Is it okay to visit Maui after the Lahaina fire?

Yes. Maui's residents, businesses and county leadership have consistently asked visitors to return. West Maui's economy depends on tourism and thousands of jobs rely on it. What is asked is that visitors stay out of the burn zone and closed areas, avoid photographing destroyed neighbourhoods, and support local businesses.

Is Front Street in Lahaina open?

Partially. The section from Pāpalaua to Shaw Street reopened to vehicle traffic on 1 August 2026, and Dickenson and Prison Streets have been reopening. Market and Papalekane Streets remain closed. However, a reopened road does not mean reopened businesses — most Front Street shops and restaurants have not rebuilt.

Did the Lahaina banyan tree survive?

Yes. The 1873 banyan survived the fire, was badly burned, and has since put out significant new growth. Banyan Tree Park itself remains closed to the public as of September 2026.

Was Kāʻanapali affected by the fire?

No. Kāʻanapali, along with Honokōwai, Kahana, Nāpili and Kapalua to the north, was not burned and is fully operational. The fire destroyed Lahaina town, south of the Kāʻanapali resort area.

Lahaina Today (2026) | What Is Open & How to Visit Respectfully

On 8 August 2023 a wildfire destroyed most of Lahaina town and killed more than a hundred people. It remains one of the deadliest fires in modern American history, and the community is still rebuilding.

Guests ask us two things: is it appropriate to visit West Maui at all, and what is actually there now. Both deserve a straight answer rather than a brochure one.

This page was written in September 2026

Lahaina's status is changing month to month, and anything written here will age. Before you travel, check Maui Recovers and County of Maui recovery updates for the current position. Treat this page as orientation, not as today's road report.

The first question

Yes — please come

The clear and repeated message from Maui's residents, businesses and county leadership has been that visitors are needed. West Maui's economy runs on tourism, thousands of jobs depend on it, and the months after the fire when visitors stayed away caused real hardship on top of the disaster.

Staying in Kāʻanapali, eating in West Maui restaurants, booking West Maui boat trips and buying from West Maui businesses is a direct and useful contribution. Coming to Maui is not an imposition on the recovery. It funds it.

What is asked of you is not that you stay away, but that you visit with some awareness of where you are.

As of September 2026

What is open and what is not

Front Street

The stretch of Front Street from Pāpalaua to Shaw Street reopened to vehicle traffic on 1 August 2026 — a genuine milestone, and very recent. Dickenson and Prison Streets have also been reopening. Market Street and Papalekane Street remain closed for infrastructure work.

A road reopening is not a town reopening

This is the most important thing to understand. Driving Front Street is now possible; the Front Street of the guidebooks — the galleries, the shops, the restaurants — is not back. As of mid-2026 only a handful of commercial rebuilds were even under construction, with most still in permitting. Do not plan an afternoon of shopping in Lahaina.

The banyan tree

Lahaina's banyan, planted in 1873 and one of the largest in the United States, survived the fire. It was badly burned and its recovery was uncertain for months; it has since put out substantial new growth, and it has become the town's emblem of survival.

Banyan Tree Park itself remains closed to the public, with no announced reopening. You may see the tree from outside the closure; you cannot walk under it.

The harbour

Lahaina Harbor reopened partially in December 2025 for a limited number of commercial ocean operators, more than two years after the fire, and the rebuild is ongoing. Most boat tours that historically left Lahaina now depart from Māʻalaea instead — confirm your departure harbour when you book. Current status is posted with the state harbours division updates on the Lahaina rebuild.

Housing

The human recovery is the slower one. By mid-2026 several hundred homes were under construction and a few hundred had been completed, against many thousands of people displaced. Many residents are still in temporary housing. That context is worth carrying.

How to be a good visitor

Practical courtesy

Stay on open roads and public paths. Do not enter fenced areas, cleared lots or anything that looks like a construction zone. Much of it is private property and someone's former home.
Do not treat the burn zone as a sight. Driving through on the way somewhere is one thing. Going to look, and stopping, is another.
Put the camera away. Returning harbour operators have specifically asked visitors not to photograph the harbour and the historic-artifact areas. Photographing destroyed neighbourhoods is not documentation, it is intrusion.
Do not fly a drone. Over any of it.
Spend money in West Maui. Restaurants, shops, tours, guides — the businesses in Kāʻanapali, Honokōwai, Kahana and Nāpili absorbed enormous losses and employ people who lost their homes.
Tip well and be patient. Many of the people serving you are still rebuilding their own lives.
Follow the lead of residents on the subject. Some will talk about the fire, some will not. Let them choose.

Where things actually are

Practical West Maui right now

Kāʻanapali, where Mahana 418 is, was not burned. The resort area north of Lahaina — Kāʻanapali, Honokōwai, Kahana, Nāpili, Kapalua — is fully operational, with restaurants, shops and beaches open as normal.

Groceries and everyday shopping are in Honokōwai, Kahana and Lahaina's remaining northern commercial areas, plus Kahului if you are going that way.
Restaurants: see where to eat for what is currently open. Note that several long-standing Lahaina restaurants have not reopened, and older guides still list them.
Boat trips: mostly from Māʻalaea now — see whale watching and snorkelling.
The Lānaʻi ferry moved to Māʻalaea permanently — see the Lānaʻi day trip.
Beaches north of Lahaina are unaffected — see beaches.

An interim marketplace, ʻUlu o Lele, has been expected to open in Lahaina in September 2026 as a first step toward commercial return. If it is open when you visit, it is a good place to spend money.

Lahaina today