The full Kapalua Coastal Trail is about 1.76 miles and can be divided into four sections (see map I…read moremarked : 1. Blue 2. Yellow 3. Red 4. Green). We stayed on the west side of Maui, only about a 10-minute drive to the trail's north end. Left around 11:30am but had to detour a bit due to road work. 1. Kapalua Coastal Trail - Kapalua Bay Public Beach Parking You can plug in Kapalua Bay Public Beach Parking on Google Maps, but free parking is very limited. We drove in circles around 11:50am and couldn't find a single spot! Paid parking nearby was $20, and some restaurants had valet for $10. A little pricey just for a short hike, so we kept looking for other options. 2. Free Parking - Cliff House This lot is inside the Montage Kapalua Bay resort, but only about 10 spaces are actually free. We got lucky after waiting 10+ minutes and snagged a spot. From here, heading left takes you toward the Kapalua Bay side, passing Cliff House, Namalu Bay viewpoint, and Kapalua Bay Beach. After looping back, we continued right toward the Dragon's Teeth Trail. 3. Dragon's Teeth Trail The entrance has a small free parking lot right next to the Ritz-Carlton. Again, spots are super limited, and by the time we got there around 2pm, it was completely full. The trail takes you past Ironwood Cliffs and Oneloa Beach before reaching Dragon's Teeth. 4. Makaluapuna Ridge Trail This section continues further past Dragon's Teeth, but we didn't do this part. **Tips from our walk (123): * Switch Google Maps to satellite view to spot small parking lots. * Free parking is scarce, just come earlier if you can. * Kapalua Bay Beach & Oneloa Beach sections are sandy and flat, good for swimming and easy walking. * Dragon's Teeth is rocky, sneakers are way better than sandals. * Bring water, hat, and sunglasses. Even though it was only mid-70s (F), there's zero shade, and I ended up with a sunburned scalp after 2+ hours because I skipped my hat. Overall, this trail is short and easy, but because it runs through luxury resorts and golf courses, expect crowds. Still, the coastal views are stunning and definitely worth adding to your Maui itinerary.

Easy hike, magnificent views , some well maintained paths, going thru expensive resorts,…read morespectacular snorkeling beaches, jagged rocky shores.... Love to hike every morning. Free Parking is hard to find, even $30 pay parking is limited.

This lovely trail to a cross and beyond is shaded most of the way and feels very wild with dense…read morevegetation including huge agave century plants. It does get slippery when wet and is very steep in many places, and quite close to shear cliff drop offs, so good boots are most helpful. Due to daily rains, it was a bit muddy but we were fine with boots on and did make it to the boundary fence which is about 10 minutes past the cross. There is limited parking and watch out for afternoon rains.

Also called St Anthony Cross Hike. Great shaded cardio hike to get your heart pumping…read more Easy assessability in Central Maui. Safe parking. Good trail conditions, unless wet. Beautiful ocean, valley, harbor, airport and mountain views. 2.5 miles RT to the very top at the West Maui Watershed fence. Bring at least 1 liter of drinking water.

All the books and sites I checked on Maui said that Kapalua resort had a ton of hiking and lots of…read moretrails. My husband said I should have been wary that I hadn't found any reviews, just the comment that there were over "100 miles of trails." That's because that literally IS the only selling point. Still, this was the closest hiking to our hotel in Lahaina so we decided to try it. You head over to Honolua village (where you go to start the ziplining) and there is a free shuttle offered at 4 times throughout the day. If you miss it you have to wait as you aren't able to just walk to the trailhead. They were out of maps that day (freaky!) so we bought an iphone app online and looked at their maps on the wall. We also had to sign a waiver. After a 15 minute drive you arrive at the arboretum. At first there are fun flowers and plants, beautiful vistas and views and you feel a bit like you're in LOST as the trails aren't totally clear and you have to tread lightly through the tall weeds. However, once you are in there for a good hour there isn't much else to see. There are no birds, no frogs, no random unnameable bugs...It's the same thing over and over again. It gets very very rainy and wet (it's a rainforest but again, no wildlife). It gets cold and dark. The weeds become tall painful over-grown beasts that slice your legs as you try and walk. You find yourself walking on trails that run right next to roads. You see plastic from the vegetation that was installed! There is hardly any wildlife whatsoever. We saw far more of that on the hiking we did off the Road to Hana. We didn't want to sit around waiting for the shuttle which was so many hours out so we opted to take the trail that gets you back to where you parked your car. It was about 8 miles and we did it fast because we were super bored. If you do go, it's definitely good for the workout! I was sore the next day. Oh and fair warning...the ground is orange clay so definitely best to wear hiking boots, my sneakers are still red and they were soaked! Truly, I think there's better hiking elsewhere! One local told us a place called Swinging Bridges that is supposed to be amazing...Think it's on private property but maybe worth checking out! Definitely a miss! I am kinda pissed at my fodor's book for even mentioning it. I had to concede my husband a "told you so" and I really hate that most of all!

We did the 8-mile Arboretum to Mahana Ridge Trail and it was the best hike we've ever done in…read moreHawaii! A bit about us: we love the rain, bush whacking, overgrown trails and the challenge of figuring out if we're on the right trail or not. And getting muddy is part of the fun. So if you like all of that, you will love this hike. Note that it is WET and muddy at the top of the hike, so it's slippery in some parts. The abundance of fruit trees was pretty amazing - we were eating guava and lilikoi for the first couple of miles, it was hard to keep walking because we kept finding more fruit to eat. Further down, we found pineapples growing in the wild, how cool is that? The views were outstanding in some parts, and as we descended we kept entering different micro-climates which meant different plant life in each stage (did I mention that we are botanists at heart?). The smell of eucalyptus trees and seeing the huge banyan trees totally makes this hike. About 3/4 of this hike is under shady forest. I will mention that the last mile was the part I didn't like because all of a sudden we lost our shade and hiked in the blasting sun through the golf course, but we still had great views of the ocean. We took a right instead of a left at the overpass and ended up at DT Fleming beach, which isn't all bad because a dip in the ocean is just what we needed. Even though it's mostly downhill, this hike is a bit of a workout. Highly recommended for people who love to hike and don't mind getting dirty. We used the Kapalua free shuttle in the morning and this service is great (must call to reserve, we called at 8:45am and got on the 9:30am shuttle). Make sure to tip the driver!

This hard-to-find trail is short but steep and a great workout! The view at the top is rewarding…read morebut for the best vIew, I recommend going past the giant white cross to the wire fence. The beginning of the trail may be a bit hard to find. It's located right at the end of a guard rail and at a telephone post. I recommend downloading the AllTrails app and your gps to locate it. There's no parking lot but there are spots along the shoulder of the road. Hikers recommended parking in the church parking lot down the road. People at the church are super friendly and let me use their restroom.

The Kapalua Coastal Trail is a beautiful little path along the west side of Maui. There are…read morenumerous meanderings of the trail to take you to hidden gems including olivine pools, heart rocks, coastal views, nesting birds, etc. there is a labyrinth to the north end Napili Bay to the south. It is an easy walk which can be started and stopped in numerous locations depending upon one's interests and exploration inclinations.

I loved being right next to the access of this trail. I could walk this every day at any time of…read morethe day. Having the beach as your view makes the walk/hike even more enjoyable. Walking one way leads you to Kapalua Bay and walking the other way leads you to D.T. Fleming Park (Beach).

Be smart and safe, bring a telephoto lens and view this from a safe distance. If there is a swell…read more(waves breaking against the cliff) don't go down there, a large wave could break over the cliff and pull you out to sea. The blowhole can trick you into thinking it's not doing much and then a huge explosion out of it will soak you and knock you down. Watch for a while from a distance to get a good idea of what is going on and if after 30 minutes you have an idea of the level it's going to go at and you can determine how close you can get safely. Still recommend keeping a good 50 yard distance at a minimum.

Beautiful but a very difficult to climb. Crazy that they now…read morecharge $17 to park! What a ripoff!

It's Amazing hike there's 1 campground with a little water then the another one has no waterread more

Worth it for the views of the sunrise. Very very cold up on the mountain but definitely like a once…read morein a lifetime experience. Would highly recommend for adults without kids and young able bodied people. There are a few parts that require some strength.

Despite several trips worth of explorations to guidebook suggested spots throughout Maui, this is…read moreone of my favorite places that I've come across and this one by chance. After following the Kapalua coastal trail around the north side of the Montage resort, we found a dirt trail through the coastal grass that wraps around to Namalu Bay. This spot is commonly referred to as "Cliff House" due to the actual Cliff House which is an event venue, available for rent, that overlooks the Bay from a cliff above. The trail to Namalu Bay offers spectacular views of gorgeous ocean and rock pools created from old lava flow. Once at the Bay itself, you will experience abnormally clear water that is a mixture of stunning shades of blues and greens. There is no beach here and the amount of open space to just hangout is somewhat limited and on rocks or a few concrete slabs remnant of some previous man made structure of sorts. Despite some limitations, just the view only makes it worth it for me. The real draw however is the opportunity to do some cliff diving and swimming in the bay. The trek down to the water from the cliffs really isn't bad at all. There are a series of steps that have been created in the rocks, several wide ledges where you can step aside and a very helpful ladder at the bottom for access in and out of the water. The water is very deep and for the most part clear of any subsurface obstacles making for several optimal spots for diving. The dive spots I saw range from as little as an 8' or so dive upwards to probably the 30' or so range. Just remember to checkout any potential dive spot for yourself to assess any potential risks. The water itself is clear and during my visits, remained calm to to the fact that it's a protected bay with a landmass wrapping well around three sides. It is a very idealistic place for swimming, relaxing in the water and enjoying the views. While the snorkeling provided great views overall, I only saw a handful of small and unmemorable fish during the 10-15 minutes I spent. I'm sure writing a review does not help, but the fact that this spot was not crowded (weekend or weekday) was another big plus. I would say the range was five to fifteen people here at any given time during my visits.