Wailea in South Maui and Kāʻanapali in West Maui are the island’s two big resort areas, and they’re the two places buyers most often weigh against each other. They’re about an hour’s drive apart, and they differ in ways that matter when you buy: price, rain, the drive to the airport, and above all what you can do with a condo once Bill 9 takes effect.
Updated November 8, 2026.
Side by side
| Wailea and Mākena | Kāʻanapali | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | South Maui | West Maui |
| Zip code | 96753 (shared with Kīhei and Mākena) | 96761 (Lahaina) |
| Condo sales, Jan–Sep 2026 | About 60 | About 85 |
| Monthly condo medians, 2026 | $1.4M–$3.7M | $630K–$1.7M |
| Single-family sales, Jan–Sep 2026 | About 35 | 11 |
| Monthly single-family medians, 2026 | $1.6M–$4.2M | $1.9M–$5.6M |
| Condo complexes in our directory | 23 | 12 |
| Bill 9 deadline for affected buildings | Jan. 1, 2031 | Jan. 1, 2029 |
| Short-term rental home permit cap | 46 (Kīhei-Mākena plan area) | 50 (West Maui plan area) |
| Public high school (most addresses) | Kulanihākoʻi High School | Lahainaluna High School |
| Drive from Kahului Airport | About 16 miles, 35–40 minutes | About 26 miles, 45–50 minutes |
| Average yearly rain | About 10–15 inches (Kīhei–Wailea) | About 23 inches (Kāʻanapali station) |
Sales figures are from Title Guaranty’s monthly Maui sales reports. Medians are reported month by month and often rest on a handful of sales, so we show the range instead of one number.
Price
Wailea is Maui’s most expensive condo market. Monthly condo medians there ran from about $1.4 million to $3.7 million this year, and in October the median Wailea and Mākena condo sale was about $3.3 million. Kāʻanapali condos cover a much wider range, from 1960s and 1970s beachfront buildings to newer resort residences like Honua Kai, with monthly medians between about $630,000 and $1.7 million.
If your budget for a resort-area condo is under about $1 million, Kāʻanapali has far more to choose from. Above $2 million, Wailea has more inventory.
Single-family homes are a different story. Kāʻanapali had only 11 house sales through September, mostly in the hillside subdivisions such as Kāʻanapali Golf Estates and on the Kāʻanapali Coffee Farms agricultural lots, so its medians jump around. Wailea and Mākena had about 35, many in gated subdivisions.
Vacation rentals and Bill 9
This is the biggest practical difference, and it goes building by building rather than area by area.
- Deadlines. Bill 9 ends nightly rentals in apartment-zoned buildings on the county’s Minatoya list on January 1, 2029 in West Maui and January 1, 2031 everywhere else. Affected Kāʻanapali buildings lose rentals two years sooner than affected Wailea buildings.
- Kāʻanapali condos. Of 12 complexes in our directory, 6 allow visitor rentals (including Honua Kai and Kāʻanapali Aliʻi), 2 are phasing out (Kāʻanapali Royal and Maui Eldorado), 1 has a hotel rezoning recommendation (Hale Kāʻanapali), and 3 we haven’t confirmed.
- Wailea and Mākena condos. Of 23 complexes, 6 allow visitor rentals, 6 are phasing out (Wailea Ekahi I, II and III, Wailea Ekolu, The Palms at Wailea and Grand Champions Villas), 9 are long-term only under their own rules, and 2 we haven’t confirmed. Many of the newer Wailea projects never allowed nightly rentals.
- Houses. In both areas, renting a house to visitors outside resort and apartment districts takes a short-term rental home permit. Permits are capped, require 15 years of ownership, and don’t transfer when a home sells, so a buyer can’t plan on renting a house to visitors in either place.
If rental income is part of the plan, check the specific building in our Maui condo directory or the Bill 9 tracker before you look at anything else.
Weather
Both sit on Maui’s dry leeward side, but Wailea is drier. The Kīhei–Wailea coast averages roughly 10 to 15 inches of rain a year, while the NOAA station at Kāʻanapali averages about 23 inches, and it gets wetter heading north toward Nāpili and Kapalua. In both places most of the rain falls between November and March.
Getting around
Wailea is about 35 to 40 minutes from Kahului Airport and close to Kīhei’s shopping and services. Kāʻanapali is 45 to 50 minutes from the airport on a single main highway, Honoapiʻilani Highway, which can back up or close. Kapalua Airport nearby handles only small interisland commuter flights. Driving between Wailea and Kāʻanapali takes about 55 minutes.
West Maui after the Lahaina fire
Kāʻanapali sits just north of Lahaina, which is still rebuilding after the August 2023 wildfire. The county lifted West Maui’s Stage 2 water shortage in March 2026. Check any address for flood, tsunami, sea level rise and wildfire exposure before you buy, in either area.
Which fits you
- Budget under about $1 million for a resort condo: Kāʻanapali has much more inventory.
- Driest weather and shortest airport drive: Wailea.
- Nightly rental income: neither area as a whole. Pick the building first, and remember the West Maui deadline comes two years earlier.
- A house rather than a condo: Wailea and Mākena have more house sales; Kāʻanapali’s are few and spread widely in price.
For more detail, see our neighborhood guides for Wailea and Mākena and Kāʻanapali.
Deciding between Wailea and Kāʻanapali? Call or text 808-866-6593, or start here: Buying · Selling
Sources
- Title Guaranty Hawaii, monthly Maui residential sales reports, January–September 2026
- Coldwell Banker Island Properties, Maui Market Report, October 2026
- Maui County Code chapter 19.65 (short-term rental homes); Ordinance 5909 (Bill 9); Ordinance 6008 (Bill 88)
- NOAA 1991–2020 normals via Current Results; Kīhei rainfall estimates from the Rainfall Atlas of Hawaiʻi
- Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, Maui drive times
General information as of November 2026, not legal or tax advice. Rental rules vary by building and can change. Confirm the rules for a specific property with its association and the County of Maui.