Kahului Harbor

For being the only major commercial port of Maui, this is a quiet, tiny harbor. Like most ports around the world, Kahului Harbor is 100% commercial. There are no restaurants or shopping within the harbor, which is why visitors from the cruise ship are forced to flock to the Maui Mall across the street or Queen Kaahumanu Center down the road for any sort of entertainment.
The gulf-​shaped waters are well-​protected from the choppy north shore ocean by two man-​made peninsulas. Situated on the east peninsula are the State Harbor Office and just 3 piers where all of Maui’s cargo comes in, and is the only pier on the island that is long and deep enough to berth 2 cruise ships end to end. If you’re shipping in or out of the island, you’ll definitely do business here with either Matson, Pasha, or Young Brothers.
The central section of the cove, which isn’t officially part of the harbor but shares its waters, features a white sandy beach and is home to a now defunct restaurant (formerly Hideaway,) a canoe club, and two simple hotels, the Maui Seaside and Maui Beach Hotel, with a third hotel being planned by the owners of the Pagoda Hotel on Oahu. The beach has no facilities, and I wouldn’t recommend swimming in the water anyway, only because there is too much maritime activity that I feel pollutes the water. Surrounding the majority of all theses areas are parking lots that serve as storage facilities for automobiles.
The west end peninsula is the least lively but features a boat ramp and is the gathering spot for a handful of food trucks, and at times some shady people. The waters near this area is popular with surfers.