Road to Hana In One Day!

The Road to Hana (aka Hana Highway) is a spellbindingly gorgeous highway that took us over more than 50 bridges and around 600 curves. We were lured to Hana for its abundant lush rainforests, dramatic and rugged ocean vistas, and its wealth of waterfalls and pools – you will see over 18 waterfalls within a mere 54 miles!!

We took our Hana excursion in September 2017 during which period the weather was favorable and there were no rains. Driving the Hana Highway easily took up a full day – we skipped a few stops to ensure we turn back to the resort in day light. If you want to visit each of the stops and go beyond Hana town this can easily become a 2-day excursion. A DIY drive to Hana requires sufficient planning and research otherwise you will be wasting alot of time, missing important landmarks and could also lead to being stranded and lost. Based on our adventure, we have put together a list of tips/recommendations with details on mile markers that will help plan your voyage and make your experience seamlessly memorable.

Pre-Planning Tips and Recommendations:

• We recommend a DIY tour to enjoy the overall adventure at your own pace, skip the crowds and stop at the landmarks of your choice and interest.
• The drive to Hana is a difficult one with 620 curves and 59 bridges so only do a DIY tour if you are confident about your driving skills.
• This is a vigorous excursion so keep the day before and after light on activities to simmer down.
• Internet connection along the drive gets very poor including certain areas with no connection at all. It is very important to download an offline GPS map that will provide navigational instructions so you don’t get lost along the way.
  • Recommendation: We downloaded the “Loop Road to Hana Tour” from the Shaka Guide App at $6.99. This audio guide app enhanced our overall experience as it provided precise navigational instructions along with intriguing Hawaiian legends that made our excursion more fun and interesting. The app is available for both IOS and Android.
• Timing is very crucial for this adventure. Start your day as early as 7:30AM if possible for an unhurried experience.
• Fuel up before heading for the road as there are no gas stations along the route. Last opportunity to fill up on gas before getting on Hana Highway is at Paia town.
• Pack some lunch/snacks before starting the excursion as it is rare to find restaurants along the road. You will however, come across a few banana bread and shave ice joints along the route.
• Carry a comfortable pair of hiking shoes as there are plenty tempting hikes through scenic forests that will be tough to do without proper hiking shoes.
• You will come across a lot of ponds and waterfalls during the initial stops of your tour, but do not spend too much time there as they will be crowded. The deeper you go, the more spectacular ponds and lush waterfalls you will come across that are more secreted.
• Wear a swim suit underneath if you plan on taking a dip in the ponds, as there are no changing rooms at the stops, and carry an extra pair of clothes.
• Hana Highway is an extraordinarily picturesque drive with avalanche photo opportunities. Do not forget your camera.
• Do not leave valuables in the car, break ins are known to occur.
• Turn-back to the resort while it is bright as the drive is difficult and you may want to avoid driving in the dark.

Things to Take: Camera, Cash, Water, Towels, Slippers, Water Shoes, Hiking Shoes, Mosquito repellant, Extra pair of clothes, Swimsuit, plastic bags for trash, Flashlight, Shades, Hat, Paper Napkins, Sunscreen, packed lunch, snacks, Band Aids, First Aid kit and hand sanitizer.

Our Itinerary:

Hana Highway is manifested with various mile markers that guided us in locating the intriguing stops along the road. Look out for these mile markers as they are very helpful in navigating to the landmarks.

Stop 1 – Paia Town
There are so many beautiful attractions along the road to Hana that will tempt you to make long stops. It is therefore very crucial to get an early start to the day. We started our day at 7:30 AM and were in Paia town by 8:00 AM. Paia is the last town for food and gas break – there are couple banana bread and shave ice joints along the way. We had our breakfast at Paia Bay coffee that opens at 7 AM every morning. There was no parking lot outside the café so we ended up doing street parking which was for free. We had a hearty breakfast and set off for the road by 8:30 AM.

Stop 2 – Twin falls @ Mile Marker 2
At a 15 to 20-minute drive from Paia Town came our first landmark, the Twin falls. They are near mile marker 2. We parked at a large dirt parking lot that was on the right side of a bridge. There are three waterfalls we could hike to within minutes at this location. The furthest one was about a mile and a quarter up the hill.
We visited the first falls by following the path from the entrance, which was a short 5-7 minute hike. It was a lovely spot to hop in the water and enjoy a swim – the water was cold and refreshing, perfect for a hot day! It however, got very crowded as the tour groups had stopped here. We decided to hike further down the tranquil forest and within 15 minutes came another waterfall which was less crowded and peaceful.

Tips:

• Do not spend too much time at this stop as it gets crowded with the tour groups and also due to the popularity of the first stop and waterfall on the Hana Highway. You will have multiple opportunities to swim in even better ponds further along the road.
• There are no lifeguards on duty and no life jackets are provided so only take a dip if you are a confident swimmer.
• Bring your valuables with you – several robberies have been reported at this stop.
• Make sure to apply mosquito repellent, I got 5 bites by the time we left 🙁
• There is a fruit stand at the entrance where you can purchase snacks, water, mosquito replants etc.

Stop 3 – Na’ili’ili-haele Falls Hike Through Bamboo Forest @ Mile Marker 6.7
This hike was not jaw dropping, but it was pretty awesome! There are couple very important considerations to keep in mind before visiting these falls:

1. Check the weather conditions before your visit and DO NOT visit if there are flash flood warnings. The rains and high waters make hiking conditions dangerous and unsafe. There are stories of broken legs, injuries and people being stranded for up to 8 hours.
2. Wear comfortable hiking shoes. Flip flops, slippers, crocs etc. are not recommended.

Luckily, there was no rain on the day we visited hence the hike wasn’t too slippery. Finding these falls is a little tricky as there are no visible signs to it. We slowed down near mile marker 6.7 and saw a few cars parked on both sides of the road which was our clue. We parked off the beaten road, and entered the bamboo forest through a hidden camouflaged hole that led to a slippery path down-hill. Once we got to the bottom of the forest, we crossed over a 2-feet wide stream followed by a river that we crossed by jumping rock to rock.

Finally, we were in the bamboo maze.
The falls were not easy to find. Do not blindly follow the tracks as we found ourselves getting lost by following footsteps – probably of other tourists that were lost like us. We followed the sound of tumbling water that finally led us to the falls with a pleasing swimming hole that we took a dip in. We also saw some tourists do rock jumping which was about a 30 ft jump.

There are a couple more waterfalls at this stop however, this was the last one we visited, as we heard the hike up ahead was quite difficult.

We had been enjoying so much that we lost track of time. We spent more time than expected at the first three stops and were running late on schedule. We skipped some of the upcoming stops listed below, in order:

• Hookipa Beach Park at mile marker 8.8
• Garden of Eden Arboretum at mile marker 10.5
• Puuhokamoa falls at mile marker 10.8
• Haipua’ena falls at mile marker 11.5
• Kaumahina state wayside park at Mile Marker 12

Tips:

1. Again, keep track of the time and do not spend too much time at one stop 🙂
2. It was after we left this spot that our shaka guide tour stopped working as we had not downloaded the full tour. It was very stressful as the app was our navigator and made the trip so much more fun with the legends. Luckily, we passed by an area which had good internet connection and we were able to download the remainder of the tour. Ensure to download the full tour/offline GPS map before getting on the road.

Stop 4 – Honomanu Bay @ Mile Marker 14
This picturesque black rock/sand bay is located inside verdant valley, surrounded by lush green mountains. Views of the bay start around Mile marker 13 – you can pull over at one of the lookouts to savor the views but we recommend going down the valley as this was a great spot to snap some remarkable pictures.

Getting down to the valley would have been tedious if we walked down and then back up the steep muddy road, as most tourists did. However, we were dreading the hike in scorching sun so we drove down to the valley. It was not a smooth drive but was totally worth it as we got to snap a pretty good picture and of course saved a considerable amount of energy and time!

Tips:

• Swimming is not recommended at the beach here.
• Drive down the steep road if possible to save time and energy.
• This was one of the less crowded stops as not many people go down the valley. We enjoyed the isolation at this bay!

Stop 5 – Nua’ailua view point @ Mile Marker 16
We made a quick stop at Nua’ailua view point which is a scenic lookout to the steep and rugged Nua’ailua Bay.

We enjoyed the views of the waves breaking against the large rocks and spreading their water swiftly over the shore.

Stop 6 – Ching’s pond (aka Blue Sapphire Pools) @ Mile Marker 16.9
Ching’s pond is not a popular stop among tourists along the road to Hana, as this place is known to be more frequented by locals. We however, made this stop and were so glad that we did! We drove a little past mile marker 16.9 and parked at the roadside. We then had to hike down a narrow rocky and slippery path to get to the pond. It was a short hike but not an easy one so you gotta be careful!
Ching’s pond ranked pretty high on our list as this was the only stop where we had the whole pond to ourselves. We enjoyed our swim in the blue sapphire pools.

Tip: This is a great spot to do cliff jumping.

Stop 7 – Kaenae valley over look @ Mile marker 18
We made a very brief stop at Kaenae valley over look. It is not a major attraction but worth a stop to take in the scenic views of Wailua Village.

Stop 8 – Upper Waikani (aka Three Bear) Falls @ Mile Marker 19.6
This was another one of our quick stops. We chose to view these falls from the comfort of our car as we were pretty drained by this time and were not up for another time-consuming adventure.

Tip: The next stop is the Hana Lava Tube (aka Ka’eleku cave) found around mile marker 31.1 which we had skipped.

Stop 9 – Wai’anapanapa Black sand beach @ Mile Marker 32
Our last stop before Hana Town was the uniquely beautiful Wai’anapanapa Black sand beach. The black pebbles/sand contrasted sharply with the deep blue ocean and the white cresting waves. The surrounding green vegetation added dramatic colors thus making this a highly photogenic stop.

In addition to the breathtaking scenery, the park also has ocean caves, a blow hole, camping, hiking trails, cabins and much more.

Gazing at the beautiful calm ocean after a long hectic day!

Tip:

• Swimming at this beach is only recommended when the water is calm.
• If you plan on continuing the excursion the following day, this is a good stop to camp overnight. By the time we reached this stop it was 6:00pm.

Stop 10 – Hana Town
After 52 miles of winding traverse, we finally made it to Hana Town – which was only 3 miles from Wai’anapanapa State Park. This small coastal town is quiet and beautiful where we got the feel of what “real Hawaii” is like.

There are many other popular landmarks beyond Hana town such as the Red Sand Beach, Hamoa beach, Oheo Gulch, Pipiwai Trails and many others. This was however, our turn back point. The Shaka guide app navigated us back to Paia town with some pleasing Hawaiian legends which was relaxing. We reached our resort around 8:00 PM.

Even though it was a day full of vigorous activities, the beauties Hana Highway left us speechless with everlasting memories that stayed with us all the way home. The highway is truly a gem of Maui and a must do!

Enjoyed reading this post? We bet you will love reading our detailed 10 day Maui Itinerary that will make your stay more eventful!