Hawaii · Kapalua and Kaanapali, Hawaii
Smart Home, Lighting & AV in Kapalua and Kaanapali.
A 1,650-acre resort where exterior work passes two boards, a grid rebuilt after the 2023 fire that can still be shut off in high wind, fiber that now reaches the whole island, and record oceanfront sales. West Maui wants a system approved twice and built to ride out an outage.
Kapalua and Kaanapali, Specifically
Approved Twice, Built to Ride It Out.
Kapalua is a 1,650-acre master-planned resort of ten residential communities governed by the Kapalua Resort Association, a nonprofit chartered in 1977 specifically to provide architectural and aesthetic control, and communities such as Plantation Estates, Coconut Grove, and Mahana Estates each have their own association beneath it, so exterior work typically faces two tiers of review. Hawaii's C-13 electrical license includes the C-15 electronic-systems scope, and Maui restricts construction to 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays.
Hawaiian Electric serves West Maui from Olowalu to Kapalua; after the August 2023 wildfire destroyed its Lahaina substation it relied on mobile substations and new underground lines, has since launched a $350 million wildfire safety strategy with Public Safety Power Shutoffs, and was still installing wooden poles in parts of West Maui in 2026. Hawaiian Telcom declared Maui fully fiber-enabled in 2026. Kaanapali's single-family median was $4.4 million in November 2025, and Kapalua recorded oceanfront sales of $17 million and $26.45 million in 2024.
01 · Review
Two Boards, One Drawing
The resort association and the community association both rule on exterior changes. Cameras, fixtures, shade housings, and the generator enclosure go on one drawing for both submissions, and the equipment lives inside.
02 · Power
Built for the Shutoffs
A rebuilt grid with planned shutoffs in fire weather and wooden poles in places. A generator sized for the house and a battery-backed rack keep the network, the control system, and the cameras up through a shutoff or a storm.
03 · Season
Monitored When Empty
Many West Maui houses are used for part of the year. Cave Watch monitors the system remotely, the network carries two connections, and the house opens from the app before the family lands.
At a Glance
Kapalua and Kaanapali in brief.
- Design review
- Kapalua is a 1,650-acre master-planned resort of ten residential communities governed by the Kapalua Resort Association, a nonprofit chartered in 1977 to provide architectural and aesthetic control; communities such as Plantation Estates, Coconut Grove, and Mahana Estates each have their own association beneath it, so installers typically face two tiers of approval.
- Licensing
- Hawaii's C-13 electrical contractor license is broad enough to include the scope of the C-15 electronic-systems and C-60 solar classifications, so low-voltage integrators coordinate with a licensed C-13 or C-15 contractor on permitted work; emergency generators are exempt from the state's Class A residential noise limits when installed for health and safety with best available control technology.
- Hours
- Maui County construction noise rules generally restrict work to 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays.
- Electric service
- Hawaiian Electric serves West Maui from Olowalu to Kapalua; after the August 2023 wildfire destroyed its Lahaina substation it used mobile substations and new underground infrastructure, launched a $350 million three-year wildfire safety strategy with a Public Safety Power Shutoff program, and in 2026 was still installing wooden poles in some West Maui areas.
- Internet
- Hawaiian Telcom announced in 2026 that Maui is fully fiber-enabled, part of a roughly $1.7 billion statewide build of its symmetrical Fioptics network.
- Market
- Kapalua's single-family median sale price stood at $7,625,000 in November 2025 with condominiums at $1,602,500; Kaanapali's single-family median was $4,400,000 that month, up 57 percent year over year, with the condominium median at $1,163,750; Kapalua recorded beachfront and oceanfront sales of $17 million and $26.45 million in 2024, alongside Plantation Estates and Honolua Ridge sales of $16 million and $22.5 million.
Sources: Kapalua Resort Association; Kapalua Resort Association, about; Maui Elite Property, the Kapalua master association; At Home Prep, Hawaii electrical contractor licensing; Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, Hawaii community noise rules; Maui Now, construction noise hours; Maui Now, Lahaina restoration, October 2023; Maui Now, wildfire mitigation, August 2025; The Maui News, wooden poles, February 2026; Hoodline, Maui fully fiber-enabled; Maui Elite Property, Kaanapali market report; Sold Maui, West Maui luxury outlook 2025; Maui Property, market report, November 2025.
Reading for Kapalua and Kaanapali
Guides and work nearby.
What We Install and Service
Every System. One Keypad.
Lighting & Shades
Lutron HomeWorks, Ketra and Rania light, Palladiom keypads, and shades that disappear into the ceiling.
Lighting →Whole-Home Control
Crestron and Lutron on one set of keypads and touchscreens, programmed the same way in every house you own.
Residential →Cinema & Music
Dedicated theaters, media rooms, and music in every room without a speaker in sight.
Residential →Network
Enterprise Wi-Fi and fiber sized for a large house, guest houses, and the far end of the lawn.
Networking →Security & Gate
Cameras, access control, gate intercom, and an alarm that a UL-listed central station answers.
Security →Outdoors
Landscape lighting and outdoor sound on one buried infrastructure, on the same keypad as the house.
Outdoor →Upgrades
Older Crestron and Lutron systems brought current, reusing the wiring already in the walls wherever possible.
Upgrade paths →Support
Monitoring, remote fixes, and priority response under one plan.
Cave Watch →Questions From Kapalua and Kaanapali
Kapalua and Kaanapali, Answered
Who installs Lutron and Crestron systems in Kapalua and Kaanapali?+–
Cave Group does. We are a Crestron Elite Gold Partner and Lutron Gold Dealer based in New York, and we design, install, and service lighting control, shades, cinema, outdoor audio, networking, security, and backup power for houses in Kapalua and Kaanapali on a project basis, on site with Hawaii-licensed electrical and electronic-systems contractors.
Do both the resort association and our community board review the work?+–
Typically, yes: the Kapalua Resort Association was chartered to provide architectural and aesthetic control over the whole resort, and communities such as Plantation Estates, Coconut Grove, and Mahana Estates have their own associations beneath it. We prepare one set of technology drawings for both submissions and keep the equipment inside, where neither has a say.
How does a New York firm work on a Maui house?+–
On a project basis. Our offices are in New York and New Jersey, and our hospitality work includes hotels; the design and the drawings happen with your architect and builder from there and on site at the milestones that need it, the installation and commissioning happen on site, and Cave Watch supports the system remotely afterward. The permitted trades Hawaii requires, a licensed electrical contractor for line-voltage work and the C-15 electronic-systems and C-15a alarm classifications for low-voltage and alarm work, are local, and the licensed contractor pulls the county permit.
What about the grid and the shutoffs?+–
Hawaii's island grids cannot borrow power from a neighbor, so Hawaiian Electric carries its own reserves and the outages are long when they come: rolling blackouts on Oahu in January 2024, Hurricane Lala on Hawaii Island in 2026 with warnings of weeks or months in the hardest-hit areas, Hurricane Lowell taking power from more than 90 percent of Kauai that September, and Public Safety Power Shutoffs on Maui in fire weather. A battery-backed rack and a generator sized for the house are part of every Hawaii design, with the emergency-generator exemption in the state noise rules met through best available control technology.
Who is licensed to do what in Hawaii?+–
Hawaii licenses this work through the Contractors License Board: the C-13 electrical contractor license covers line-voltage work and includes the scope of the C-15 electronic-systems classification, and low-voltage, alarm, and telecommunications installers are licensed under C-15, C-15a, and C-15b; none of the C-15 classifications include conduit, so a licensed electrician is on every job. We design, program, and commission; the licensed Hawaii contractor executes the permitted work.
Nearby
Other Hawaii markets we serve.

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Bring the drawings if the house is on paper, or the list of what no longer works if it is already built. We will tell you what we would do, in what order, what it would take, which design committee sees it first, and how a Hawaii project runs from New York.
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