About Save Honolua Coalition

The Save Honolua Coalition (SHC) was founded in 2007 when community members united to stop a proposed luxury development and golf course at Lipoa Point and commerce center at Honolua Bay. What began as a grassroots effort quickly evolved into one of Maui’s most effective community stewardship organizations, grounded in the mission to protect Honolua’s open space, land, ocean, and cultural heritage for future generations. Within its first year, SHC collected more than 16,000 pen to paper petition signatures. Over the years, the coalition has hosted countless public meetings, rallies, and testimony sessions, channeling the community’s deep aloha for Honolua into real results.

Another major achievement has been the establishment of the Honolua-Mokulēʻia Makai Watch Program with the DLNR and The Nature Conservancy. Staff serve as “eyes on the ground,” focusing on education, observation, and outreach rather than enforcement. The Makai Watch presence at Honolua promotes reef etiquette, cultural awareness, and reef-safe practices, helping protect the marine ecosystem while deepening visitors’ respect for place.

In 2023, when the luxury yacht Nakoa ran aground on the reef near Honolua-Mokulēʻia Bay, SHC played a central role throughout the crisis. Granted on-site access, coalition representatives worked day and night with the State, Coast Guard, and salvage teams to monitor impacts, communicate with the community, and advocate for cultural and environmental protection. SHC’s persistence and testimony helped ensure accountability, culminating in the Board of Land and Natural Resources’ groundbreaking $1.8 million fine, the largest of its kind in Hawaiʻi, recognizing not only reef damage but also the cultural and emotional harm caused to the community. Then the following year, the Hula Girl catamaran ran aground, once again calling us into action for defending the bay from commercial damage.

In early 2026, The Trust for Public Lands help secure 17 acres of privately owned Honolua Land for community stewardship led by Save Honolua. That title transfer is currently in process and will take a year or more to complete.

Now, with the Pu’uhonua O Honolua Cultural Sanctuary plan, we are on the threshold of fulfilling the stewardship of Honolua the way we have envisioned since 2007!

Our first defining victory came in 2014 when seven years of advocacy helped secure the State of Hawaiʻi’s acquisition of Līpoa Point, ensuring that the lands would remain in conservation and public use. Since then, SHC has remained an active partner in state and community planning, contributing to both the Honolua-to-Honokōhau Management Plan (HHMP) and the Conservation Action Plan (CAP), representing the voice of the community and ensuring that cultural and ecological priorities guide management decisions.

Meet the Save Honolua Coalition Board of Directors

Wilmont Kamaunu Kahaialii

President
Wilmont Kamaunu Kahaialii is a Hawaiian educator, musician, historian, legal expert, and cultural practitioner from Lahaina, Maui. He is currently serving as the Director of Hawaiian Studies and Culture at Maui Preparatory Academy and is the President of the Save Honolua Coalition. Kahaialii has also served as the Indigenous Innovation Specialist for Maui County. He is dedicated to cultural preservation and community resilience, he also serves on the boards of Aloha Amplified, Brilliant Minds Media, Kahakukahi Ocean Academy, and the Malama Maui ʻOhana Foundation. A survivor of the 2023 Lahaina wildfire, Kahaialii continues to inspire healing and unity through education, music, and cultural leadership rooted in aloha, kuleana, and mālama ʻāina.
Paele Kiakona

Vice President
Paele Kiakona is the Vice President of the Save Honolua Coalition. He became involved after assisting with a high-profile incident involving an illegally grounded yacht in Honolua Bay, which sparked community outrage and legal action. Through his efforts to educate the public and address the root causes of such issues, he connected with other members and took on a leadership role.
Paele is also a founding member of Lahaina Strong, where he works tirelessly to support local families and advocate for sustainable rebuilding. Additionally, he serves on the Maui Board of Water Supply, contributing to water management and policy decisions that impact the island.
Growing up in Lahaina, Paele has always been deeply connected to Maui’s landscapes and communities. His advocacy is rooted in a commitment to addressing challenges at their source and finding solutions that honor both the culture and the environment of the island he calls home.
Dalilha Rodrigues

Treasurer
Dalilha is the owner of the popular food truck Dee’s Poi Mochi and brings extensive experience in business operations, payroll management, bookkeeping, social media, and event planning. She has also served Maui through crisis advocacy and was the West Maui Service Coordinator for Women Helping Women. Dalilha was raised at the bay, and her family has maintained ownership and caretaking responsibilities for important lands within the valley. Her knowledge of Honolua’s history is unparalleled. She is committed to serving Maui with resilience and aloha.
John Carty

Secretary
John Carty is a longtime resident and farmer in Honolua Valley, a founding member of the Save Honolua Coalition, and a central figure in the movement to protect Honolua Bay and its surrounding areas. He was instrumental in lobbying for House Bill 1424, the legislation that enabled the State of Hawaiʻi to acquire and permanently conserve nearly 280 acres at Līpoa Point.
His leadership and collaboration with fellow advocate Tamara Paltin were recognized in 2015, when the Sierra Club Maui Group honored them with the Mālama i ka ʻĀina Award for outstanding service to the environment and community.
Hannah Bernard

Director
Co-Founder and Executive Director of Hawai’i Wildlife Fund, Hannah Bernard is an award-winning marine biologist with 43 years’ experience studying, teaching, leading expeditions and directing efforts to support research and conservation of Pacific Ocean marine life. In addition to co-founding the state’s Makai Watch program, she currently serves on the federally appointed False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team to address the incidental mortality and serious injury of false killer whales in Hawai`i’s longline fishery. She has served on numerous Boards and committees, including the federally appointed Pacific Scientific Review Group, Sierra Club's National Marine Wildlife and Habitat Committee, the ‘Ahini-Kina’u Advisory Group, the Hawai'i Ecotourism Association, the Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council, Save Honolua Coalition, Maui Surfrider Foundation, Maui Coral Reef Network, Maui Reef Fund and the ‘Ohana Coalition Steering Committee. Hawai’i Wildlife Fund is a non-profit organization founded in 1996, and has initiated numerous community-based management projects and orchestrated the removal of more than 400 tons of marine debris from some of Hawai’i’s most impacted coastal habitats, protected more than 13,000 hawksbill sea turtle hatchlings and their mothers, and taught thousands of students and volunteers in the field and in the classroom through marine naturalist trainings, youth outreach programs and expeditions. In 2021 she co-created and added the Hawai’i Wildlife Discovery Center in Lahaina, Maui to HWF’s projects.
Heidi Beltz

Director
Heidi Beltz is dedicated to protecting Maui’s ecosystem through education, monitoring, and community action. As the Makai Watch Coordinator for Save Honolua Coalition, she launched and manages the educational and monitoring-based Makai Watch program at Honolua Bay, helping direct DLNR-trained, community-based efforts that include ʻopihi surveys, monk seal and turtle response training, and coral thermal stress testing. She is also trained with Kuleana Coral as a scientific diver to support coral restoration efforts. Heidi teaches gardening with Grow Some Good at King Kamehameha III Elementary School, connecting keiki to the land through hands-on learning. With Surfrider Foundation Maui Chapter, she coordinates the Ocean Friendly Gardening program and serves on the Blue Water Task Force, testing ocean water quality in Lahaina. Her work reflects her deep love for her community, her ʻohana, and her commitment to mālama ʻāina.
Zane Kekoa Schweitzer

Director
Zane Kekoa Schweitzer is a world champion waterman, published author, and Executive Director of Kahākūkahi Ocean Academy, a nonprofit rooted in West Maui that uplifts youth through ocean immersion, mentorship, and environmental guardianship. Born and raised in Lahaina, Zane comes from a proud lineage of watermen and has carried that legacy around the world, earning multiple world titles across ocean sports.
Beyond competition, Zane is a dedicated educator and community leader committed to empowering the next generation to find purpose through the ocean and connection to place. His book Beneath the Surface shares lessons of resilience, mindfulness, and the “power of choice,” reflecting the values that guide his work at Kahākūkahi—to inspire aloha, stewardship, and leadership from mauka to makai.