The history of Maui Wowie

Timeline

1. 1960s–1970sSeed sellers date the strain’s fame to these decades: Homegrown Cannabis Co. says it gained legendary status then, and Pua Mana Pakalolo says its line carries the genetics of the 1960s and 1970s.^2,3
2. 1970A group of Laguna Beach surfers sails to Maui with seeds from Mexico and stays, according to Leafly’s history of surf culture, which does not link those seeds to Maui Wowie.⁴
3. 1970sOn Maui’s outdoor growing scene, growers around Hāna produce the tropical sativa that people on the mainland come to know as Maui Wowie, per Weedmaps.¹
4. 2000Hawaii legalizes medical cannabis through its legislature (Act 228), the first state to do so that way; the law creates no dispensaries.^6,7
5. Jul 17, 2008Kid Cudi releases the mixtape A Kid Named Cudi, with the song “Maui Wowie”, a tribute to the strain.⁵
6. Aug 2017Hawaii certifies its first cannabis testing lab, and Maui Grown Therapies, on Maui, receives approval to make the state’s first licensed medical dispensary sales.^6,7,8
7. 2017–2024The 190 state lab tests of Maui Wowie flower in our dataset date from these years; Hawaii contributes only 6 of them, all from 2019.⁹
8. Jan–Nov 2024Maui Wowie sells $13.9 million in vape pens in California, seventh on Cannabis Business Times’ chart of Headset data, and $7.6 million in pre-rolls.^10,11,12
9. 2025It is Ohio’s top-selling strain in Leafly’s ranking of dispensary orders, and it drops off California’s top-10 pre-roll list.^13,14
10. Sep 2025A TikTok trend that starts on September 5 revives Kid Cudi’s “Maui Wowie”; the song goes on to reach No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100.⁵
11. Jul 2026Leafly’s list of the 100 best strains, as updated in July, includes it among the best for feeling energetic.¹⁵

Why it spread

Weedmaps says the tropical sativa grown around Hāna became the one people on the mainland knew as Maui Wowie, and Leafly says it has spread across the world from its beginnings in the island’s volcanic soil.^1,16 Leafly’s history of surf culture ties the islands to the California coast in the same years, describing surfers who sailed to Maui in 1970, brought seeds and stayed to ride big waves.⁴

Today the name sells in more forms than flower: in California, Headset data put Maui Wowie vape pens at $13.9 million and pre-rolls at $7.6 million for January–November 2024, and Leafly’s 2025 orders made it Ohio’s top seller.^10,11,13

Where the name comes from

Leafly’s history of surf culture says early Hawaiian growers named their pakalolo, the Hawaiian word for cannabis, after their growing regions, as with Kona Gold, Puna Buddaz and Kauai Electric, and that Nāhiku Maui is “today known as Maui Wowie”, adding that the origin story behind the name is still debated.⁴ Maui is the island Weedmaps credits; Leafly and Weedmaps list Maui Waui and Mowie Wowie as other spellings, and Wikipedia’s list of cannabis slang records “Maui-wowie” as a nickname for cannabis in general.^1,16,17

The disputed parts of the story

• Parents: Hawaiian × an unknown strain (Leafly’s strain page), a Hawaiian landrace bred true (Leafly’s 2025 list and seed banks) or a Jamaican landrace (Weedmaps) (see genetics).^1,13,16,18
• Indica or sativa: a sativa for Leafly, 80% sativa for AllBud, a hybrid for Weedmaps.^1,16,19
• Flowering: 7–9 weeks on Leafly’s strain page, 9–11 weeks in Leafly’s grow guide and on Weedmaps.^1,16,20
• The name and the first seeds: Leafly’s surf-culture history calls the origin of the name debated and speculates that cannabis seeds could have reached Hawaii with Captain Cook’s crew in 1778.⁴