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Author: bohlkemate

Little Beach

Latest Threat to Little Beach

Posted on May 21, 2020 by bohlkemate

Maui County Coucil Resolution is Latest Threat to Little Beach

by Bob Morton, Chairman and Executive Director, Naturist Action Committee

WAILUKU, Hawaii-In a renewal of the attack on the traditional clothing-optional use of Little Beach, the County Council of Maui has adopted a resolution supporting the creation of a historic district at Pu’u alai, land owned by the State of Hawaii as part of Makena State Park. The proposed district would encompass all of the land fronting Little Beach, as well as the beach itself.

The measure was passed without discussion or public comment at the December 17, 2002, regular meeting of the Council. Its sponsor, Council member Alan M. Arakawa, has since been sworn in as the new mayor of Maui.

The name of Kahu (Reverend) Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell, Sr. appears nowhere in the document, but his fingerprints are all over it. Maxwell, a former Maui police officer and now a self-ordained clergyman, is vigorously opposed to the nude use of Little Beach.

Maxwell, who bills himself as a “cultural and spiritual consultant” and a teller of Hawaiian “talk stories,” is also active in the Hawaiian separatist movement, which seeks to purge the Islands of mainland U.S. influences. He sees skinny-dipping as a haole (outsider) influence, and he steadfastly denies that indigenous Hawaiians were ever nude. Maxwell prefers instead to allow his version of history on the islands to commence after the arrival of European Christian missionaries, who took upon themselves the task of properly clothing the natives.

However imprecise Maxwell’s view of early 19th Century history may be, he is an apt student of more recent events. In 1999, the National Park Service declared nudity to be forbidden at Kaloko Honokohau National Historical Park on the Big Island. The justification was that the longtime tradition of skinny-dipping in the park was “offensive” to the culture of native Hawaiians.

Maxwell, who enjoys being called “Uncle Charlie,” makes no distinction between culture and religion and has attempted periodically for the past few years to have nudity removed from Little Beach by using an echo of the ploy used so successfully on the Big Island. The Maui resolution makes extensive reference to Hawaiian myth and folklore, and includes as a part of its text the “talk story” of how “the great Goddess Pele” was “angered by the marriage between the the mo’o Pu’u-o-inaina and Lohi’au,” and “transformed them into Pu’u Olai as the tail of a mo’o, and the island of Molokini as the head.”

It’s on this basis that Maxwell claims cultural and historic significance for Little Beach. Maxwell has also played the “cultural and historic” card in attempts to stop construction of a cluster of retail shops and a little league baseball field.

But Maxwell has not been consistent in his claims of what is pono (proper and seemly) at Little Beach. In his 2001 attempt to banish nude bathers from the beach, Uncle Charlie suggested that it would be acceptable to him-and presumably to the various constituents and deities he represents-to establish certain days of the week on which the beach could be clothing-optional.

Nudity, it seems, was most offensive on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays-at least in that version of the “talk stories.”

Having been burnt severely at Koloko Honokohau by the argument that nudity is not pono, the Naturist Action Committee is taking Charles Maxwell very seriously. NAC director Charles Harris is working closely with Friends of Little Beach, and NAC has retained legal representation in the matter.

Copies of the Maui resolution were sent by the County Council to the governor of the state, to the county’s lawmakers in the state legislature and to the Hawaii delegation in the U.S. Congress. Last year, opponents of the naturist use of Little Beach introduced multiple bills in the state legislature to transfer control of state parks to the counties. None of those bills was allowed …

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Christmas Day Potluck Brunch On Little Beach

Christmas Day Potluck Brunch On Little Beach

Posted on May 5, 2020 by bohlkemate

The brunch happens spontaneously, weather permitting. Those that wish to participate bring a pot luck dish, usually a “finger food”. Misty leads the group in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” Hawaiian Style and a few other carols before we eat at about noon. All are welcome to participate!

BACK ISSUES OF THE Little Beach Gazette
(Adobe Acrobat files)
Fall 2007 (Current Issue) 204K
Winter 2007 239K
Fall 2006 371K
Spring/Summer 2006 262K
Fall 2005 372K
Spring/Summer 2005 256K
Winter 2005 339K
Fall 2004 280K
Spring/Summer 2004 282K
Winter 2004 255K
…
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Photos

Photos

Posted on April 10, 2020 by bohlkemate

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History 1990s

History 1990s

Posted on March 13, 2020 by bohlkemate

The 1990s were relatively peaceful years…

…for the nude sunbathers. Rowley moved to Las Vegas, and another Little Beach regular, Tom Collins, took over as “Mayor of Little Beach.”

Dick Hyers, the former exchequer, said the beach today exists in a harmonious confluence of groups that include new-styled hippies, gays, tourists and “your average Joe Blows, 35 and up, married with children, taxpayers and business owners.”

On Sundays, the hippies throw a large sunset celebration featuring a circle of drums and other instruments. The dancing continues into the night.

The Friends of Little Beach/Maui SunSeekers is still going strong, with members enjoying holiday potlucks in addition to socializing on the beach. Dick Hyers has moved on, and now Dave Swanson heads up the group.

Hundreds of visitors return year after year to a place known internationally as one of the top nude beaches in the world. There’s a group of 10 to 20 couples from all over North America, for example, who meet on the beach every February.

The beauty of Little Beach is the complete lack of social barriers. With no clothes to indicate social status, there is nothing to separate rich industrialists or high-powered surgeons from waiters or cab drivers. They’re all just as naked.

After a decade of tranquility, however, conflict over the practice of nude sunbathing has emerged again. Native Hawaiian representatives on a committee convened by the state to make recommendations on a master plan for Makena State Park have been pushing for limits.…

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History 1980s

History 1980s

Posted on February 4, 2020 by bohlkemate

By the 1980s, nude sunbathing at Little Beach was well-established

Californian Peter Rowley had read about the beach in a tourist book in 1981, and when he finally saw it, he was astonished by its beauty and peace.

“It was the embodiment of a totally relaxed, idealistic culture,” he said. “It was amazingly beautiful, completely in a natural state. The people were friendly, and they were enjoying the fact they weren’t wearing anything.”

It wasn’t long before Rowley was a daily fixture. He joined a core group of regulars who looked after the beach, hauled out trash, acted as lifeguards and welcomed newcomers.

The group organized the Friends of Little Beach, and Rowley published a newsletter that was sent to 2,500 people. He became known as “the Mayor of Little Beach.”

Another thing happened in the ’80s that had a significant effect: Hannibal Tavares was elected mayor of Maui County. The former police officer was adamantly opposed to nude sunbathing, and he instructed police to aggressively enforce the county’s indecent exposure law.

Dozens of visitors and locals were arrested in police sweeps, but many of the cases didn’t stick.

The Little Beach sunbathers had a friend in District Court Judge John Vail, who threw out a number of arrests of women for topless sunbathing. Vail ruled that baring only your breasts didn’t meet the definition of nudity. He rejected other cases after ruling that Little Beach was not easily accessible to the public and, therefore, nudity at the beach was not likely to be observed by those who would be affronted or alarmed.

In response, authorities proposed a staircase over the bluff that leads to Little Beach, but that proposal never came to fruition.

When police attempts to enforce the law were stymied, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources stepped up enforcement of a law barring nudity at state parks. By that time, the area had become Makena State Park.

Rowley was singled out, arrested and convicted in a trial, but the case was appealed to the Hawai’i Supreme Court, which struck down the conviction in 1989 on a technicality: The justices determined the state had failed to hold a full public hearing during the development of its park rules.

Tavares’ time in office ended shortly thereafter and the political winds shifted.…

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History 1969

History 1969

Posted on October 29, 2019 by bohlkemate

It all began in 1969…

…when the hippies began showing up on Maui to create a handful of settlements with colorful names such as Banana Patch, Soul Acres and Trouble Gulch.

At Makena, a shantytown was carved into the thick kiawe forest on the edge of Oneloa Beach, commonly called Big Beach, and at several neighboring beaches. In those days, nudity was the norm.

Off the beach, the strange newcomers clashed with the establishment and were accused of freeloading and stealing. Mayor Elmer Cravalho scolded both sides at a Kihei Community Association meeting in March 1970.

To those who didn’t like the newcomers, Cravalho said that his own grandfather might have been called a hippie and shipped back to Portugal if he had been judged on his appearance when he first came to Hawai’i.

To the hippies, he said hiding in the “boondocks at Makena” was cowardly and that they should get involved in the community.

By late 1969, the police were raiding the place on a regular basis, looking for runaways, draft-dodgers and nude sunbathers.

U.S. Marshal Howard Tagomori, a former Maui Police Department vice officer, remembers driving on the dirt road to Makena in the early 1970s with a handful of officers to make busts.

“We were friends with most of the guys,” recalled Tagomori, who later became Maui’s police chief. “It was like a game. We would talk story with them.”

The Makena colony grew to 300 to 400 people before it was largely evicted in 1972.

But nude sunbathing persisted at Makena’s more remote beach, Little Beach, which is tucked behind Pu’u Ola’i and separated from Big Beach by a 30-foot bluff.…

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Tides and Weather

Tides and Weather

Posted on August 13, 2019 by bohlkemate

Some Cool Weather Links:

  • Stinson Beach Web Cam
  • Satellite Photo of Fog Over Bay Area (1)
  • Satellite Photo of Fog (2)
  • Stinson Beach Weather Report
  • San Francisco Bay Wind Patterns
  • Complete Tide Tables

As a rule, there are two high tides and two low tides each day. Red Rock has the most exposed sand area when the tide is 4.0 or below, depending on the surf conditions. If the surf is especially rough, and the tide is over 6.0, watch out! Especially during the winter months. People have been soaked by waves even on the highest terrace. Conscientious beachgoers always check their tide table before hiking down. For daily weather conditions, call the rangers’ taped weather/surf report (415-868-1922) around 9:30 am for up-to-date conditions. …

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Tropical Breezes

Escape to Tropical Breezes

Posted on August 1, 2019 by bohlkemate

f you are a naturist and looking for clothing-optional opportunities in your vacation destination…look no further!

Tropical Breezes is a quiet, comfortable naturist guest house located in a residential neighborhood in Kihei, on The Valley Isle of Maui.

f you want to work on your all-over tan, hop into your car and drive just ten minutes to Little Beach in Makena, Hawaii’s #1 clothing-optional stretch of sand.
f you don’t feel like the hike, stretch out on a chaise lounge at our clothing-optional pool and enjoy a BBQ.
f you still want to dip your toes in the Pacific and don’t want to drive, take a five minute walk to Kamaole III Beach in downtown Kihei. You provide the bathing suit for this trip-we provide the snorkel gear!
f you would like to enjoy the gorgeous Maui sunsets while you soak in the hot tub, you can do that too!

Call 866-TRYNUDE (Toll-free) for Information

  Take the Ohana Unit Tour   Your Maui Hosts
  Take the Upstairs Tour   Availability Calendar
  Rates   Directions
  Reserve Now/More Info
  What They’re Saying
  Policies
  Maui Weather   Free Things on Maui
  Friends of Little Beach
  NudistSeek

  Maui Sun Club in Hana

…
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Attack on Little Beach

Attack on Little Beach

Posted on May 29, 2019 by bohlkemate

Background Information

In late 2001, a Task Force Committee was formed by the Dept. of Land & Natural Resources to come up with recommendations for a updated plan for Makena State Park of which Little Beach is a part. Dick Hyers asked to serve and was appointed to the committee to have the interests of FOLB/MSS voiced. There were a few closed meetings of the committee but the biggest ruckus came at a meeting that was open to the public in order to “take public testimony” regarding the park. Prior to this meeting there was an article in the Maui News saying that Native Hawaiians wanted to use Little Beach but could not as “nudity” was not part of their culture and offends them. The suggestion was to “share” Little Beach and “allow nudity” a couple of days a month! This idea was rejected out of hand as unworkable and a bit silly.

The public meeting was attended by over 200 people mostly clothing-optional use supporters. There were two Native Hawaiian women that “testified” against clothing- optional use. One of them called the pro clothing–optional use people (about 180 of the 200+ in attendance) “just a bunch of haoles.” She also stated that “our people (meaning Native Hawaiians) don’t come out to meetings.”

The results of the Public Meeting where inconclusive but of the 85+ testifiers, most were pro-clothing-optional use for Little Beach! Since that Public Meeting there have been numerous newspaper articles and letters to the editor in both the Maui News and the Honolulu Advertiser. ( I have written 5 Letters but only 2 have been published.) As you can see a lot has been going on.

The latest move by Charlie Maxwell, a “Hawaiian Activist” and committee member is to support ‘Na Kapuna ‘O Maui’ in their efforts to make the entire Makena State Park a state or national cultural site in hopes that such a designation will result in a “higher level of enforcement” (sic: stop clothing-optional use of Little Beach) Na Kapuna ‘O Maui is a group of Hawaiian elders that want to “bring the culture back to the beach.”

We are looking into the possibility of retaining an attorney in order to ascertain the ramifications of listing the Park as  a State or National Historical/Culturial Site.  The ‘Na Kapuna ‘O Maui’ group has already done so and his statement was (sic) ‘such a designation would bring a higher level of enforcement’ within the Park.

PARK COMMITTEE UPDATES

Summary from 12/05/01 Meeting
(Adobe Acrobat PDF file, 38K)

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP

As of September, 2002, things have calmed down. Little Beach is just as popular as ever. No pertinent news from the Task Force Committee. Charlie Maxwell has moved on to other “issues.” Beach business is back to normal.

The best thing to do is to keep on coming to Little Beach! Support the clean-up efforts and enjoy the sun, sand and surf!

Watch this space for further developments!

FOOTNOTE: Charlie Maxwell passed away in February 2012.

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SunSeekers Activities

Christmas Day Potluck Brunch On Little Beach

The brunch happens spontaneously, weather permitting. Those that wish to participate bring a pot luck dish, usually a “finger food”. Misty leads the group in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” Hawaiian Style and a few other carols before we eat at about noon. All are welcome to participate!

 

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