Historic General Store At Ma’alaea Harbor

Since 1910, Ma’alaea General Store has been serving the community. Today it stands as one of Maui’s oldest businesses and includes a deli, cafe, bar, restaurant, liquor store, groceries, sundries, boat supplies and souvenirs. We are located in busy Ma’alaea Harbor, centrally located and easy to access from any side of the island. Across from the Coast Guard, and just off the main highway connecting Lahaina and West Maui to East Maui, Ma’alaea is the hub of Maui ocean events. Come learn about the store’s extensive history, and enjoy all it has to offer today for locals and visitors alike. Nearby activities include sport fishing, whale watching, snorkeling cruises, dinner cruises, restaurants, shopping, an aquarium, and more.

MA'ALAEA HISTORY

The Maʻalaea District of Maui is located in Central Maui about six miles south of Wailuku, where the Honoapiʻilani Highway (Hwy 30) reaches the south coast. The Ma’alaea General Store has played a central role in the area’s history for more than a century.

The Ma'alaea General Store was built in 1910 and was operated by three Japanese families for its 90 years, followed by mom-and-pop owners who to this day continue to serve as stewards of this significant property. The history of the store is unique because it involves two nationally significant themes which are seldom written about in Hawaii: Japanese internment and resettlement in the post-war period. Other related themes include the history of Hawaiian and Japanese fisheries; Japanese commerce, temples and shrines; and post-war development in Hawaii.

The store originally served a small population of workers at a nearby Wailuku Sugar Company camp and a small Japanese fishing fleet based in Ma'alaea Bay. The store closed in 2005 and remained boarded up for nearly 6 years before finding new life as its present cafe, deli, retail, grocery story and bar. This required an extensive and loving renovation, during which the Maui County cultural resource planner worked with owners to enroll the property on the National Register of Historic Places. The rehabilitation work centered on repairing and retaining historic features throughout the building. Notably, the historic parapet along the front of the building was reconstructed along the way. It is an award-winning preservation project.

Next door to the store is the preserved Ebisoku Jinsha Shrine, dedicated to a Shinto fishing god who was ascribed the role of providing for the safety and return of fishermen and sailors to land.

Today the Ma'alaea General Store & Cafe serves a busy harbor, and hundreds of local and visiting customers every day.

Read more about the historic significance and the store’s restoration here: Mā'alaea General Store, Hawaii (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) and Maalaea General Store – Historic Hawaii Foundation. For extensive details, read its National Register of Historic Places nomination form (this link downloads a PDF).

There are plenty of things to keep you busy for a full day in Maʻalaea. You can begin with a morning snorkeling or whale-watching cruise followed by an afternoon visit to the Maui Ocean Center. You can end the day with an evening sunset walk on Ma'alaea Beach. 

Formerly a commercial port, Maʻalaea Harbor now hosts a marina where many cruise and pleasure boats dock. Among the boats that dock here are whale watching cruise boats as well as those that offer snorkeling trips to Molokini Atol.

The waters and reefs of Maʻalaea are important to many species. Maʻalaea Bay is part of the National Humpback Whale Marine Sanctuary - a favorite mating and birthing grounds for the endangered Humpbacks. Green Sea Turtles browse reefs that border the harbor entrance. When a robust south swell hits Maui, surfers from far and near head for Maʻalaea to have a chance to experience the tubular perfection of one of the world's fastest rideable waves - the legendary Maʻalaea pipeline wave known as Freight Trains. 

Maʻalaea Bay is home to many commercial and residential properties all located along Hauʻoli Road just east of the harbor area.

The first westerner, sea Captain George Vancouver, landed his ship at Ma'alaea Bay around 1793 to bring the first cattle to Maui. Maalaea Harbor was the launchpoint on January 4, 1976, when peaceful protesters gathered there to take their boats to Kahoolawe in an effort to stop the U.S. government’s target-practice bombing of that island. The peaceful protest was intended to call attention the destruction of the island and to the unfair treatment of Native Hawaiians. Protect Kahoolawe Ohana led the way and took the Navy to court. Live-fire was stopped in 1990 and the Navy gave control back to the state in 1994. The Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission continues to work tirelessly to revive and protect the natural and cultural features of the island.

PHONE  
(808) 242-8900

ADDRESS
132 Maalaea Road
Wailuku, HI 96793