We chose to purchase in Wailea Ekolu for so many reasons. First of all, we love Wailea (it is our favorite part of the island)! The grounds here are beautiful, well kept and spacious. It is about a 10 minute walk to the Shops at Wailea (my daughters love that!), and a 3 minute drive to the beautiful beaches. You can definitely walk to the beach, but we always bring chairs, towels, ice chest, boogie boards, etc. and it just is easier to drive and not carry it all! We also loved the size of the condo, the fact that it is an end unit, has 2 stories, and 2 large lanais. I love that there is no one living above or below us. We have rented many condos on the different islands over the years, and there is nothing worse than getting woken up by someone walking loudly above or below you! Even some of the very pricey units we have rented have been very noisy.