Maui offers what seems to be an endless variety of waves and sunsets.  The result, in this digital, post-film, age inhabited by cameras shooting at least seven frames a second, can be literally thousands of images of waves and sunsets taken as the waves march endlessly onward and the sun sinks inexorably lower. And we haven't even gotten yet to the infinitely varied, graphic, abstract possibilities of rocks and rock formations on Maui's beaches.  Waves and sunsets and rocks are all unique.  But it takes time and energy to draw the visual distinctions needed to conclude from those thousands of images that each wave is different from the others, that the sun infinitely changes in color and shape as it descends and as the atmosphere thickens and clouds and mist drift by.  Even a dedicated photographer (much less a casual viewer) is reluctant to invest the required time and energy.  

In comparison, opportunities to watch and photograph people on the beaches are more limited, for various physical, mechanical, and social reasons.  Perhaps Henri Cartier-Bresson felt the same way while prowling back streets in Paris, but at least he had population density working for him.  Limited opportunities do not necessarily mean limited interest.  As always, photos of people raise questions about what they are really doing and why.   That is because photographs of people doing something don't usually explain what the people are thinking.  It is the possibility that the thought diverges from the conduct that makes people interesting.