Maui photography permits: the state beach permit, the county parks and Haleakalā

A Maui photography permit is issued by one of four authorities depending on the ground under the camera: the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources for the sand, Maui County for most beach-park lawns and roads, the Division of State Parks for parks such as Mākena, and the National Park Service for Haleakalā.

Who governs which ground

The Maui County Film Office (checked October 2026) draws the line that matters most on a beach: most beach parks, meaning the grassy areas fronting the sand, are county property, while the sandy beaches themselves are under state jurisdiction. A couple photographed on the lawn at a beach park and then walked twenty steps onto the sand has crossed from one permit regime into another.

The Hawaii DLNR beach permit

The DLNR Land Division (checked October 2026) issues right-of-entry permits for beach weddings and other commercial activity on unencumbered state shoreline through an online system called Wiki Permits. A photographer paid for a session counts as commercial activity, so a paid portrait, engagement or elopement session on a Maui beach falls inside it. The Land Division says plainly that a county cannot issue a permit for the sandy beach, even where the beach park behind it is county land.

The fee, from the Wiki Permits FAQ, is ten cents per square foot with a $20 minimum, and the minimum covers 200 square feet. The same FAQ sets the maximum length of any permit at two hours, including setup and breakdown.

The general terms and conditions add the limits that shape the day:

• 30 people at most, counting the photographer, the officiant and every other professional.
• No alcohol on the permitted area.
• Nothing placed on the sand: no arches, altars, tables, chairs, tents or signs. Cameras and camera equipment, loose flowers and leis, and unamplified instruments are allowed, and chairs only as needed for elderly or disabled guests.
• No exclusive use. The beach stays open to the public and to other permitted events.

Insurance comes first

Before anyone can buy a permit, the Wiki Permits FAQ requires an application and a certificate of liability insurance for at least $500,000 per incident and $1,000,000 aggregate, naming the State of Hawaii as an additional insured. The Land Division asks for that paperwork at least a week or two ahead, because certificates are often returned for not naming the State correctly. Only then does the Land Division email a username for the online system.

One permit covers one event. The permittee, usually the photographer, planner or officiant, carries the responsibility for everyone there and gives each other professional a copy.

When to buy it

The Land Division's own advice runs against instinct: there is no advantage to buying early, because every applicant gets a permit and none gets exclusivity, and once bought a permit cannot be changed or refunded. The Wiki Permits FAQ suggests buying it the night before or the morning of the session, after checking the weather and surf. Each permit names a primary site and an alternative, and the FAQ recommends choosing an alternative on a different stretch of coast, so a closed road or high surf on one shore does not cost the session.

Which beaches are on the list

The Wiki Permits beach list, dated May 9, 2025, names the Maui shorelines a permit can be issued for. On the south shore it includes Makena Cove (the small cove also called Secret Cove), Palauea Beach (White Rock), Polo Beach, Keawakapu Beach and the three Kamaole beaches; on the west side, Kapalua Bay, D.T. Fleming Beach, Napili Bay and Kahana Beach; on the north shore, Baldwin Beach, Hoʻokipa and the beach in front of Mama's Fish House; and in Hāna, Hamoa, Koki and Kaihalulu, the red sand beach. A beach that is not on the list cannot be permitted through Wiki Permits, so the list is the first thing to check against a location idea.

Mākena State Park

Big Beach (Oneloa) and Little Beach (Puʻu Olaʻi) are inside Mākena State Park, which the DLNR Division of State Parks runs, and neither appears on the Wiki Permits list. In October 2026 the park charged non-residents $5 per person to enter and $10 per vehicle to park, with Hawaii residents free on a state ID. Oneloa and Oneuli are open 5am to 7pm, extended to 7:45pm in May, June and July, which puts a summer sunset inside opening hours. For a paid session or a ceremony there, confirm current commercial-use requirements with the Division of State Parks before booking.

Haleakalā National Park

Since the EXPLORE Act became law on January 4, 2025, Haleakalā National Park (checked October 2026) says photography involving eight or fewer people needs no permit or fee when it stays in areas open to the public, uses hand-carried equipment, takes no exclusive use of a site and does not affect park resources or other visitors. A couple, their photographer and two family members are well inside that line. Entrance fees still apply.

Two cases do need paperwork:

1. More than eight people. A photography permit, with a $150 non-refundable application fee per the park's filming page, applied for at least three weeks ahead, and at least four weeks for complex requests.
2. A wedding ceremony. Weddings are a special use. The special use permits page asks for the application and fee at least three weeks before the date. The photography at a permitted wedding needs no permit of its own, because the park exempts photography tied to an activity already authorized in writing.

At sunrise, a third requirement sits on top: entry to the summit district for sunrise needs a Recreation.gov reservation, released 60 days ahead at 7am Hawaii time, with more released two days ahead, at $1 per vehicle plus the entrance fee. The park will not issue a special use permit for a sunrise ceremony without proof of that reservation, so the reservation is booked before the permit application goes in.

Film permits, for commercial productions

A family or couple session is not a film production, but a brand shoot or advertising job can be. The Hawaii Film Office (checked October 2026) wants a standard film permit application at least 7 working business days before the first shoot date, and the Maui County Film Office clears any filming in the Lahaina, ʻĪao Valley and Wailuku historic districts.

The order to do things in

1. Choose the ground first, because it decides the authority: sand, lawn, state park, national park or private land.
2. For a Haleakalā sunrise, book the Recreation.gov reservation the morning it is released, 60 days out.
3. For a Haleakalā ceremony, send the special use permit application at least three weeks ahead with the reservation attached.
4. For a beach, have the permittee's insurance certificate accepted by the Land Division one to two weeks ahead.
5. Buy the beach permit the night before or the morning of, with an alternative site on another shore.

The locations themselves, with their best light, are on the Maui city page. Elopements and destination weddings are on the elopement and destination wedding pages, and the national picture of which agency governs which ground is in the US photography permits guide.