Kahuluiexplore the natural beauty

The Iao Valley, in central Maui near the county seat of Wailuku, was the location of a gruesome battle in 1790, when King Kamehameha I defeated Kahekili, Maui’s last king, in his quest to unite the Hawaiian islands. During Kamehameha’s reign, the town of Lahaina on Maui was the center of the state’s government and whaling industry¬–as many as 500 whaling ships anchored at Lahaina’s port during the mid 1800s. The 19th century also saw the development of the sugar industry on the island, and with an increased demand for labor in the sugar cane fields, immigrants from Asia, the Caribbean and even Europe flocked to work on the island’s central plantations. Today, Maui’s local population is still ethnically diverse, and is evident in the island’s diverse attractions and cuisine.