Waikapu is located south of Kahului and Wailuku and north of Maalaea in central Maui. Waikapu is 11 square miles in size and home to about 1,100 people. Restaurants include Waikapu on 30, which is located on the Honoapiilani Highway (Hwy. 30) and serves large portions of local style cuisine.
Waikapu means “waters of the conch,” which refers to the pu, or conch shell, trumpet sounded in ancient times and still today to signal important events and ceremonies. Waikapu is located within the ahupuaa, or natural land division of Na Wai Eha (“The four waters).
The Maui Tropical Plantation & Country Store is an agricultural theme park set on a 60-acre preserve just outside of Waikapu on former sugarcane land along Hwy. 30. A tram takes visitors on a half-hour ride through the fields as narration provides information about plant types and growing methods.
A historical characters exhibits at Maui Tropical Plantation is entertaining for children and the park also includes fun activities such as coconut husking, fruit tasting and lei making. The Country Store sells local Maui products and you can enjoy a meal at the on-site restaurant. The Maui Tropical Plantation is open daily from 9 to 5.
Championship golf can be found in Waikapu at the King Kamehameha Golf Club which is Maui’s only private 18-hole golf course. The Golf Club also features a 74,000-foot clubhouse designed by the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The King Kamehameha Golf Course offers wonderful views of Haleakala Volcano from about 750 feet above sea level on the slopes of the West Maui Mountains. Enjoy ocean views including both the south and north shores of the island, and the course has no surrounding homes or roads to disrupt your concentration.
A legend tells of a lava tube deep in the valleys of Waikapu which led all the way to the other side of Maui. If the pu was sounded correctly within this deep lava tube then the sound would travel for many miles.