Many people have heard about the Road to Hana (or "The Road"). Or have heard references to it: "That meeting was like the Road to Hana!" -- meaning a little bumpy, very winding and it takes a long time!
If you are an impatient person with needs of fairly immediate gratification, or you get motion sickness, driving The Hana Highway is probably not for you. A Maui helicopter tour may suit you better. (Hana Airport is a small airport that supports commuter traffic, and is located about 3 miles northwest of Hana.) But if you can stand to be in a car for a relatively long time and enjoy several gorgeous site-seeing stops along the way, the drive will not disappoint!
"The Road to Hana itself from Paia is only about 52 miles. Rumors of the narrow, winding, no place to pass Road to Hana are all true. There are 54 one-lane bridges you'll cross, and you'll navigate approximately 617 turns. However, that aside, your trip really takes as long as you want it. It is quite unlike anything we have ever seen.
If you want to get out and see every waterfall along the way you're probably in for a 8-12 hour day. If you're like me and and can appreciate most of the falls from the window of your car, your trip will be significantly shorter and you'll still have plenty of opportunity to swim in waterfalls and rain forest pools!
We drove the Road to Hana on our trips in July 1997 and December 2000. Some key things to consider for your trip: Get plenty of fuel for you (snacks for the drive) and your car (no gas stations along the way), leave early, bring some big towels, wear shoes that can get wet and muddy and bring plenty of film and sunscreen.
Our driving tour tape (now replaced by a tour CD) was great! Craig, our audio host, was very informative and really helped point out key features along the way. Of course, every time he said "Turn me off now and when you're ready to continue turn me on" left everyone in the car laughing!
A Few of Our Favorite Stops
Twin Falls, a popular and often photographed waterfall with pools at the bottom.
Most of the waterfalls on the Road to Hana require a rock hike either down, up or both to get there, once you've parked your car. We hiked down for the picture, stuck our toes in (just to say we had) but didn't stop to swim here.
Wailua Falls, the celebrity of waterfalls reaching a 100 foot drop. While the water in the pools was not nearly as warm as the ocean, they were still fun to swim in, and it made you appreciate Maui beaches even more. (This is where the big towel you brought comes in.) Being so close to something so big as Wailua Falls is quite the humbling feeling!
Wailua Overlook is a quaint view of an old Hawaiian village and taro patches. Also there is "Our Lady of Fatima" shrine which is displayed in the side of the mountain. It doesn't get any more picturesque than this--Old Hawaii at it's best!
The Seven Sacred Pools were the last stop for us before the long and winding ride home. (The pools' real name is Ohea Gulch, and there are actually more than seven pools -- around 24.) But don't think you park your car and jump into the pools. In Hana, it's not that easy. Here you park and walk along a path about 20 minutes until you reach the first pool.
Legend has it that swimming in each pool (in order from one to seven) will bring the swimmer good luck. We swam in four of them and after climbing up the side of a waterfall to get to the fourth we decided partial good luck was good enough!
After our visit to the Seven Sacred Pools, we stopped for lunch at a small restaurant in Hana.
On our way back we stopped briefly at the Garden of Eden Botanical Arboretum. It's 27-acres of botanical beauty that overlooks Puohokamoa Valley and Falls. Unfortunately, we only got as far as the front gate because (as you can see from the sign on the left) it was closed. But we did get some fun shots of the banana tree right outside the gate.
There are two routes out of Hana. The first is to return on Highway 360, which is the Road to Hana -- the same way that you came in. Or you can drive back on the dry side or southern part of the island. Some say you need to rent a jeep or four-wheel drive because part of that road is unpaved. But others have said that they have had no problem doing it in a standard car or van. This is another activity that we have on our "to-do" list when we go in December, 2006.
Although we have never stayed in Hana overnight, you can find vacation rentals and a few hotels in the area.
Please take a few minutes and visit our
Maui Vacations Video Gallery page
and scroll down to the On The Road To Hana section or the Seven Sacred Pools section to view a a couple of short video clips taken during our 2000 trip.
Most of the waterfalls on the Road to Hana require a rock hike either down, up or both to get there, once you've parked your car. We hiked down for the picture, stuck our toes in (just to say we had) but didn't stop to swim here.
