Fleming Beach Park, Maui, Hawaii is adjacent to the Kapalua resort area on the western side of the island of Maui. The beach offers a view of the neighboring Molkai Island. A forest on a low cliff lines the back end of the beach, thus giving it nearly permanent shady areas.
The beach itself is a mile long of white sand in the form of a crescent.
The surf here can get big, especially in the winter months, and the beach slopes steeply into the ocean, making it particularly dangerous for small children. The sudden drop off helps promote undertow even when the waters appear calm.
Two large reefs help protect the reef from erosion and offer an attraction for divers off the shore of the Beach Park.
This beach has restrooms, showers, a public telephone, picnic tables and grills for barbecuing as well as a snack bar and bar. On the southern end of the beach there is formal dining at the ocean front Beach House restaurant of the Ritz Carlton Hotel, which is located directly behind the Beach Park. This restaurant serves seafood, sandwiches and salad for lunch and continues to serve drinks throughout the day.
The waters at Fleming Beach Park, Maui, Hawaii are almost always filled with surfers on long boards or boogie boards.
During the week the beach is relatively quiet but on weekends and holidays it gets quite busy.
There are some private kayaking tours that depart from the park. Due to strong currents here people should have previous ocean kayaking experience before undertaking such a tour.
In 2006 Fleming Beach Park, Maui, Hawaii was named the number 1 beach on the annual list of America's Best 10 Beaches elaborated by Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman of the Florida International University. Since 1991, Leatherman, known as Dr. Beach, has been issuing his top ten list based on 50 scientific criteria and a prior investigation of 650 public beaches. Once a beach makes number 1 it is retired from future rankings.
The park is named for the Scottish born DT Fleming who arrived in Maui in 1889. He managed a number of local business operations and in 1950 was elected U.S. Senator from Hawaii.
Kapalua, where the beach is located, is on less than 2 square miles of land. Luxury homes and villas may be rented in easy walking distance to the Beach Park. Over 500 people live in the area surrounding the park. Around 60% of them are of solely Anglo Saxon origins.
52% of the persons residing near the Beach Park are female and the remaining 48% are male. Inhabitants of this area have a median household income approximately of $10,000 more than the average median for the State of Hawaii on the whole.
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