Elevation: 40 feet

Current Real Estate Stats 

Kahului began as a fishing village and a harbor port town and is now a major residential area and business district as well as the supply depot of Maui. Goods flow in on a constant stream of barges through the harbor where cruise ships dock and Japanese fishing vessels refuel, as small fishing boats are launched and the canoe clubs hold their practice sessions. Maui's main airport is also located here.

Travelers coming from the airport pass through an industrial area full of factory outlets, car dealerships, commercial buildings, warehouses and storage tanks and silos that obscure the presence of Kanaha Pond, a designated wild-life sanctuary that was once a royal fish pond. A refuge for the migratory Hawaiian stilt or ae'o and other water birds, this marsh has been slowly getting silted over and the algae growth has been difficult to control.

Hana Highway becomes Kaahumanu Avenue after a bend in the roadway. This is the main drag through the town and is named after Kamehameha the Great's favorite wife. It heads on through Wailuku towards Iao Valley, past three shopping malls: the Maui Mall, the Kahului Shopping Center and the Queen Kaahumanu Center.

Starting in the late 50's, the old plantation camps began closing down as the pineapple and sugar plantations moved away from their traditional patriarchal role towards their workers. The advent of the labor unions had shifted the balance of power and the old ways were changing. Also, many of the young people were leaving the camps and moving on to other dreams besides working in the fields. At the end of World War II, the boys who went for soldiers very often had their eyes opened to other opportunities. They did not come back. The camp houses were getting old by then and harder to maintain. So were the old attitudes of plantation life. The times surely were a-changing.

The first subdivision in Kahului was called "Dream City." Old timers still remember it by that name. The homes in the "increments" of this ever-growing subdivision spread over the plain, eventually pushing towards old Wailuku until the two towns pretty much merged.

The industrial and commercial areas grew up around the residential sections of the town and they each fed off each other. For many people, living "in town" means living in Kahului and it is a very convenient arrangement.