Mākena Landing, Maui: Boat Ramp, Former Pier and Facilities

Private land, public access, county agreement

The ownership here is unusual enough to be worth spelling out. Mākena Landing Park sits on parcel TMK (2) 2-1-07:094, privately owned by ATC Mākena, and it's open for public recreation under a Parks Agreement with the County of Maui. Mākena Golf & Beach Club maintains it.

An older county parks study did call it a 2.4-acre county-owned facility, and that description has been copied into a lot of guides since. The more recent and more parcel-specific sources say private ownership. Both are on the record, and the practical upshot for a visitor is the same: you can use it, between 7:00am and 8:00pm.

One thing that does change with ownership: the shoreline immediately south of the landing, near the bottom of Honoiki Street, is private. Public shoreline access there runs through a separate state-owned parcel. Follow the marked access rather than cutting through.

It's a launch first

The ramp is the reason most people are here. Kayak renters, dive operators and shore divers use it, which means the entry has traffic and the parking fills with roof racks and trailers early.

Stall counts vary by source. The county study counted about 20 marked stalls; other accounts say 35 to 40. We're not going to average two numbers into a third one that nobody published, so plan for small and arrive early.

Keep the ramp and the rigging area clear. Spreading a beach setup across the launch path is the one thing that reliably annoys everyone here.

Not a state boating facility

Worth a note because it comes up. DLNR's Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation lists nine small-boat facilities on Maui, and Mākena is not one of them. Mākena appears in DLNR's boating pages only as an offshore mooring area, codified as the Mākena Bay mooring zone.

So the ramp is a privately maintained facility under a county agreement, not a state harbor. If you're looking for a state ramp, Kīhei and Māʻalaea are the nearest.

The pier is gone; the landing remains

Mākena Landing was one of Maui's busiest ports in the 1920s, shipping cattle from ʻUlupalakua Ranch and receiving interisland steamers. A cultural history of Mākena records that the military dismantled the pier during the Second World War. The name survived the structure.

Searches for Mākena Pier now lead to this ramp and historic landing. The distinction matters for directions: there is no separate pier, harbor or parking area to find.

Mooring rules apply offshore

Hawaiʻi's offshore mooring rules define a Mākena Bay mooring zone at HAR 13-235-70, measured from Nahuna Point. Mooring in the zone requires a state permit. Mākena is also inside the South Maui Ocean Recreation Management Area, but that chapter designates no Mākena-specific thrill-craft or parasailing zone.