Divided cliffs
Kāʻana is to divide or share out, and pali is a cliff. The name describes the broken cliff line along this stretch of coast.
The beach runs about three miles between Puʻu Kekaʻa at the north end and the old sugar landing at the south.
Puʻu Kekaʻa
The lava headland at the north end, called Black Rock in English, is a leina a ka ʻuhane — a leaping place where the souls of the dead departed the island. There are several around the islands, always at a western point.
Kahekili, the last ruling chief of Maui, is said to have leapt from it to demonstrate his mana. A nightly cliff-dive ceremony at the resort there references the story.
The first resort
Kāʻanapali opened in 1962 as the first master-planned resort in Hawaiʻi, converting plantation land. The model it set was copied along the leeward coasts of every major island.