Wednesday night was the first Slack Key Guitar Show at West Maui’s Napili Kai Beach Resort since the August 8 wildfires that destroyed almost all of nearby Lahaina. The evening began with a Hawaiian chant from Wainani Kealoha (who later performed some extraordinarily graceful hula). and a thank you to the audience for coming out to the first show following a tragedy that took nearly 100 lives, gutted Lahaina’s treasured historical landmarks and razed the homes of thousands of people, including several workers at the resort. Having driven past Lahaina and seen some of the destruction first-hand on my Read more
Lahaina
Popular areas of West Maui that have been closed since the devastating Lahaina fires in early August will reopen on Wednesday, November 1, the Maui government says. “The phased reopening of West Maui accommodations began on October 8,” Maui officials said a press release. “Today, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen announced that the rest of West Maui north of Lahaina — Phases 2 and 3 from Kahana to Kā‘anapali — will begin reopening on Wednesday, November 1.” The decision was made following discussions with the Mayor’s Lahaina advisory team, the Red Cross and other partners, and the community feedback following the Read more
Parts of West Maui officially opened for business today. But it’s unclear if that will remain the case. Maui’s County Council unanimously passed a resolution on Friday (Oct. 6) asking Governor Josh Green to delay the opening because area residents are still traumatized by the August 8 fires that killed nearly 100 people and destroyed almost all of the town of Lahaina. “I hope that it sends a loud message,” Maui County Councilmember Tamara Paltin said in a story posted at Hawaii News Now. “We need certain things to be able to open to to tourism. We need stability of Read more
The planned re-opening of West Maui for October 8 appears to be partly in doubt. Hawai’i Governor Josh Green last month declared that the West Maui communities of Kā‘anapali, Nāpili, Honokōwai, and Kapalua will fully reopen on Sunday, October 8, two months after the August 8 wildfires that destroyed Lahaina. But that seems unlikely to happen after Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said this week that the reopening will happen in phases. Bissen said the most northerly part of the West Maui tourism area would open October 8 and would include everything from Kahana Villa to the The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Read more
The governor of Hawai’i has set October 8, two months after the terrible fires that destroyed Lahaina, as the date for West Maui businesses to re-open. That obviously does not include Lahaina itself, where there’s very little left and where emergency workers continue to clean up and look for bodies. But it DOES include Ka’anapali, Honokowai, Kahana, Napili and Kapalua. Most of my visits over the years have been concentrated in that region, so it’s a part of the island I know pretty well. With that in mind, here are 30 places I’ve enjoyed in my time on the magical Read more
