Kaanapali or Wailea with kids: picking your Maui resort
Written October 2026
Which side of Maui to stay on with kids, then which resort: kids' clubs, pools with slides, kitchens and suites.
If you want one answer: Wailea for small kids and a shorter drive from the airport, Kaanapali for a long beach, a village of restaurants a walk away and kitchens in the room. Wailea is sunnier and drier, with five crescent beaches and gentle water. Kaanapali is one three-mile beach with the resorts lined up along it, and it's better for a trip where the room matters more than the sand.
Then the resort. For a kids' club, Grand Wailea and Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea on the south side, The Westin Maui Resort & Spa Kaanapali on the west. For a kitchen, the Kaanapali condo-style resorts: Aston Kaanapali Shores, OUTRIGGER Honua Kai Resort & Spa and The Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas. For water slides, almost all of them, and the bigger ones are named below.
How we picked
We kept to resorts on Kaanapali Beach and on the Wailea coast, where you'd stay put and walk to the water. Resorts in Kihei, Napili, Kapalua and Hana are in the directory too, but they're a different trip from the one this guide is about, so they aren't here.
Kaanapali
West Maui's resort coast, one long beach with the hotels in a row. The beach path connects most of them, and you can walk to Whalers Village from several.
The Westin Maui Resort & Spa Kaanapali
Kaanapali Beach
Why we picked it: Six pools, a 270-foot slide and its own kids' club for ages 5 to 12 make it the west-side pick for a family that wants a club.
The pool area here is the draw: six pools in an aquatic playground above the beach, with a 270-foot water slide, a keiki pool with its own small slide and waterfall, and a splash zone for the youngest. The Westin's own kids' club, Keiki Kamp, takes ages 5 to 12, and younger kids join the daily activities with a parent.
It suits a family that wants the pools and a club and will use the room to sleep. It's a hotel, so there's no kitchen to cook in.
- Pool
- Yes
Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa
Kaanapali Beach
Why we picked it: It's here for the lagoon pool with a lava tube slide and a sand-bottom keiki lagoon, not for a drop-off club.
The Hyatt's pool is a lagoon with a 150-foot lava tube slide and waterfalls, plus a sand-bottom keiki lagoon with a child-sized slide of its own.
There's no supervised kids' club to drop into at the moment, only a schedule of daily keiki classes (cultural ones and wildlife tours). If a drop-off club is the plan, look elsewhere.
- Pool
- Yes
Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa
Black Rock, north end
Why we picked it: It's built around Black Rock, which makes it the best base in Kaanapali for a family that wants to snorkel.
The Sheraton is the one built around Black Rock, and it's the best base here for snorkeling. The pool is a long, winding lagoon (about 142 yards) with a small water slide and a shallow children's area, and the rotating daily activities include lei making, ukulele and hula lessons.
It's at the north end of the beach, a little further from Whalers Village than the others, and the beach at Black Rock is not where you want a toddler swimming.
- Kitchenette
- Yes
- Pool
- Yes
OUTRIGGER Kaanapali Beach Resort
Kaanapali Beach, near Whalers Village
Why we picked it: The easy beachfront pick: close to Whalers Village, a refrigerator in every room and a keiki program open to any age.
A smaller, simpler hotel right on the sand and a quarter-mile from Whalers Village, with a whale-shaped pool. Its keiki program is for kids of any age (an adult comes along), and there are free cultural activities like lei making and hula lessons. Rooms have two beds and a refrigerator.
It's the easy one for a family that lives on the beach and eats out. There's no kids' club and no kitchen, and the pool has no big slide.
- Pool
- Yes
Aston Kaanapali Shores
North Kaanapali Beach
Why we picked it: The quiet Kaanapali option: a condo resort with full kitchens in its suites and a calmer garden pool for kids.
A condo resort on the beach with rooms that range from hotel rooms to multi-room suites with full kitchens. There are two pools, an oceanfront one and a garden pool that's the calmer one for kids.
It's the quiet option: no kids' club and no big slide.
- Suites
- Yes
- Kitchenette
- Yes
- Pool
- Yes
- Laundry
- Yes
The Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas
North Kaanapali Beach
Why we picked it: It earns its place for the kitchen and the separate bedroom, on the quieter north stretch of the beach.
Studios with a kitchenette and a sofa bed, and one- and two-bedroom villas with full kitchens, dishwashers and a separate bedroom. A one-bedroom sleeps four, which is the line to remember if you're five.
It's on the quieter north stretch of the beach. Pick it for the kitchen and the separate bedroom and plan on driving for most meals out.
- Suites
- Yes
- Kitchenette
- Yes
- Laundry
- Yes
OUTRIGGER Honua Kai Resort & Spa
Up the coast from the main resort strip
Why we picked it: The one for a family of five or six: every unit is a suite with a full kitchen and an in-unit washer and dryer.
Every unit is a suite: studios to three bedrooms, each with a full kitchen and an in-unit washer and dryer. The pool area has three pools, a water slide, waterfalls and a splash area with fountains for small kids.
It's the one for a family of five or six, or two families sharing. It sits north of the main strip, so Whalers Village isn't a walk, and there's no kids' club.
- Suites
- Yes
- Kitchenette
- Yes
- Pool
- Yes
- Laundry
- Yes
Wailea
Maui's south coast, sunnier and drier, with the resorts spread along a beach path. They're bigger hotels, and every one of them has something real for kids.
Grand Wailea
Wailea
Why we picked it: The Wailea pick for a six- to ten-year-old who'd never leave the pools: nine pools, slides and a Keiki Club for ages 5 to 12.
Nine pools down a hillside, linked by slides, a rope swing and a water elevator that carries kids back to the top. At the bottom there's a sand-bottomed baby beach before the ocean. The Keiki Club takes ages 5 to 12, with crafts, games and cultural workshops.
It's the resort for a six- to ten-year-old who'd happily never leave the pools. It's less so for a toddler, who'll miss out on the club and the big slides, and for anyone who wants a quiet beach day.
- Pool
- Yes
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea
Wailea Beach
Why we picked it: A club for ages 5 to 12 and a keiki pool with a slide, plus a quiet adult pool, on Wailea Beach.
Kids For All Seasons is a free club for ages 5 to 12, with lei making, gecko hunts, sandcastles, hula lessons and rock climbing. The keiki pool has a waterfall, a slide and toys, and the beach out front is Wailea Beach.
It's the polished, easy-going pick, and it suits a family with a school-age kid who'll use the club and parents who want a quiet adult pool. There's no kitchen in the room, so it's a restaurant-and-room-service stay.
- Pool
- Yes
Wailea Beach Resort - Marriott Maui
Wailea
Why we picked it: It suits mixed ages: splash zones for the youngest, four slides for the rest and a game room for older kids.
The NALU Adventure Pool has four water slides (one of them the longest on Maui at 325 feet) and splash zones for the youngest. Slides ask for a 48-inch minimum. There's a seasonal keiki club (Kolohe Keiki Club) for ages 5 to 12, and a game room with an arcade, foosball and billiards for older kids.
It suits a family with mixed ages, since the splash zones cover the small ones and the slides cover the rest. It's a hotel, so no kitchen in the room.
- Pool
- Yes
Fairmont Kea Lani
Polo Beach
Why we picked it: The Wailea answer for a door between you and the kids: every unit is a suite or villa with a kitchenette or kitchen.
An all-suite and villa resort on Polo Beach. Even the smallest unit is a one-bedroom suite of around 860 square feet with a kitchenette (microwave, compact refrigerator, coffee maker), and the two- and three-bedroom villas are two stories with a full kitchen.
There are three pools, including an adults-only one, and a 140-foot slide connects two of the family pools. This is the Wailea answer for a family that wants a door between the kids and the parents without leaving the south side. The Keiki Lani kids' club has been reported closed, so don't plan around a drop-off club here. It's the most spread-out of the four, and the kitchenette is for breakfast and snacks, not cooking.
- Suites
- Yes
- Kitchenette
- Yes
- Pool
- Yes
Kaanapali or Wailea: how the two sides differ
Wailea is on the south coast and Kaanapali on the west, so you pick a side and stay on it. Drive times vary with traffic, but the airport in Kahului is roughly 35 minutes from Wailea and 50 minutes from Kaanapali. With a small kid, the shorter drive after a long flight counts for something.
The beaches. Wailea Beach has a gradual entry and a small shorebreak, which in summer south swells can get bigger. Polo Beach, a little further south, is the one fronting the Fairmont Kea Lani, and a paved coastal path links the Wailea beaches. Polo Beach has no lifeguard. Kaanapali Beach is three miles of wide, gently sloping sand with the resorts in a row, and the water is calm much of the year. At its north end, Black Rock is the famous snorkeling spot, and the water around it has currents that change, so beginners and kids stay close to the shore.
Food. Kaanapali has Whalers Village, a short walk from several resorts, with family restaurants and a keiki menu or two, and a beachfront path that runs between the Hyatt and the Sheraton. Wailea has the Shops at Wailea, a handful of restaurants and a gourmet market, but the big supermarkets are in Kihei, a short drive away. If you're cooking in your room, that's the one thing to plan on the south side.
Wailea's resorts are bigger and fancier, and most of them are hotels. Kaanapali has more places where you can cook, wash clothes and sleep a family of five in one unit.
Kids' clubs
Grand Wailea's Keiki Club and Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea's Kids For All Seasons both take ages 5 to 12, and The Westin Maui Resort & Spa Kaanapali's club does too. Wailea Beach Resort has the seasonal Kolohe Keiki Club, also for ages 5 to 12, and Fairmont Kea Lani's Keiki Lani club is reported to have stopped. Nobody here takes toddlers on their own, so with a kid under five the club is not the reason to choose. At Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa and OUTRIGGER Kaanapali Beach Resort there's a schedule of cultural activities instead.
Where you can cook
OUTRIGGER Honua Kai Resort & Spa and The Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas have full kitchens in the larger units. Aston Kaanapali Shores has them in its suites. Fairmont Kea Lani has a kitchenette in every suite and a full kitchen in the villas.
What's not in this guide
Resorts in Kihei (Aston at the Maui Banyan, Castle Kamaole Sands, Hilton Grand Vacations Club Maui Bay Villas), in Napili and Kapalua (Napili Kai Beach Resort, Napili Shores Maui by OUTRIGGER, The Resort at Kapalua Bay) and Hana-Maui Resort aren't on Kaanapali Beach or the Wailea coast, so we've left them out. Their pages are on Play Day.
Questions
Kaanapali or Wailea with toddlers?
Wailea. The drive from the airport is shorter, the weather is sunnier and drier and the beaches have a gradual entry. Fairmont Kea Lani's suites give you a door to close at nap time. Kaanapali works too, especially at The Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas or OUTRIGGER Honua Kai Resort & Spa, where there's a kitchen and a separate bedroom.
Which Maui resort has a kids' club?
Grand Wailea and Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea on the south side, and The Westin Maui Resort & Spa Kaanapali on the west. All take ages 5 to 12. Wailea Beach Resort has the seasonal Kolohe Keiki Club, also for ages 5 to 12.
Which Maui resort has a kitchen in the room?
OUTRIGGER Honua Kai Resort & Spa has a full kitchen in every suite. The Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas has them in its villas, and Fairmont Kea Lani has them in its villas.
What's the best Maui resort for a family of five?
A suite with a second bedroom: OUTRIGGER Honua Kai Resort & Spa or Aston Kaanapali Shores in Kaanapali, or a villa at Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea. A one-bedroom at The Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas sleeps four, so you'd want a two-bedroom.
Which Maui resort has the best pool for kids?
Grand Wailea, with nine pools linked by slides, a rope swing and a water elevator. After that, The Westin Maui Resort & Spa Kaanapali for its 270-foot slide and keiki splash zone, and Wailea Beach Resort for the NALU Adventure Pool.
Is Kaanapali Beach good for kids?
Yes. It's wide, it slopes gently and the water is calm much of the year. The exception is Black Rock at the north end: the currents there change, so beginners and kids should stay near the shore.
Photos
Grand Wailea: Dave Dugdale from Superior, USA (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Wailea Beach Resort - Marriott Maui: dronepicr (CC BY 2.0) · Fairmont Kea Lani: harley photo (CC BY-SA 3.0)
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