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Duke’s Beach House at Honua Kai, with thatched umbrellas and the restaurant’s surfboard sign

About a five-minute walk

Nextdoor

Dinner with live music, a coffee run, and a few shops are a short stroll down the beach at Honua Kai Resort & Spa. So are some well-known outdoor cats. Here is what’s there, and how to be a good neighbor to all of it.

Hours, shops, and menus change. Last checked October 27, 2026. Call ahead or check the business before you go. This page is not affiliated with Duke’s, Honua Kai, Outrigger, or any group listed here.

Photo of Duke’s Beach House by Forest and Kim Starr, June 2016, CC BY 3.0. The thatch roof and the surfboard sign are the restaurant. Seating and landscaping may have changed since the photo was taken.

Just next door

Honua Kai Resort & Spa (130 Kai Malina Pkwy) is the next resort along the beach from the Mahana, toward Black Rock and Whalers Village. Duke’s Beach House is on the sand there.

  • Distance: about 0.1 mile in a straight line, roughly a 5-minute walk.
  • On foot: head along the beach toward Honua Kai. If you are not sure which path or gate to use, ask the Mahana front desk or the people at the pool. Shoes or sandals are a good idea after dark.
  • By car: Duke’s says it has complimentary self-parking at Honua Kai, and valet for $10.
  • Who can go where: Duke’s and the shops welcome visitors. The pools, hot tubs, water slides, cabanas, and lounge beds are for Honua Kai’s registered guests. There is no day pass. Use the pool at the Mahana.

Duke’s Beach House

An open-air, oceanfront restaurant named for Duke Kahanamoku, the Olympic swimmer and father of modern surfing. Casual, and steps from the sand.

What it is

Hawaiian-influenced cooking built around seafood and steak, with views toward Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi. The Barefoot Bar is for cocktails and island favorites. The dining room is for fresh fish and steak. Duke’s is known for its Hula Pie, and it has a keiki menu and gluten-free options.

There is live music every day. Duke’s also serves poolside for Honua Kai guests.

Duke’s lists three sets a day. For who is playing on a given date, the independent Rock Hawaii listing is the one with names. Lineups change, so call to confirm.

Music by dateDuke’s music pageWebsiteMenus and hoursOpenTable(808) 662-2900

Duke’s recommends a reservation for the dining room. If you cannot find a time online, call.

Hours

From Duke’s own website.

Open daily
7:30 am – 9:00 pm
Breakfast
7:30 – 11:00 am
Lunch
11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Aloha Hour
2:30 – 4:00 pm
Dinner and Barefoot Bar
4:00 – 9:00 pm
Live music
12:00–2:30, 3:00–5:00, and 5:30–8:00 pm

Other sites show slightly different closing times. Call for the day you are going. Address: 130 Kai Malina Pkwy, Lahaina, HI 96761.

Shops at Honua Kai

Handy for a coffee or forgotten sunscreen. The retail has changed recently.

Hokulani Market

Café and boutique · daily 6 am – 9 pm

Starbucks drinks, smoothies, and grab-and-go food, plus gifts, resort clothing, and sundries. Announced in fall 2025. The old Aina Gourmet Market has closed.

Announcement

Whaler’s General Store

Konea lobby · 6:30 am – 9 pm

Souvenirs, snacks, toiletries, and the usual forgotten things. Hours are from Outrigger’s Honua Kai dining page.

Outrigger’s page

Duke’s Barefoot Bar

Until 9 pm

Cocktails and casual bites by the sand. The easiest stop for one drink.

See Duke’s above

The resort’s name includes “Spa,” but sources disagree about whether an on-site spa is open. Ask the Honua Kai front desk before you walk over for a massage. The resort is pet-free for guests. The front desk is run by Outrigger.

The Honua Kai cats

At dusk or early morning you may meet outdoor cats on the grounds. These were photographed there. Here is who they are, and how to be kind.

Honua Kai at night, palms and lit buildings across the lawn
The grounds after dark, when the cats come out.
Two orange cats sitting on a lit boardwalk at night, a few feet from a person looking at a phone
A brown tabby cat lying in the grass at Honua Kai
A gray cat stretched out in the dirt beside the boardwalk
A tabby cat standing in silvery green groundcover
A white-chested tabby cat sitting on a garden step among ginger plants

Same lesson in every picture: they are close, and they are left alone. No food, no picking up, no following them down the path.

Who they are

They are community cats: outdoor cats, some friendly and many shy, living in a colony. Visitors regularly report them around Honua Kai.

There is no public source naming who looks after this particular colony, how many cats there are, or whether every one has been neutered. The guidance below is the safe default from Maui’s animal groups and wildlife agencies.

How they are usually cared for

The usual approach on Maui is TNR: trap, neuter, and return. Some groups add an M for manage.

  • Cats are trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped, then returned to the area they know.
  • A caretaker feeds them and watches their health. Friendly cats and kittens may be adopted.
  • With no new litters, the colony gets smaller and calmer.
  • Maui Humane Society offers free spay/neuter and microchips for community cats, and loans traps.

Nearby, a colony at Kaanapali Royal that had grown to about 30 cats was brought under control with TNR and one feeding station. Afterward the property asked people not to feed the cats on their own. Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 2019

The ear tip

A cat with the top of one ear neatly clipped, or a small notch, has been spayed or neutered and vaccinated. Someone is already looking after that cat. Not every cat will have a tip, and a tip does not mean the cat wants to be handled.

Happy to do

  • Enjoy them from a distance. Sit quietly and let them come to you.
  • Keep trash and leftovers covered. Take scraps and wrappers with you.
  • Leave kittens where they are. Mom is usually nearby.
  • Teach children to look with their eyes and use quiet voices.
  • Follow posted signs and the resort’s rules. Ask the front desk if you are unsure.
  • Report a cat that looks hurt or sick.
  • Wash your hands if you touch a cat.

Please don’t

  • Don’t feed them or leave food or water out. Let the caretakers do the feeding.
  • Don’t pick them up, corner them, or chase them.
  • Don’t bring a cat into your unit. Honua Kai is pet-free, and caretakers need to find the cats where they live.
  • Don’t move healthy kittens, or take a cat home. Adopt through the Humane Society or a rescue.
  • Don’t leave pet waste or cat litter outside.

Why the feeding rule matters

  • Cats are the only animals that shed Toxoplasma gondii. Rain can wash it into the ocean. NOAA says it is one of the biggest threats to Hawaiian monk seals in the main islands, and it also affects native birds.
  • NOAA and Hawaiʻi’s wildlife agency ask people not to feed feral cats or leave food out.
  • The kind fix is TNR, with a managed colony fed by the people who know the cats.

NOAA · Hawaiʻi DLNR · Maui Humane Society

Who to call

A cat is injured or very sick
Maui Humane Society emergency line, (808) 877-3680 ext. 222, any time. Have the exact location and your phone number. For a life-threatening emergency involving a person, call 911.
You find kittens
Leave them for now. If mom has not come back after about 10 hours, or they look sick, call (808) 877-3680 ext. 222.
You want to help this colony
Ask the Honua Kai front desk, or contact a West Maui cat group. There is no named contact for this exact colony.
Someone is harming wildlife
DLNR enforcement (DOCARE): (808) 873-3990.

Numbers are from the Humane Society’s report page. See it here

How to help

If the cats won you over, the useful gift is to the people who feed and fix them, not a bowl of kibble.

West Maui · volunteer-run

Save Maui Cats

A 501(c)(3) that feeds homeless cats, traps and neuters them, adopts out friendly ones, and manages colonies. Their HandsOn Maui listing says they work in Lahaina and Honokōwai. Donations are tax-deductible. They also accept cat food, gas cards, and flea treatment.

DonateAbout them(808) 344-6999

savemauicats@gmail.com · PO Box 10723, Lahaina, HI 96761. They have asked for resident volunteer feeders through HandsOn Maui. We cannot confirm that they look after the Honua Kai colony in particular. They are the West Maui feeding group we could verify. If you want a gift used on the west side, say so when you contact them.

Maui-wide

Rusty MauiCat Collective

A 501(c)(3). Donations pay for traps, feeding, support for caretakers, and basic medical costs.

Donation page

The island shelter

Maui Humane Society

Free spay/neuter and microchips for caretakers’ cats, trap loans, and emergency response. They also need kitten fosters and adopters.

Maui Humane Society

Donations go to those groups through their own sites. Nothing comes to this page.

Where this came from
  • Duke’s hours, parking, and music times: dukesmaui.com. Performer names by date: Rock Hawaii’s Maui listing, checked October 28, 2026.
  • Honua Kai shops: Outrigger’s food page, and the October 2025 Hokulani Market announcement.
  • Community cats: Maui Humane Society, Save Maui Cats, and the 2019 Star-Advertiser story.
  • Wildlife: NOAA Fisheries and Hawaiʻi DLNR.

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