukunukuapuaa. Kahekili Beach Park has a large free parking lot. There is a pavilion with benches and picnic tables. Additional picnic tables are on the grassy areas. There are real bathrooms. The boardwalk through the park provides a paved path for walking several miles along the beach. Airport Beach Maui is within a ten minute walk of several large condos, including Maui Kaanapali Villas, Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas, Nanea Ocean Villas, Honua Kai, and Mahana. Why is this called Airport Beach? From 1961 to 1986 there was a small airport here called Kaanapali Airport (HKP). Royal Hawaiian Air Service was the airline that flew small twin-engine Cessna propeller planes here from Oahu. The 2615-foot runway was surrounded by sugar cane. The small A-frame terminal had an upstairs bar called the Windsock Lounge. Who was Kahekili that this park is named after? He lived from 1737 to 1794 and was the last king of Maui from 1766 to 1793, before King Kamehameha came from the Big Island of Hawaii to conquer Maui and unite the Hawaiian islands into the Kingdom of Hawaii.
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Chuck Knauf
Chuck Knauf
Jun 12, 2003, 12:00 AM
scuba
Did this dive as a solo dive while wife was reading on the beach on 23 Mar 03. Had GREAT conditions - no surf and very little current. Entry and exit were about as easy as it gets. First time I used my GPS receiver to locate a dive site. Really appreciate the coordinates on the website! Had a good time just touring the reef. Lots of Mu Fish, Humuhumu, Trumpet fish, Arc-Eyed Hawkish, Yellowtail Coris, Wrasse and other reef fish. Spotted a 4' Whitemouth Moray Eel just below some snorkelers at about 12 ft. Had a blast pointing him out to the snorkelers. My dive graph looks like a yo-yo because I went up to grab their cameras and go back down to photograph it for 5 or 6 of them. Had a Discover Scuba class swim through and the dive leader was kind enough to hang back and let me get the photos before he brought the class in for their photos. After surfacing I was thanked by the class for finding the eel as it was the only one that they had seen on their dive. Was a nice relaxing and fun dive.
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