Paia Photos
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Paia, Maui
Paia is a small coastal community on the northern shore of Maui. Since Paia is the last town along the Hana Highway, it often serves as a pit stop on the way to Hana. An old sugar plantation village, Paia offers a mellow, laid-back environment quite different from the urban rushPaia has retained a lot of its character from the the old sugar plantation days.
Many of its wooden-style plantation buildings are still intact and have been converted into brightly colored surf shops, boutiques, specialty shops, bakeries and antique stores. of neighboring Maui towns like Kahului and Kihei.
Visitors will also find a choice of creperies, coffee shops, fresh food carts and 14 restaurants serving continental, Mexican, Indian, Mediterranean and Hawaiian cuisines.
The once flourishing sugar industry in the 1880s started to decline in the 1940s. Around 1950, many of Paia’s residents started to move to Kahului (once dubbed as “The Dream City”) causing a huge drop in the town’s population. The coming of hippies to Paia in the 1950s helped revive the town’s declining economy. The hippies built specialty and art shops and eateries.
Then in 1978, Hookipa Beach Park was discovered to have perfect windsurfing conditions. Paia was quickly dubbed as the “World Capital of Windsurfing.” In the 1980s and 90s, more and more people flocked to Paia to experience the windsurfing mecca.
According to 2000 census data, Paia has 2,499 residents, a population made up largely of Caucasians (33.45%), Asians (27.13%), Latinos (10.92%) and Native Hawaiians (8.80%).
Paia’s zip code is 96779.
Paia Overview
- Small coastal community on the northern shore of Maui
- Also called "World Capital of Windsurfing" because of nearby Hookipa Beach, where the windsurfing conditions are excellent
Location: Northern shore of Maui
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