Surfing
So This Is Happening: Honolua Bay Salvation
Maui’s blue water dream was threatened, but the community rallies to save it; Ian Walsh rejoices.
Ian Walsh
© DoomaPhoto
The Maui Land & Pineapple Company owns a chunk of property in Hawaii that would make Jay-Z seem like a chump. Their land sits on Lipoa Point which overlooks Honolua Bay, the bright blue righthand pointbreak where dreams are made. Unfortunately for ML&P, the company doesn’t produce the same amount of revenue as the Jiggaman does. And so they set out to sell the land and bust open the levy of commercial development. We’re talking resorts, golf courses, spas — all things pale and Arkansas. Any sort of development would put a serious blemish on the surfing sacred ground, and the community scowled at such a notion. Groups were established and petitions were inked as the debate roared on.
The issue then fell into governmental stagnancy, which seems to be signature to the United States. While the USA’s federal government was busy deciding whether or not pizza could be considered a vegetable, Hawaiian lawmakers went to work in solving the crisis at Honolua. Much to the delight of Maui residents, the government came up with a $20 million offer for the 280 acres of land owned by the Maui Land & Pineapple Company. This guarantees that the land will be protected and preserved in the future, and that Ian Walsh will never have to dodge 9 Iron drives gone awry while surfing one of those lovely days at the bay.
