Kapalua · Kaanapali · Lahaina
West Maui sessions, and the beach you cannot use.
Ironwoods, Kapalua Bay and Launiupoko — plus the reason no legitimate photographer will shoot you on Kaanapali Beach itself.
Read this first if you are staying in Kaanapali
Photography is not permitted on Kaanapali Beach.
It catches nearly every visitor out, because Kaanapali is where so many of them are staying. Commercial photography on that beach is not allowed and the fines are significant — most likely because of the commercial boat traffic, the surfers, and the sheer number of people trying to enjoy it.
On hotel grounds with the hotel's permission you can shoot. That strip of greenery beside the sidewalk is about as close to the sand as it legally gets, and it is where you see those beachside ceremonies actually taking place.
None of which is a problem for your session. Ironwoods is ten to fifteen minutes north and Launiupoko is ten to fifteen minutes south — the same drive either way. How permits work, and what to ask
Where you would actually shoot
The three West Maui spots I book.
Ironwoods first, Kapalua Bay when the Ironwoods lot is full, Launiupoko when the upper west side is getting rained on.
- 01
Ironwoods Beach
Kapalua · Sunrise or sunset
A big beach with a tiny parking lot, so it never feels busy even when the lot is full. The sea cliffs above it sit 50–80 feet over the water — the reason it is one of my favourites for proposals.
- 02
Kapalua Bay
Kapalua · Sunrise
My fallback when Ironwoods has no parking. Sheltered, calm, and at low tide there is a hard rocky point you can stand out on for a different angle.
- 03
Launiupoko
Lahaina · Early morning
Better known as a surf spot, and far enough south that it usually stays dry when the upper west side is getting rained on. There is a rock wall there I like to shoot against.
A local spot first. I book it early in the morning to stay out of the way.
Ironwoods
The sea cliffs are why proposals happen here.
Fifty to eighty feet above the water, looking out at open ocean and horizon. It is a genuinely different view from anything on the south side, and it is the reason Ironwoods is my most-requested West Maui location for surprise engagements.
The beach below it is large with a small parking lot, so even a full lot does not make it feel crowded — which is the opposite of how most Maui beaches work.
From West Maui sessions
Cliffs, coves and open water.
Next step
Tell me where you are staying.
I will come back with a beach, a time and the reason for both — usually inside the hour.