Makena State Park, State park and beaches in Maui, United States.
Mākena State Park is a 165-acre beachside park on Maui's southwestern coast, just south of Wailea, containing three beaches and the dormant cinder cone Puʻu Ōlaʻi, which rises 360 feet (110 m) in the park's center. Big Beach (Oneloa) runs 1.5 miles long and over 100 feet wide; Little Beach (Puʻu Ōlaʻi Beach) is a 660-foot strand north of it; Oneʻuli, a black sand beach, lies at the northern end.
Mākena State Park covers 165 acres south of Wailea on Maui and holds three beaches around the dormant cinder cone Puʻu Ōlaʻi, which rises 360 feet. The cone's steep lava outcropping separates Big Beach from Little Beach. The ʻAhihi Kinaʻu Natural Area Reserve begins just to the south of the park.
The beaches carry Hawaiian names still used today: Oneloa for Big Beach, Puʻu Ōlaʻi for Little Beach, and Oneʻuli, "black sand," for the northern beach. Little Beach is known as a nude beach, though nude bathing is de jure illegal because it lies in a state park. Big Beach's three entrances are informally called "Firsts," "Seconds" and "Thirds."
The park lies on Mākena Road at 20°37′52″N 156°26′46″W, just south of Wailea, with the ʻAhihi Kinaʻu Natural Area Reserve immediately to the south. Little Beach sits north of Big Beach beyond a steep lava outcropping, reached by a 5-minute hike. Big Beach is informally split by its three entrances into "Firsts", "Seconds" and "Thirds", a local way of naming a spot along its 1.5 miles.
Little Beach, also called Puʻu Ōlaʻi Beach, is separated from Big Beach by the steep lava outcropping at the tip of Puʻu Ōlaʻi and reached by a five-minute hike. It is only 660 feet (200 m) long and is regarded as a nude beach, though nude bathing is de jure illegal because it lies within a state park.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,369 contributors worldwide.