The long and winding road that leads to* Hana, Maui, Hawai'i
Written: Aug 27 '02 (Updated Apr 01 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: One of the most beautiful if not the most beautiful road I've seen.
Cons: You need 2 days. Take them!
The Bottom Line: Yes, Yes, Yes, Please don't let anyone say not to go. The long ride is worth it. Make the most of sites you will never see again.
|
|
|
| jo.com's Full Review: Hana Highway (Maui) |
*Courtesy of Lennon/McCartney
When I first started researching our trip to Hawai’i some people both online and off told us not to bother with the road to Hana. My best friend told me that it was boring and if we wanted to see a little of the countryside to spend 15 minutes on the road. This is my review and my opinion. If you are not planning on getting out of your car, even if you listen to the CD, which I will tell you about in a moment, you will be bored. I cannot image going to Maui and not making this drive. Maui was our first island in this wonderful state and the drive was on the second day. This is my review of Hana Highway.
What is The Road to Hana anyway?
It is a 55-mile drive along the coast made up of rainforest and some of the most gorgeous sites you’ll see that will take you at least 2 hours if you don’t stop! It winds around taro patches (You have to buy Taro chips. They sell them in the mainland, but they are not the same!), views of the sea and waterfalls. Some of the roads are very narrow and even when they aren’t you will be driving slowly so plan on a long day. These are not the narrowest or most dangerous roads in Maui – that trip was the day before!)
You will start at the Shell Service Station on Route 380 in Kahula, which is on the northwest side of Maui and buy a CD, which will be your guide to Hana Coast. This CD (You can also get a tape.) comes with a videotape of the Hana Coast and will cost you $20. It is well worth the money. The Bed and Breakfast we stayed at had several different versions so we borrowed one of theirs. We did not have at the time "Maui Revealed" by Andrew Doughty and Harriett Friedman and I highly recommend that you have it. We managed but it would have been a lot easier if we had that guide as well as the one we did have which was Frommer’s.
The road runs along the north coast down to the East Coast of Maui. We would have liked to travel back via the southern route and many do. If it had not been dark when we headed back from Hana we would have attempted that route. The fact is you will have signed an agreement on your rental car form saying that you will not take this southern route. At the Shell Station, make sure you get a map. On the map is a warning as well. The road is about 25 miles of unpaved and difficult driving so at night especially we don’t want to get stuck. AAA is not coming to get you. We already had the CD but I asked when I got my map about the southern coast and was told that she can’t say to drive the southern route because of the car rental agencies but “everyone did it.”
What to bring
The Shell Gas Station is said to be the last gas station on Highway 36 until you get to Hana but there is also one in Pa’ia. Make sure you fill up your car in either place. My suggestion would be, if you can, book a room in Hana. You will be very happy at 8:00pm or later that you don’t have to make the trip back in the dark. At times the road becomes one lane but there is a clear stop sign on one side allowing for the other driver to continue. It was difficult driving, though, and then of course it started to rain.
We stopped at the Safeway Supermarket and picked up sandwiches for lunch. Some call this “The World’s Most Beautiful Drive” and it is. I want you to be prepared if you are reading this and do plan on some adventure for some of the most spectacular sights and hiking I have ever done and seen.
You want to bring sunscreen, a hat, water, food, a bathing suit (wear one under your clothes), camera, water shoes or shoes you don’t care about ruining. People had on everything from Teva-type sandals to hiking boots. My husband and I had on sneakers and I think that worked best because we did do some hiking that would have been difficult with sandals. Bring a camera, of course and extra clothes. Shorts and a t-shirt will be fine. You won't need long pants.
Highway 36- Hana Coast
Since you can pick up either of the books I mentioned and listen to the tape I am not going to use the guidebooks. I took notes and I will review what we did on this journey and recommend it or not. I will quote a sentence from Frommer’s every now and then. Here is one: “…until you get to Hana some 54 bridges and 600 hairpin turns down the road.” This is a road with a lot of turns! A popular and helpful thing to do around these turns is honk your horn to let the person on the other side know there is a car coming
We didn’t stop in Pa’ia but it is Maui’s Historic Plantation stop. We could see a Buddhist Temple on the left and if that is of interest that might be your first stop, especially if you are not planning on spending time hiking. Mile markers mark much of this highway and I will at times use them if they are in my notes.
We stopped at Hookipa Beach Park, which is right before mile marker 9 and known for the windsurfing. What we did is not on the tape we were listening to – we took a right into the parking lot, which is the upper level. You will get an amazing view of the water and windsurfers. Then drive down to the bottom level. Again depending on your time you may want to enjoy the beach and watch the surfers. In any case, use the restrooms here. Restrooms are hard to come by on Highway 36, so any inhibitions you may have you will have to leave in your hotel room.
Our second stop were the Twin Falls. These are the first of countless waterfalls you will encounter. I said I would not compare the 4 islands we went to but it is impossible not to. Maui is the most beautiful, in my opinion. Water (and you probably aren’t going if you don’t love water) seems to pour from everywhere: crevices in rocks along the side of the road, streams, springs so pure you can drink it and, of course, the waterfalls.
If you have read any of my work, you may have read that my husband is superbly ethical. So much so that it took a bit of effort for me to get him to Twin Falls. The reason for this is that in spite of it being in the guidebooks, you do have to climb over a fence that clearly says No Trespassing.
If you have Maui Revealed you will have no trouble finding the two falls. Since we didn’t have it and there were a few other people around we asked where the first and second one was. We had to backtrack to what is called the first of the Twin Falls and which some people around us thought was the nicer of the two. I thought the 2nd one was gorgeous. It doesn’t matter. This is not Niagara Falls so don’t expect to see that. What you will find are falls surrounded by gorgeous, lush greener falling into a pool of water that you will swim in. You don’t have to but if you made it this far, go for a dip.
If you are using Frommer’s as a guidebook you will be told that the first waterfall is 3-5 minutes from the fence and the second is another 10-15 minutes. I am not sure what watch Frommer was wearing, but double those times at least. It is not a difficult walk at all; it is just longer than expected. In spite of the No Trespassing sign, this is clearly a place for tourists since a replanted mainland woman will be selling Smoothies at a roadside stand. This would be a good time to get a drink.
We stopped at Huelo a tiny little town with an historic church. We did stop here but if you are like us and did not book a room in Hana so you only have the day, skip this stop unless you love to see historic churches. Another option would be to go straight to Hana and backtrack from there so you will have a better idea of how much time you want to spend in each place. We left at 7:00am and got back at 10:00pm.
The next 3 stops we stopped at I am not recommending once again if you are planning on really exploring. They were a waste of our time, but let me emphasize that they may not be a waste of your time so I will tell you a bit about them. You will see a sign that says Koolau Forest Reserve and there is and easy 3/4 mile loop. It may be called a great family hike in a book you are using. We did get out here, but we didn’t do the walk. If you have strollers or are not mobile, this will be a place you can get out and smell the forest.
Waikamoi Falls is another waterfall that you will come across. We started the fairly easy walk but a couple passed us going back and said that after 10 minutes they were bitten up by the mosquitoes so we too turned around.
Another waterfall that will be all right if you have a stroller or are not too mobile, but otherwise skip is Puohokamoa Falls. You park at mile marker 11 and will have to climb over a few rocks but you will get to a pool that looked disgusting to me. There is a place to sit that is covered and we found people sitting there watching their kids play in the water while they smoked. This was not for us.
The treat of the day was the bamboo forest. This is not marked in any way. Frommer’s got us there but barely. I don’t know what Maui Revealed says so I will tell you how to get to one of the most amazing sites you will ever see. Before mile marker #7 stop. You will see cars parked and you will have no idea why or where the people in them are. Walk away from mile marker #7 and grab a bamboo cane to help you walk (Make sure it is lying on the ground. People leave them so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding one.) and watch where people are coming out of. You will enter a bamboo forest and unless bamboo forests are something you see in your daily life you will not be prepared for the breathtaking feeling of being surround by huge, thick bamboo trees.
The first waterfall you will get to is beautiful but the pool is difficult to get to. There is a narrow short board to walk across. Honestly it is scary. My husband almost slipped so be careful, but do it if you can.
You can then walk to the 2nd waterfall, which is not a steep walk but it, quite a difficult one. Your cane (or canes) will come in handy unless you are 20 years old. The pool at the 2nd waterfall is gorgeous and you can easily go for a swim. I was eager at this point to keep climbing. There are 4 falls in total here. The climb to the 3rd one was one of the most challenging of our entire trip (except maybe getting back from the lava flow on The Big Island in the dark when it was raining). This 3rd climb is only for those people who really can handle some scary situations and are strong enough to lift themselves up steep inclines. There were times that the only thing that kept me from toppling down to the bottom of the cliff was a bamboo root. Luckily the bamboo roots are very strong and will hold you. You will need them in order to get to the third fall. I hope I am not scaring you. This is an amazing trip. You will deserve that swim when you get here. We did not get to the 4th waterfall – truly at that point I was wondering if I could get back to the car!
Our next stop had a beautiful view of the Keanae Peninsula. It is Kaumahina State Wayside Park. Frommer’s was wrong in the description here. The restrooms were closed leaving only porta-toilets and although he says that it is a good place for a picnic, I found too many exposed roots for children to really have fun here. There is plenty of parking and a family was having a picnic and people were taking pictures, I just wouldn’t plan on making a day of it!
We stopped at the village of Keanae and I would suggest doing so. You will see a stand with wonderful banana bread, coconut candy, smoothies, and pineapples. Then look to the ocean and park there. You will find clean restrooms and a gorgeous view of this peninsula.
There is an overlook called Waileau Wayside overlook as you leave there. My husband who counts everything counted 38 steps to the overlook. It was worth it, but we were a bit tired by this point. You will also read about Tsunami warnings (tidal waves) and see speakers on poles not unlike what we have in my town for our nuclear power plant!
Next we stopped at Keanae Arboretum, which I wasn’t impressed with and am marking as a skip – there are better things to do. The trees are interesting if that is your thing – blue marble with a tropical forest at the end and flowing water for a dip, but I still am marking it a skip this one.
The next place you will come to we went to on our way home and that is Waianapanapa State Park. It is a 120-acre park and you can stay here. What is so unusual about it is the black sand, which is why we stopped and it is worth a few minutes but I wouldn’t spend much longer here.
We then entered the town of Hana, which has a general store you will want to go into called Hasegawa General Store. Stop here on the way back because you can get some coffee to keep you awake for the long drive ahead of you. We just didn’t have enough time to enjoy Hana and I am emphasizing once again, that unless you live in Hawai’i or California and can get to Maui, you may never go again so stay in Hana and spend another day on Highway 36. We actually ran out of time because it was starting to get dark and that was very frustrating.
We quickly made a stop at Red Sand Beach, which you might read about, in various places. It is very hard to get to and skip this. Just picture sand that is red. Trust me on this one. Nudity is allowed here, sort of, although you have to get here via a fairly fancy condo complex and it is a stop not worth stopping at.
After the town of Hana we still were not done. There is a beautiful waterfall whose name is no where to be found but it is on the right heading to the Seven Sacred Pools and it is worth a picture.
Our last stop was the Seven Sacred Pools and unfortunately, although there were still some people there (Which was nice since it wasn’t crowded.) it was getting dark. To quote Frommer’s, though: “There are more than seven pools – about 24 actually- and all water in Hawai’i is considered sacred. …Folks here call it by its rightful name, Oheao Gulch and visitors sometimes refer to it as Kipahulu, which is actually the name of the area where Oheo Gulch is located.” My husband did go for a dip in the pools.
The area is absolutely gorgeous with the Pacific Ocean lapping at the edge of the bottom level of the pools. There are many levels if you want to climb and nude swimming is common at the top. There is a ranger station and plenty of parking. There is no fee but there are bathrooms. The ranger station is only open until 5:00pm but the bathrooms were open when we were there, which was around 7:00pm.
My final thoughts
The drive on the Hana Coast is worth the trip to Maui just for this day. Don’t miss it. If you can, make the most of it. You don’t want to spend the 2 plus hours looking at the scenery unless you have to. Make sure you stay overnight in Hana so you can enjoy everything I missed on the way back to the West Coast, where most visitors stay.
Feel free to leave me a comment or ask any questions. Other Hawaii reviews you may be interested in:
Traveling to Hawaii on a Budget
The Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel
Aloha Airlines
Garden Gate Bed and Breakfast in Maui
Maui
LahainaTown Maui
Hana Highway in Maui
Haleakala National Park in Maui
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Hawaiian Airlines
Puff the Magic Dragon Lived in Kauai
Waimea Canyon on Kauai
Poipou Beach Area, Kauai
Na Pali Coast, Kauai
Hideaway Cove Villa, Kauai
Royal Kona Resort,The Big Island
The Island of Hawaii - The Big Island
Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park on the Big Island
Oahu
USS Arizona Memorial on Oahu
DiamondHead State Monument on Oahu
Polynesian Cultural Center,Oahu
Wailua River State Park in Kauai, Hawaii
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.