Maui: The Road to Hana

Number one (or very near the top) on any list of top things to do in Maui will be driving the Road to Hana. Now, the first thing to know about this trip is that it is about the journey, not the destination. Hana is a small Maui town with not much going on. It's not really worth a 3-hour drive (plus or minus depending on frequency and length of stops). But the getting there is just breathtakingly beautiful!

We were a bit nervous after reading some reviews of the road, for the things that make it beautiful make it both dangerous and unfriendly to motion-sensitive stomachs. Namely, it's sometimes narrow and often very, very winding. It hugs cliffs without much between you and the rocks below. The two-lane road often narrows to one lane despite being for two-way traffic. The twists and turns include many blind hairpins. And on it goes...

But after driving in Ireland (with many same such characteristics and then add driving on the "wrong" side of the car and road), I declared I could drive anywhere. (Never mind that Steve was the sole driver of our rental car.) So we braved it (and I downed some Dramamine) and were rewarded with many beautiful sights, tastes, and smells. I can't duplicate tastes or smells and these photos don't do it justice, but here are a few sights from our day-long trip that show some of the highlights. (Warning! Many photos ahead...)

Great ocean views and salty sea air to appreciate.

Winding roads and lush vegetation.

Views like this around every corner...

Seriously. So many amazing, breathtaking vistas!

Tree lined road to an ocean view.

This and some fresh banana bread from roadside stands kept us going!

It was so tempting to stop and take photos and linger at every beautiful view, but we had to keep going. And I'm so glad we did! There are lots of guides available (viva la internet age!) so we had to do some research (actually, Steve's forte, not mine) to select where to stop. I have to say, Steve did a great job! The highlights were definitely a little past Hana, at these fabulous sites:

Waianapanapa State Park (black sand beaches, lava tubes, and lava cliffs with a blow hole):

Gorgeous black sand beach.

Happy toes in black sand.

Lava tube (lava flowed through here to the ocean,
leaving behind this cave)

Steve kindly carries our bag of stuff (we had a picnic lunch here
and were also ready to swim). The blow hole was nearby, but it must've
been low tide, because nothing was going on.

Large pebbles made up the top of the beach.

O'heo Gulch (The Seven Sacred Pools) and Waimoku Falls (Haleakala National Park):

O'Heo Gulch has many waterfalls and pools (more than
seven!) and is a beautiful and windy spot.

We didn't swim at the black sand beach, but I couldn't resist a dip in this freshwater pool. It was chilly! Above is the
bridge we drove on en route to the Park.

Looking away from the waterfalls is a great ocean view.

It's real. We saw it with our own eyes!

Our hike to Waimoku falls (2 miles each way) took us through this
enchanting bamboo forest. Some parts were as dark as night!

The 400' falls were worth the journey!

We drove back to our resort by continuing the loop around the South side of the island.We had some doubts about doing so because there is a stretch of road that is unpaved, but so glad we did. We didn't make it home before dark, so we enjoyed the sunset and the amazing other-worldly scenery.

If it weren't dark, you could see the cliff-hugging road that characterized
the start of our drive home.

 

Awesome cloud formation on the South side of the Haleakala Ridge

The volcanic landscape looked like the set of a Sci-Fi movie!

There's no way to really do these places justice (especially with my amateur photography skills), but I hope you enjoyed a glimpse of it from our eyes! We had such a wonderful time and thank God for the opportunity. I have more photos on my Facebook page if you haven't already seen them :)