Maui is known for having some of the best beaches in the world and we wanted to see as many of them as we possibly could on our last day on the island.  We woke up early, packed a beach bag, rented a car, and headed straight to our first beach of the day!  Today, I’m sharing with you the three beaches we visited and what we loved about each location and why! Of course there are so many more beaches that we didn’t have time to visit… but that’s just another reason that we need to go back again one day!  The three beaches we visited were: Wailea, Big Beach, and Makena Cove.  All three of these beaches are located on the south side of Maui.

Wailea Beach

Wailea Beach was our first stop and really the only one I had done any research on prior to the trip! (The rest of the day we just played by ear!)  This gorgeous beach offers a little bit of everything.. beautiful view of the mountains, gorgeous black rocks, and expansive white sand.  This beach is surrounded by many 4 and 5 star hotels.. So I had a feeling it had to be good!  I’m glad we went to this one first as I can imagine it would become more crowded as the day went on (typical of most beaches we visited during this trip!)

Big Beach (Makena Beach)

After a quick stop for lunch at Tommy Bahama’s restaurant and a little search on our maps we decided to drive to Big Beach which is a portion of a larger beach called Makena Beach.  We read that there was both a “Big Beach” and “Little Beach” and the only way to reach little beach was through big beach.  We got there and Danny saw the path he had to climb to go to little beach and said he would see how difficult the path was and if it was worth going to.  He returned not too long later and informed me that he found the nude beach we had read about online! Whoooops! We read about so many beaches that we couldn’t keep them all straight! Anyways, we had a good laugh and spent a little time at Big Beach.  This beach was beautiful as well and had HUGE waves to play in and it was so mesmerizing to watch! We didn’t end up staying here too long as it was SO hot and there wasn’t much shade, if any, to take a break from the sun.

Makena Cove (My favorite!)

I can’t believe we almost didn’t make it to this beach! We didn’t have a ton of time before we needed to get back on the cruise ship and I was starting to burn, but we noticed on our map an icon indicating that Makena Cove was great for a photo opt.  We figured we would quickly stop off, ask someone to take our photo, and then head back to the ship.  We arrived and almost missed it, we parked on the side of a small cobble road, walked through a path in-between some homes and it opened up into this tiny little piece of paradise.  I seriously think Danny had to lift my jaw off the ground, it was the cutest, tiniest little cove filled with the clearest, and bluest water we have seen so far.  I also have an obsession with black rocks and this cove was filled with them.

We took some pictures and dipped our feet into the warm water when some other beach goers told us that there was sea turtle hanging out in the cove! As if this little piece of heaven could get any better?! I turned to Danny and basically demanded that he go back to the car to change back into his suit because I knew this was a once in a life opportunity for him! He looked at me, unsure if we really had time for this, and I told him we couldn’t leave until he did! He did, and waited patiently for the turtle to return and I was the crazy lady trying to balance on the rocks, sobbing (from pure joy and a stubbed toe), and snapping no joke, hundreds of photos.

We left the island with full hearts and a little sunburn.  Maui, we will be back one day & Makena Cove, you will always have a special place in my heart! Until next time…

XOXO,

Sarah Ashley