SOUTH MAUI

South Maui includes Hawai‘i’s fastest growing urban area, Kihei, and is the most recently developed part of the island. It can also be said to include the town and harbor of Ma‘alaea, and it undoubtedly includes the upscale communities of Wailea and Makena where luxury residences and resort developments predominate.

Tourism is the primary business of Wailea although there are many condominium developments and private homes as well. And the tourist activities and visitor shopping experiences that emanate from the hotels and world-class resorts of Wailea have become central to the style and development of Kihei. Nonetheless, with over 20,000 people in South Maui, it has one major shopping center - Azeka Place - that is not especially intended for visitors.

South Maui’s rapidly increasing population lives on the leeward side of the island, so it is dry and warm. Haleakala’s “weather shadow” prevents both rain and trade winds from reaching the area, but a complex array of winds, some of them also caused by the shape of the volcano, sweep through the district usually preventing it from being as hot as Lahaina.