"This is the last beach that still has dark skies," Maui Planning Commissioner Mark Deakos said in July, as reported by The Maui News. He cast the only vote against the comfort stations planned for Mākena State Park.
The commission approved the plan 6–1 on July 14, 2026. The vote granted a Special Management Area permit to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of State Parks to build two restrooms with shower facilities and expand parking at the 164.4-acre park. Headlines called it an expansion, but the approved plan changes less than that. Big Beach keeps its entrances, its walk-in access and its dark nights. The plan replaces the portable toilets, puts order on gravel and shoulders that already fill with cars, and was redesigned so the new buildings go dark not long after the park closes. For anyone who uses Oneloa, Oneʻuli or Little Beach every week, the plan mostly writes down the beach day you already have.
Thirty-eight spaces, and where they are
The parking numbers sounded big at the June hearing. State Parks put current capacity at 238 vehicles and the planned capacity at 276, a net gain of 38. The June proposal put all of the new stalls at the southern lot.
The 238 count already includes a lot of informal parking. As Maui Now reported, State Parks administrator Alan Carpenter said the park has 138 striped stalls today, plus about 100 "unsanctioned" spaces on road shoulders and gravel. A State Parks representative at the hearing said the gravel lot, as it's used now, leaves too little room for emergency vehicles.
| Before the revision | Approved in July 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total parking capacity | 238, including about 100 informal spaces | 276 |
| Paved parking proposed | 97 increased to 235 paved stalls | Mostly pervious surfaces, with paving limited to ADA-required stalls |
| Exterior lights per building | Six proposed | One shielded, downward-facing fixture |
The middle row changed the most between June and July. The state first proposed paving parking from 97 stalls up to 235. After the June hearing, the commission deferred its decision and asked State Parks to look at alternatives, including pervious pavement and stormwater infiltration. The revised plan the commission approved puts most parking on pervious surfaces to reduce rain runoff and paves a limited number of stalls to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act.
One light per building, off at 8 p.m.
Concerns about the shoreline shaped the buildings as well as the lots. Each comfort station is about 1,300 square feet, with four women's toilets, three men's toilets, a urinal, sinks, maintenance storage and a bottle-filling station. The original plan gave each building six exterior lights. After consulting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, State Parks cut that to one shielded fixture per building. It sits under the roofline on the side facing away from the shoreline. All interior and exterior lights run on timers and turn off at 8 p.m.
The 8 p.m. cutoff follows the park's own hours. Big Beach and Black Sand Beach are open 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, with closing extended to 7:45 p.m. in May, June and July, according to the DLNR Mākena State Park page. State Parks said the extra hour gives staff time to clean the restrooms after closing. The division also said the remaining light could be reduced further or removed if it turns out not to be needed.
The commission was mainly weighing hawksbill sea turtles. Hawaii Wildlife Fund Executive Director Hannah Bernard told The Maui News:
"I would have preferred no lighting, but at least lights will be turned off after 8 p.m. Nesting can occur right at sunset and hatchlings may come out anytime day or night."
State Parks said that with these measures, USFWS expects the project's effects on Hawaiian sea turtles, seabirds, waterbirds and other federally listed species to be "insignificant." Plumbing and power are designed for a remote site too. The County staff report calls for underground wastewater holding tanks that are trucked offsite for treatment, plus solar arrays, so no sewer line or power line has to run down to the beach.
What the state says won't change
Rumors spread fast before the June hearing, and State Parks answered them directly. Here is what the state told Maui Now the project will not include:
- Park fencing or gates, except small fenced enclosures around the wastewater tanks
- A reservation system or a shuttle
- Changes to parking and access policies
- A single park entry point
- A ban on walking in
- Changes to street parking outside the park
- Any work in the shoreline area
That means access and fees stay as they are. Hawaiʻi residents enter free with a Hawaiʻi ID. Nonresidents pay $5 per person plus $10 per noncommercial vehicle. Some people raised the idea of resident-only parking at the July 14 meeting. According to Akakū's issue tracker, a State Parks lawyer told the commission that a resident-only rule would likely be found unconstitutional. The approved plan doesn't include one.
The two lifeguard towers and the lifeguard base yard already in the park aren't part of the project.
The permit has a deadline. Construction has no date yet.
State Parks has said the work should take about a year and cost just over $2 million. The County staff report puts the estimate at $2,090,495. Environmental review is complete: the final environmental assessment came out in 2022, and the Urban Design Review Board looked at the design in October 2025. In June, the state said it wanted to start construction once it had the permit.
As of DLNR's Oct. 23, 2026 update, the Mākena park notices page listed storm-related items and no construction schedule. State Parks has not announced a start date or said how the lots will be handled while the buildings go up. The same notice says every Maui and Molokaʻi state park has reopened except Polipoli and Waiʻānapanapa, so Mākena is fully open going into November.
The next firm date in the permit belongs to a study. As part of the approval, the commission required State Parks to submit a carrying-capacity study on how park activity affects the area ecologically, environmentally and physically. The Maui News reported the deadline as July 31, 2028. Akakū's tracker, based on the meeting video, lists July 31, 2029. Whichever date is right, any future debate about how many people Big Beach can handle will start from that study.
Rinsing off this winter
For now, Big Beach still has portable toilets and no showers. In June, State Parks staff told Maui Now that many Mākena beachgoers go to other beach facilities afterward to shower. Maui County's facility listings show which parks to the north have them:
- Palauea / White Rock has portable restrooms and no shower.
- Keawakapu has a shower and one portable stall at the Keawakapu II parking lot.
- Kamaʻole Beach Park III has one comfort station, two portable toilets and three outdoor showers.
Little Beach keeps shorter weekend hours than its neighbors: 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. Once the comfort stations are built, one will stand at the North Site lot near Puʻu Ōlaʻi and the other at the South Site lot about 0.2 miles farther south.
We'll keep watching for State Parks to post a construction date for Big Beach, and we'll pass it along when it does. In the meantime, if you have questions about life or property in Makena, Chaston Marcos is always glad to talk story about South Maui. Let's Connect.
