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North Shore Maui rests at the bottom of Mt. Haleakala, where the 10,000-foot dormant volcano reaches the sea. That gives the land a slope. The further away from the airport, the more pronounced the slope gets. But because you are so far away from the mountain’s summit, it is easy to forget that you are standing on its toes. The slope gives many of the properties in the region excellent ocean views, as well as, of the central valley, the West Maui Mountains, and even Molokai.

One of the characteristic features of North Shore property is the two-acre farm lot. Much of the district was farmed in sugar and pineapple and zoned for farm use. As the island’s tourism boomed, so did its population, but because of Hawaii’s notoriously restrictive land use laws the island was not creating standard house lots to accommodate that growth. Creative developers found that they could create the needed housing in relatively empty parts of the island on farmland. Maui County set the minimum farm at two-acres and that’s what the new subdivisions produced: two-acre subdivisions.

The State of Hawaii wants you to actually grow something on your farm lot. It does not have to be much – a small orchard is the usual answer. Haiku is also subject to the UpCountry water hook-up moratorium, so the second thing you do when reviewing your options is to make sure the land you are looking at has access to water. The first thing you should do is to look for the help of a capable land specialist, someone who truly knows the lay of the land, someone like the Smith Team. Let the Smith Team help guide your North Shore land purchase.