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La Perouse Bay, Maui

4.8

#22 of 31 in Beaches in Maui

La Perouse Bay or Keoneʻoʻio Bay is located south of the town of Wailea, Hawaii at the end of Makena Alanui Road (State Highway 31) at. The bay's Hawaiian name is Keoneoio. It was later named for the French explorer Captain Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse. In 1786, La Pérouse surveyed and mapped the prominent embayment near the southern cape of Maui opposite the island of Kahoolawe. The bay is the site of Maui's most recent volcanic activity. The rounded peninsula that dominates the northern half of the bay and extends up the coast a short distance was formed about 900,000 years ago by an eruption of basaltic lava that originated in the southernmost landward expression of the Haleakalā Southwest Rift Zone. A small string of cinder cones extending inland to the northeast marks the axis of the rift zone.La Perouse Bay lies directly south of the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve. Fishing is prohibited within the reserve, which is home to many endemic and other fish species, marine mammals, green sea turtles, and coastal plants. The area contains many archaeological sites, including fishing shrines, salt pans, and heiau, or religious platforms. The road ends at the parking lot/entrance to the seashore and marks the start of the King's Highway, a trail that circumnavigated the island, originally built by Piʻilani and later improved by Governor Hoapili, sometimes called the Hoapili trail.

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La Perouse Bay Tours

Small-Group Molokini Snorkel and Green Sea Turtle Adventure from Maui BOOK WITH VIATOR FROM $145

86 reviews

Duration: 5 hours

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La Perouse Bay Reviews

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TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

139 reviews

Google

4.7

By doublecrossed On February 1, 2018

We attempted earlier in our trip to go here and we gave up going through the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve and turned around too soon. At the end of our trip we decided to try again. We didn't thin... more »
By SNB42 On January 23, 2018

La Perouse Bay is a really cool place to spend a few hours hiking over the old lava flows, peeking in tide pools and maybe snorkeling. I think this is a must-see in Maui! I also wanted to review to ad... more »
By Lee J On January 13, 2018

Give yourself at few hours to explore this great area! As other reviewers have said, the road there is a bit tricky. It's one lane for a good stretch and bumpy. However, it is well worth the drive if ... more »

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Google

By Antoine Troadec On December 18, 2017

Get away from the resorts and the crowd and enjoy a morning / day snorkeling and getting some sun there! The road to get there is also really impressive with all the lava around

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By Alexi Andres Garcia Rivero On November 4, 2017

Great place to see sunsets, and create great pictures

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By Karlo Tilaon On January 9, 2018

View that came from heaven

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