Lahaina Small Boat Harbor has officially reopened. The harbor sustained $30 million in damage from the 2023 wildfire.
Monday marked the first time since the fires that boats were permitted to resume commercial operations.
The limited reopening marked a milestone in West Maui’s recovery, but some say the area is not yet ready for visitors. Protestors at the harbor say it is too soon and that their perspectives have not been taken into account by the county.
The Conversation spoke with Don Prestage, president of Sail Maui. His company is one of four expected to resume operations out of the harbor during the limited reopening.
Interview highlights
On Sail Maui, news of resuming operations in Lahaina Harbor
DON PRESTAGE: We have three boats, two that have historically been out of Lahaina Harbor and one out of Maʻalaea Harbor. We had probably 40 employees before, at the time, we ran two trips a day on our boats, like a snorkeling trip and then some type of afternoon or sunset sale. And then since the fire, we've been running two boats out of Maʻalaea Harbor, and one boat hasn't been running at all. … We didn't lay anybody off. A lot of people left after the fire, and then we've been just doing the best we can, trying to keep our operations running enough where we can keep our employees on healthcare, the ones that we have.
PRESTAGE: I think this summer was the first talk of reopening it, and then they pushed it until now, but it's been going on for months. It's a limited reopening. There's no power down there, so there's no lights, and so there's limited hours and really specific parking.
On pushback from community members
PRESTAGE: I think there's really mixed feelings on if it's the harbor is ready to be open, and some people have come down as they should, to let those voices be heard. It's been nice, it's been peaceful, and I think it is important that everybody gets to express themselves, but yeah, not everybody's ready for it, which is totally understandable. It's difficult, and I definitely do not have all the answers, and we're trying to decide for ourselves the best way for us to fit into the community as a whole. We're not taking these decisions lightly. They're important decisions, and we're getting as much counsel as we can from different leaders and people in the community. And we're going to try and continue to make decisions that have the best impact on our community. We think our business is important as well, but there's definitely a bigger picture, and we hopefully are doing the best we can.
On visitors coming to Lahaina, responsibility
PRESTAGE: We've shot a video that we're going to be sending out with our confirmation emails. We're almost finished, where we say just come back with mindfulness and reverence. Save your photos and your videos until you get on the boat. And we're just inviting tourists to come back if they want to be part of the journey forward, they need to come back with that type of aloha and respect. And then our crews have been doing sensitivity training and cultural training. Our procedures — we're going to ask our guests to meet us in the parking lot, and we're going to escort them back and forth. And then when we're on the boat, when the captain does the safety briefing, and when they leave, we're just going to try and continue to share the message that to please just be respectful, be mindful of what this place is for the people that live here.
PRESTAGE: In a lot of ways, we feel it's our responsibility not to take anything away from what happened to Lahaina, but where we are today, there's also an opportunity to have a reset on what the visitor industry could look like. And I know some people don't even want to see a visitor industry, and I understand that. But for those that do want to see a visitor industry, there's an opportunity to reset what that might look like, where we asked our guests to be good tourists. And so we feel that we have the opportunity to do better than has been done in the past, and to set that as our standard. We're here for the conversations. We're here for the even if they're uncomfortable and difficult conversations and will continue to be, and hopefully we can continue to shape ourselves into a small business that is responsive to the needs of the community as a whole.
Sail Maui will be dedicating one of its Saturday night sails for complimentary community sailing, inviting locals to come out.
The Department of Land and Natural Resources said a handful more businesses plan to resume operations in the harbor in 2026.
This story aired on The Conversation on Dec. 17, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this interview for the web.
