Memorial Park

The Beach at Memorial Park, looking South

Memorial Park is located on South Kihei Road in North Kihei. A somewhat underutilized park, it is easy to overlook as you drive by. It would be a good place for a picnic (but not if you need a grill), a last-minute swim, or to snooze under the shade of one of the large friendly trees. If the winds are right, the windsurfing here can be good.

South Kihei Road is very narrow here, which may keep the speeds down, but there is nothing nearby to break the flow of traffic, so it is very difficult to cross the road. If you are on the beach here, the road will be almost unnoticeable, because of the dunes-- but if you are on the lawn the road noise will be hard to ignore.

Memorial Park is the site of a rather successful dune vegetation restoration project. The dunes here are covered with vegetation, which is very effective at keeping the sand from blowing off the beach onto the road. This beach is probably one of the few beaches on Maui that's getting bigger!

A/K/A

Memorial Park is also known at Mai Poina 'Oe Ia'u Park, and that is, in fact, what the sign says in front of the bathhouse-- although most people can't pronounce that, and are more likely to call it Memorial Park or "that park with the really long weird name." "Mai poina 'oe ia'u" means "Don't forget me" in Hawaiian.

Hours of Operation

A sign on the bathhouse says "gates open 7:00AM to 7:00PM" but there are no gates, so it is unlikely they would be closed or locked.

Weather Forecast

(As of 329 PM HST Wednesday July 11 2007)
Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows around 75 at the shore to around 55 at 5000 feet. East winds 10 to 15 mph.
Thursday: Sunny. Highs around 86 at the shore to around 71 at 5000 feet. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Gusts up to 30 mph in the morning.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear. Lows around 76 at the shore to around 55 at 5000 feet. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph and gusty.
Friday: Sunny. Highs 67 to 88. East winds 10 to 15 mph with higher gusts.
Friday Night: Mostly clear. Lows 50 to 75. Northeast winds around 10 mph and gusty.
Saturday: Mostly sunny. Isolated showers in the afternoon. Highs 67 to 89. East winds around 10 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear. Lows 50 to 75. East winds around 10 mph.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. Isolated showers in the afternoon. Highs 67 to 87. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear. Lows 50 to 75. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph.
Monday: Mostly sunny. Isolated showers in the afternoon. Highs 67 to 87. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.
Monday Night: Mostly clear. Lows 50 to 75. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Isolated showers in the afternoon. Highs 67 to 87. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.
Tuesday Night: Mostly clear. Lows 50 to 75. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph.

Sunrise: 5:50am Sunset: 7:08pm. Visit Maui Weather Today for a daily discussion of the current weather patterns affecting Maui. For the surf conditions, visit the Maui Surf Report.

See our Webcams page for up to the minute conditions all around Maui!

Getting There

The Parking Lot at Memorial Park

Memorial Park is on South Kihei Road just south of the intersection with Ohukai Street. There's a small parking lot at the bathhouse, although most people seem to park in the larger dirt parking area farther south. The parking area at the bathhouse is very difficult to get out of because your view of the traffic on the road is blocked by the stone wall. Your best bet is to back out but stay in the parking area (it's deep enough to have your car on the side of the road but across all the parked vehicles) and then watch the traffic in your rear-view mirror. You might also consider backing into the parking area instead of pulling straight in.

The same warnings apply to a lesser extent to the dirt parking area farther south. The problem is that the road is very narrow and has an almost continuous flow of traffic (there's no traffic lights anywhere nearby to break up the flow). Be patient and be careful parking here.

There's a bus stop on either side of South Kihei Road right next to the bathhouse here, so you can catch the bus to get here! Call 808-871-4838 for the bus schedule.

Map

You may also view a more detailed full-screen version of this map on Google Maps.

Facilities

Beach has:
- A large lawn with picnic tables and shade trees
- A bathhouse with toilets and sinks
- A porta-potty at the southern parking area
- Picnic tables, but no barbeque pits
- A payphone

The Lawn

Another View of the Lawn

One of the Shade Trees

The Southern Parking Area

Images

The Bathhouse

The Beach, Facing North

Housing Across the Street

The Condo Construction Across the Street

An Artists's Rendering of the Condos Being Built Across the Street

What's Nearby

There's not much nearby. Across the street they're building a condominium development, the Kai Makani Beach Villas. There's a few houses across the street that may have vacation rental units in them, but there's no signs, so it's hard to say.

As you travel south on South Kihei Road, you'll pass (on the left) the Nona Lani Cottages vaction rentals, the Kihei Holiday, which is both long-term and vacation rentals, and the Maui Beach Resort. Farther down is the Isana Restaurant, offering Korean Cuisine including sushi, and the Kulana Kai, renting studio apartments (according to their sign) from $45 and up. Finally you arrive at the Maui Sunseeker, a resort catering to gay and lesbian clientele, and the Maui Lu, one of the oldest hotels in Kihei (which is slated to be demolished and rebuilt as condos in the next few years).

The beach extends along the shore across the road from all of these, ending in a rocky outcropping in front of the Maui Lu.

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This page was last modified 18:55, 25 March 2006.