Kahalui, with a population of just 18,100, is situated on Kahalui Bay on Maui’s north coast. It is a residential and commercial hub and has the island’s major seaport and airport. Agriculture is an important focus and Kahalui is a distribution point for pineapple and sugarcane.

The Alexander and Baldwin Sugar Mill Museum has good exhibitions on the history of Maui and sugar production. In the 1790s, Kamehameha I landed his war canoes here en route to the Iao Valley battle. It was an established sugar town by 1880, but in an attempt to control a plague, the whole town was burned down and rebuilt in 1900. Nearby Wailuku, the county seat, is the largest community on the island.

The Kanaha Pond State Bird Sanctuary was once a royal fishing pond and now protects the endangered Hawaiian stilt, or ae’o, the Hawaiian coot, or alae ke’oke’o, and the Hawaiian Koloa ducks.

Entrance to the sanctuary is free.

The Wailuku War Memorial Park and Center offers a football stadium, baseball field, swimming pool, and tennis courts, and the nearby Kahana Beach County Park has barbecue pits, restrooms, a pavilion, and is popular for sailboarding and outrigger canoeing.

Kahalui has an international airport and cars are essential here.