On Maui's northwest coast, a world champion waterman has traded podiums for something slower and longer-lasting: raising a generation of young ocean guardians. Zane Kekoa Schweitzer, a competitive paddler and waterman with multiple world titles behind him, now channels much of his energy into Kahākūkahi Ocean Academy (K.O.A), an organisation that gets local kids into the water and teaches them to care for it.
The work is hands-on. In a recent outing, K.O.A teamed up with Dr Cliff Kapono of MEGA Lab, an independent ocean science organisation, and the non-profit Save Honolua Coalition to bring a group of children to Honolua Bay. There, with help from a local family, the kids helped 3D map the reef as part of a marine science program. It's science, but also stewardship — one of the collaborating educators describes the bay's care and education work as a life calling.
Underlying all of this is a distinctly Hawaiian framing. Signs around the bay ask visitors to act with mālama — a core Hawaiian value meaning to care for, protect and preserve. And the local families involved are clear about what they want: not just tourism management, but sovereignty and support. That's a useful recalibration for anyone planning a Maui trip. The ask isn't that travellers stay away; it's that they arrive with respect and give back where they can.
For Schweitzer, the shift from competition to community was deliberate. With a three-year-old at home and a second child on the way, he's said there's nothing he'd rather do than contribute to his own community — and that career success was always meant to fuel something bigger: inspiring young community leaders and environmental guardians so the coastline stays healthy for his kids. True to form, when a young visitor named Mason turned up on a recent trip down the coast, he was invited aboard a Holopuni sailing canoe for his first-ever traditional sailing experience. Nobody leaves the water uninspired.
For travellers, there are direct ways in. You can support K.O.A through donations or volunteering, or book ocean experiences through Maui Sports Adventures, run with Schweitzer and his family — a portion of proceeds goes back to the academy. Booking a surf or paddle session stops being just a holiday activity and becomes a small contribution to reef education and local-led conservation.
This story matters most for two kinds of travellers: families looking for activities in Hawaii that go beyond the resort pool, and conscious visitors who want their money to support the community hosting them. It's also a window into how tourism is being rethought in Maui — less about managing visitors, more about guests joining a local mission. If your trip includes Honolua Bay or the north-west coast, reading the signs — literally, in the case of the mālama signage — and choosing locally run operators is the easiest way to travel well here.