Baldwin Beach Park — Attraction in Maui

Did you know that THE OLD PAIA LIME KILN used to be located on Baldwin Beach: In ancient times, Kapuka'ulua ("the 'ulua fishing hole"), was a famous fishing spot. A large heiau (Hawaiian temple) overlooked the ocean at Kapuka'ulua Point (near where entry road into Baldwin Beach Park meets the current shoreline.) Due to shoreline erosion, and past tsunami conditions, the heiau's remains are now submerged offshore.

Another heiau watched over the shoreline from the nearby rise of Pu'u Nene. (That hill no longer exists. The cinders that made up the hill were used for road construction and other building needs.) The HC&S mill later appropriated the name of this hill as the name for its mill several miles away.

Still another heiau rose on the banks of Kailua Gulch which borders the Spreckelsville area.

It's believed that Kapuka'ulua supported several fishing villages along the shore and nearby mauka lands. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of ancient human burials in the sand dunes between "Baby Beach" and Baldwin Beach. Life-long residents referred to it as "Bones Beach" when they were young. A newspaper article of 1973 featured a front page photo of a full skeleton unearthed by tourists.

Maui Agriculture Co., run by Alexander and Baldwin, constructed the Paia Lime Kiln in 1907. For decades afterwards, sand and coral were excavated from the beach to manufacture hydrated lime for plantation uses, to build roads and airstrips. Railroad tracks and a roadway ran through the area. Portions of the old asphalt roadbed are sometimes visible on the beach today.

Until the mid-1980's, the kiln manufactured and supplied dry hydrated lime to sugar factories and others on Maui. During World War I, the plantation converted the lime kiln to cement production which continued until the war-time shortage eased. The Portland-type cement manufactured at Paia during World War I was of high quality. An article in the July 27, 1951 Honolulu Advertiser reported, "Paia cement, after thirty years in the Haiku Ditch, is still in excellent condition."

During World War II, the military need for more cement induced Hawaiian Gas Products (the forerunner of Gaspro) to buy and assemble the Paia concrete-making equipment at the site of the Waianae Lime and Cement Company on Oahu. The production of hydrated lime continued at the Paia site.

The lime kiln withstood the infamous April Fool's Day tsunami of 1946 that badly damaged dozens of structures in the Spreckelsville and Paia beach areas. The same tsunami also destroyed a USO recreation hall built on the dunes during World War II.

Erosion was a concern even back then. In 1954, geologist Doak Cox, contracted by the Hawai`i Sugar Planters Association, issued a report titled, "The Spreckelsville Beach Problem." HC&S commissioned the study in hopes of increasing the output of the Lime Kiln. The company wondered how much sand they could remove from the beaches without adversely affecting them.

Cox quantified historic amounts of sand removed and noted beach rock marking former shorelines (such as at "Baby Beach"). His report recommended an end to the sand removal from "industrial supply beach" at Spreckelsville and "lime kiln supply beach" at Kapuka`ulua-the rarely spoken proper place name. HC&S ignored Cox's recommendations. In fact, they continued to operate the lime kiln for the next 25 years.

Meanwhile, shoreline erosion to the nearby Baldwin Beach continued. Concerned environmentalists pointed out that one major cause is the boulder revetment , the sea wall that once protected the lime kiln and which was left in place when it shut down. Seawalls and revetments may "fix" the shoreline, they tell us, but only at the expense of adjacent beach systems.

The abandoned Paia lime kiln site was sold in 1992 by the company to a private land-owner whose attempts to develop the property led to years of public outcry and resentment as well as litigation and legal actions by and against the County of Maui.

Sadly due to Beach erosions They had to tor it down. Some of the Concrete Floors still...

This is the beach,there is some grass in a field and the showers are right next to the public restrooms which are at the front of the park ,all this will be underwater and in the ocean tho, in 5 years. I don't know how many of u read the Maui Times,..this last week's one is the BEST one,. . out of how many?? I don't know, they've printed & showed US ALL how this will come to be this mid century if WE ALL don't do SOMETHING about GLOBAL WARMING!!! I DONT KNOW BOUT ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE OR HERE ON EARTH BUT I DONT WANT TO HAVE PAIA AND THE ROAD TO HANA AND KAHANA ,..KANAHA,FLEMMINGS,AND WELL ,..WHAT GETS ALL THE YOURISTS HERE IS THE BEACHES!! WHAT GOING HAPPEN PEOPLE WHEN ALL THE LAND STAY SOLD,AND WE ALL DID THIS WORK TO KEEP MAKING IT A TOURIST TRAP AND DEPENDING ON MATSON CRATES TO CLOTHE,FEED,AND CLEANSE OUR BODYS WITH ALL THESE PLASTIC BOTTLES WITH SHAMPOO, CONDITIONER,BODY LOTION,RUBBERS,KY JELLY,MOUSE,HAIRSPRAYS IN METAL COMBUSTABLE BOTTLES,BUTANE,GAS,OIL,MASSAGE OIL,COTTAGE CHEESE,PLATE LUNCHES WITH THE THICK PLASTIC ITS, I CAN THINK OF MORE,COOL WHIP IN PLASTIC,PLASTIC BOTTLES ITS PLASTIC OUR FISH ARE EATING CHINA KNOWS HOW TO MAKE LETTUCE FROM PLASTICS!!AND IT TOTALLY LOOKS LIKE REAL LETTUCE AND EVEN HAS THE CRISPNESS OF LETTUCE!! WE ARE FEEDING OUR FISH PLASTIC AND EATING THEM??!!😄😀 AND SO THE SHIPS THAT ARE THE BIG TANKERS THEY GET IN THE HARBOURS AND THEY DUMP THEIR POOP IN AND OUT ANIMAL IN THE OCEAN THAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BUT EVEN IF THEY DO IT' AND IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE PUT IN THE OCEAN THAN SHIPS IN THE OCEAN AND DUMP ALL THE PROOP DOWN THE FREAKING PIPES THAT LEAD TO A BIG HUGE SEWAGE ,(GET THIS,...) It's just a big Metal tank with the big huge ball (just like the back of any toilet in the tank )and when it fills they just pull a lever on the side of the door that's built air tight like a submarine. And the latches slide open and just dump it into the ocean. THE OCEAN FISH eat this and plastic and then we catch and eat em??😄 How bad does it have to get before we all start working together,getting on the same page and all everyone who WANT TO BE ABLE TO STILL GO TO THE BEACH AND IF THE BEACHES GONE,THE TOURISTS WILL BE TOO LEAVING THOSE OF US WHO LOVE THE ISLAND OF MAUI LIKE MYSELF THAT KNOWS NOTHING ELSE EXCEPT HERE FOR 47 years and have lost all you love even sentimental things not worth nothing, just to spite me,people have been cruel to me here acting as friends only to find out they only FAKE nobody's just pretending to get treasures worth a whole lot to me sentimentally and not worth a dime to anyone else,all this and more won't even be a memory wanted to be remembered by anyone cos ifp nothing gets done &we keep going the way we are and doing things the same way we have been,..we ALL will become has beens that sunk into the ocean!! Five years EVERYBODY!! F#@$!! WAKE UP!!!If u are not going to do anything or SOMETING THEN AT LEAST DO UR OWN PART LIKE START RECYCLING!! How big does everyone think the dumps on the island of Maui are anyway?? The way plastics are made in itself is destroying the ozone layer,..wow global warming and the Hawaiian islands sinking cause of all the trash and weight of it all over all the years,I've been here for 47 years and know for a fact all the coral is dead in the ocean surrounding Maui.its all washed up on the beach no purple no peach,no bright flouresent green or bright canary yellow, violet,red as bricks, pink rose colored coral,what happened to all the black coral? If it's killing if the Marine life how much further is it to come that then it WILL be US. And noone to blame except...

If you’re looking for a beach for your Instagram post about your trip to Maui, this is the beach. 🤍

PROS: Unbelievably turquoise, water, soft, white sand, and turtles absolutely everywhere, especially on the right hand end of the beach near the rocks. This is also a wonderful beach for a sunset walk. Relatively clean bathroom, shower/foot washing station, and decent parking, especially by Maui standards.

CONS: Very windy beach with frequently rough water. We were there in March and the water was too rough to get in both times we went. That said you can usually get wet safely on the right hand side of the beach where the turtles hang out; the rocks create a barrier against the open surf. Also, this is sadly one of the beaches were a lot of homeless folks hang out, but they seem to leave visitors alone.

NOTE: It’s worth scrambling over the rocks on the far right to get to a secret beach, where you will probably see yet more sea turtles! Just keep in mind that, like many secret beaches in Hawaii, it’s considered clothing optional, so maybe not great...