Guide
Staying at a Wailea resort? Here is the beach I will meet you at.
Four resorts, the nearest beach on my permitted list to each, and why it is not always the one outside your door.
Before the resorts
The beach nearest your room may not be on my list.
Several of the Wailea resorts sit on Wailea Beach, Ulua or Mokapu. All three are beautiful, and none of them is on my permitted list, so I do not book sessions on them.
None of which is a problem. I pick based on where you are staying and work out from there, and each resort below is a few minutes’ drive from a beach I am permitted to shoot. These are simply four of the places people stay.
Booking from the room the night before is fine too. I book last-minute inquiries regularly, and if the only slot left is outside the good light, I will say so.
Resort by resort
Where I would meet you.
- 01
Grand Wailea
The beach nearest you is Wailea Beach, which is beautiful and not on my permitted list. I would meet you at Polo Beach, a few minutes’ drive away: a long, open stretch where, if one end fills up, I move to the other. For a couple or a maternity session at sunrise, Keawakapu Beach is the other option.
- 02
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea
The same answer as the Grand Wailea. Wailea Beach is not on my list; Polo Beach is the nearest one that is, a few minutes’ drive away, and it is the beach I book most on this side of the island.
- 03
Fairmont Kea Lani
The easiest of the four. Polo Beach is on my permitted list and it is the nearest beach to you, so the drive is not really part of the plan. Sunrise is when I would book it.
- 04
Andaz Maui at Wailea
The beach nearest you is Mokapu, which is not on my permitted list. Keawakapu Beach is the closest one that is, a few minutes’ drive away, and it is the prettiest of my three south-side beaches. Book it for the morning: the afternoon wind hits it hard.
Timing
A sunrise session leaves the rest of the day alone.
Thirty to forty-five minutes after sunrise is the window I recommend on this coast. The beach is close to empty, the trades have not filled in, and nobody is squinting. By the time most of Wailea is up, you are done. I live in Kihei, so an early start on this coast is a short drive for me too, which is part of why last-minute sessions here usually work out.
If sunset is the only time that works, book at least the 45-minute session. The color often arrives after the sun has technically set. Sunrise or sunset
Staying somewhere else
The rule is the same everywhere in Wailea.
Tell me where you are staying and I will come back with a beach, a time and the reason for both. If the beach outside your door is not on my list, I will say so, and tell you which one is. Kihei condos work the same way: Keawakapu sits at the Kihei–Wailea line, and Polo and Maluaka are a short drive further south. The Wailea and Makena beaches, ranked
Frequently asked
Resort questions
Only if that beach is on my permitted list. Wailea Beach, Ulua and Mokapu are not, so I meet guests at Polo, Keawakapu or Maluaka instead, all a short drive away.
Of the beaches I shoot, Polo. It is a long, open stretch, and my permit covers both ends of it.
Of the beaches I shoot, Keawakapu, a few minutes away. Book it for sunrise, because the afternoon wind hits that stretch hard.
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.