The building was immediately adjacent to the sand, and between the building and the water's edge was about 20' of steep, coarse sand. We could drive to any beach on the island, of course, but that beach outside our building was terrible.

As for the drive around, I'm a fan of aviation and thought it'd be sorta cool to see Lindbergh's grave. The moonscape was interesting and being forced up into the foothills for high views was nice too. Off the beaten path of tourist Jeeps and convertibles everywhere.

I just pulled up a satellite map and found where we stayed, it was towards Kapalua as I said, but it was actually Kahana. And the satellite maps confirm that the beaches suck in and around Kahana. (in relation to the ones you mentioned and many other great beaches on Maui)