After the fire, some Maui residents find healing in the ocean

A month after a deadly wildfire destroyed the historic town of Lahaina and killed at least 115 people, many island residents have been returning to the beaches and waters along Maui’s western shores.

As restrictions on driving to West Maui have gradually lifted and some roadblocks have been removed — with the exception of several burned areas of Lahaina — people swimming, surfing, paddling and fishing have become a regular sight again.

Residents say it’s an important part of the healing process to connect with the ocean — and with each other.

More than 1,000 people flocked to Ukumehame Beach Park south of Lahaina and Kalama Beach Park in Kihei for a pair of massive paddle-out events Friday marking the one-month anniversary of the deadly fire. People of all ages, from all walks of life and across Maui, joined the events.

“I didn’t lose my home, but everyone I know lost everything,” said Cole Sheveland, a Lahaina resident who attended the paddle-out at Ukumehame. “We could watch the town burn from our neighborhood.”

Sheveland said it was a perfect way to commemorate the tragedy, saying the beach is “a solid place of healing … it’s kind of a spiritual place. It’s a perfect opportunity for people to come here and relate, to cry, just be in the moment together.

Kihei resident Emily Rand, who held her infant son on the shore as she watched the paddle-out at Ukumehame, said beaches are “such a part of the island life, and Lahaina was such a iconic, really popular surf spot for people.”

“This the most people in Maui I’ve seen all in one place I think ever,” she added, “because most of the things we do on Maui are kind of trying to get away from people — spreading out a little bit.”

Brittany Fleck, a Kihei resident who helped organize the paddle-out events, said “people who live in Hawaii live here for a reason. You know, we appreciate the moana — the ocean — and I personally believe water is life.”

“It is very healing, not only entering the ocean but to be together with that many people,” Fleck said. “I personally was sobbing. You could hear sniffles and people crying … it’s like a cleansing, like you’re releasing it, you’re letting it all go and you’re kind of giving it to the ocean, and in return you kind of get healed yourself.”

>> PHOTOS: Memorial services mark one month since Lahaina wildfires

But not everyone on Maui embraced the paddle-outs. During the event at Ukumehame, a woman in a truck driving by on Honoapiilani Highway angrily shouted, “None of you have any respect for Lahaina!”

State Rep. Elle Cochran, who represents West Maui, said some of her constituents contacted her to complain about traffic slowdowns on the highway as people from across Maui flocked to Ukumehame for the paddle-out.

“If people want to gather and kumbaya and spread the good vibes and prayers, whatever, sure, why not? But not to the detriment of someone else,” Cochran said. “I had people trying to get to the airport, I had people trying to go home, and they’re like, ‘Man, I don’t want to be driving 2 miles an hour.’”

WEST MAUI residents are already wrestling with the prospect of tourists flocking back to their beaches. In the immediate aftermath of the fire, visitors were advised to vacate West Maui in order to accommodate relief efforts for the thousands of locals displaced by the disaster. Tourism to the entire island plummeted, sending Maui’s economy into a tailspin.

Gov. Josh Green on Friday announced that most of the region will fully reopen to visitors Oct. 8 in order to revive economic activity and restore jobs.

“West Maui will be open to visitors again, so people from Hawaii and around the world can resume travel to this special place and help it begin to recover economically,” Green said. “This difficult decision is meant to bring hope for recovery to the families and businesses on Maui that have been so deeply affected in every way by the disaster.”

But as Lahaina residents wait to pick through the ruins of their former lives, with 115 people dead and at least 66 still unaccounted for, the issue of when it’s appropriate for visitors to return has become divisive.

“It’s hard because it feels like 2020 again,” said Rand, referring to the virtual shudown of the visitor industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. “A majority of my friends even in Kihei are out of work because we live off of tourism.”

She said that any effort to bring tourists back to the island should be tempered with educating them and encouraging them to be respectful of the pain the community is experiencing.

“While there is that need to show reverence for Lahaina, there also needs to be the ability for people to survive here. And so I do think getting tourists back with an awareness and understanding of respect, or even an open perspective to serve if there’s need for that in different places, it can really be a win-win for the island.”

Many others who live in West Maui aren’t ready to see visitors returning to their beaches.

“As a community, we don’t approve,” Cochran said. “It’s kind of too soon. People are still in need of hotel rooms just to put a roof over their heads right now. I know it’s a Band-Aid but at least it’s something for the time being, rather than trying to get out there in the world and compete with no money to rent somewhere.”

For others it’s more complicated. Sheveland noted that even though his family’s business, Maui Coffee Company, relies on visitors, he has mixed feelings on seeing them return.

“It’s hard to say,” he said. “Things can’t just stop, right? So it’s really touchy.

“You can’t bring people in and kick the people out (at hotels) who lost their homes,” Sheveland said. “It’s just really tough because everyone needs to be satisfied, and there’s so many different levels of that right now that I don’t think anyone is not going to be upset about something.”

For 62-year-old Robert P. of Makawao, who was surfing at Ukumehame Thursday and declined to give his last name, the prospect of the return of tourists is “a bittersweet thing with the loss of our historical town, our first kingdom capital of Hawaii.”

He said that as a Native Hawaiian, he deeply feels the loss of the town, especially as so many Hawaiians have been pushed out of the islands by rising costs and feel like they’re losing their homeland. But he also said the sharp decline in tourism has only exacerbated the suffering of many across the island as people lose their jobs even as they grieve the loss of loved ones and their homes in Lahaina.

“You’ve got restaurant owners that are donating their services and going around and cooking for the community and doing all those things with no income and having to lay off employees,” he said. “My opinion is it’s too soon, but not soon enough. Yes it’s needed, but a lot of people are not ready for it.”

In the meantime, taking to the ocean has been an important part of making peace with the tragedy and moving forward, according to Robert P.

“When I go out surfing, this is my own healing,” he said. “But then when I’m out there I’m thinking about, of course, Lahaina — I surf a lot in Lahaina. I think about all those people. I had friends who perished in Lahaina that are surfers that I know. But life goes on — you know? — and the healing process is gonna be a long road.”