Paia, Maui

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One of the loveliest towns in the Hawaiian Islands can be found on the island of Maui. It's called Pa’ia, with a fine collection of shops, art galleries featuring Maui artists, restaurants with a wide variety of cuisines and price ranges, sandy beaches lined with tropical coconut trees and some world class surfing. You'll also meet some friendly people and enjoy the laid back and relaxed lifestyle.
It's an old-fashioned country town with a modern vibe. This friendly community was once a booming plantation town during the heyday of Maui's sugar cane industry. Well, today, Pa’ia is a town of colorful, rustic storefronts with many one-of-a-kind shopping boutiques. In the 1960s, and later, this sleepy town woke up to the vibes of hippies and surfers who moved in and laid a bohemian foundation for today's artistic and relaxed community, with that live and let live attitude of freedom and tolerance.
Nearly all of Maui is open for tourism, except for the areas around Lahaina, which were affected by that tragic fire on the West Side.
Pa’ia is on the north shore of Maui, often visited while driving that road to Hana, on an island that has many other visitor attractions, with Pa’ia being one of the finest.
It's such a small town, it's only got one hotel, the Pa’ia Inn, with just 15 rooms, located right in the middle of town. The shopping area of Pa’ia is just about 300 meters wide with the beach nearby, so it's easy to walk it. Many of the people you'll see in town are locals, giving it a really authentic feeling, which is hard to find in more upscale resort communities.
Pa’ia Bay is gorgeous, and nearby Hokitika Beach is world famous for its windsurfing and big North Shore style waves, amidst a country atmosphere of farms and ranches.
The many art galleries of Pai’a are the real treasures of the retail scene here. Perhaps the finest of all is Maui Hands, in business for many years. These galleries are representing local artists, unlike a lot of these ritzy galleries in resort areas and fancy hotels that have artists from all over the world with very high prices.
One of the best attractions of Pa’ia is the beach. It's just about 300 meters away, easily reached in a few minutes walk along the public access. It's a big sandy beach, usually with gentle waves breaking on shore that are ideal for body surfing and offshore waves for the surfboards.
Or maybe you just want to sit back and relax and watch the action. But there are no benches or picnic facilities or automobile parking, so, improvise sitting on a log or your beach towel.
There's a wonderful facility here at the beach called Pa’ia Youth and Cultural Center, which offers a whole variety of programs for young people ages 9 to 19, and it's free and funded by private donations.
The real name of the town that we and everybody call Pa’ia is actually Lower Pa’ia. The official town of Pa’ia is nearly two miles inland, because that was the sugar cane headquarters in the old days. Anyway, things change and now we all call the whole place Pa’ia.
Back in town, you want to be careful with the traffic. It can get pretty busy, so use a crosswalk. Nearly every visitor gets here driving their rental car, often on the way to Hana on that famous road to Hana. And maybe they want to stop off in Pa’ia for lunch or a little shopping, take a walk, but it's hard to find parking. Here's a little tip for you. Just on the West edge of town, there is a large free public parking lot, and it's only a few minutes walk from here right into the commercial center. However, you are going to want to drive to another of Pa’ia’s beautiful attractions, which is two miles away at Ho’okipa Beach, famous for its surf action.
These waves are not for beginners. If you're going to paddle out, you have to know what you're doing here and be able to judge the swells and catch it at the right moment. For the rest of us, it's a fun place to watch it all happen. Maybe get a snack at this food truck selling smoothies, coconuts and organic banana bread. Ho’okipa Beach is one of the best places for windsurfing, which is kind of similar to sail boarding, except you actually catch a wave when you're windsurfing.
But the winds have to be just right. And today they were variable. Not so good for windsurfing, but nice waves for the boards. It's delightful to watch, especially here in this rural setting.

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