Officials closed beaches around Kanaha Beach Park Thursday morning after a shark bit a stand-up paddle board around 7:30 a.m. off of an area known as "Kite Beach," or Kaa Point.
Stand-up paddle boarder David Peterson of Pukalani was not injured, officials said.
The 55-year-old paddle board and surfboard shaper said he was standing on his board waiting for waves to come in and "all of a sudden (I get) knocked off my board. I didn't see anything."
"I landed on the back of the shark," he said.
He said the shark had a hold of his board and would not let go of it, so Peterson hit the shark with his paddle as he was in the water.
The shark let go but then came between him and the board and with his hands Peterson pushed the shark away and jumped back on his board.
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Peterson said he suffered some scrapes from getting back onto the damaged board. Otherwise, he wasn't hurt.
The shark is estimated to be 6 to 8 feet long. Staff officials said it is unknown what type of shark was involved.
Shark warning signs were to be posted, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
For more on this story see Friday's edition of The Maui News.
