Day 8 - Road to Hana

Road to Hana. We tried to get an early start today to try to beat the crowds but we weren’t real successful. We started the approximately 60 mile (from Kahului) drive to Hana and at first it wasn’t too bad, but eventually we started getting to the real curves. We stopped along the way, first at a small farmer’s stand for banana bread and my favorite, raw sugar cane sticks. The Road to Hana is a road that follows the eastward (windward) coast of Maui, and when I say follows, I mean follows. The road is known for having approximately 620 curves and 46 one lane bridges.

After this our first real stop was at Pulalau Falls. This is back off of the highway a little ways and we got to hike on a pretty nice boulder stream bed. Unfortunately, we got back to the falls, there wasn’t much of anything flowing from the waterfall.

Next was Upper Waikani Falls, aka Three Bears Falls, which was very pretty, though it was only flowing a little. This turned out to be the theme of the trip. Lots of green, lots of curves, but very little water. The next two falls were Hanawi and Makipipi Falls.

Then we drove down to the ocean via Nahiku Road. It was even greener than the road to Hana. The views of the raw coast line of this side of the island are amazing. Black lava rock getting pounded by the surf. It really made the couple mile drive down well worth it. We ate lunch down by the shore, which was supposed to be normally pretty deserted but there were quite a few people there. One of the issues with following guidebooks.

We then made our way to Wai’anapanapa Black Sand beach. The beach itself is actually smaller than the name, but it is a true black sand beach, made from pounded lava rock. From the beach, you could also see a sea arch of lava and walk into a lava tube cave.

Next was the actual town of Hana, which doesn’t really have a whole lot of anything. But, we did take a quick hike down to a Red Sand beach, but just as we got there, it started to rain.
I should tell you that you can't move real quick on the "trail". There's a reason that there is a "No Trespassing" sign. But that didn't stop us LOL. So we didn’t get all the way down to the beach, but it is pretty cool because there a small sheltered cove is formed by a red rock wave break.After Hana, the next stop was Kipahulu State Park with the 7 Sacred Pools. This is a series of waterfalls and pools that are supposed to have healing powers if you bath in each one in series. Just as we started back, we saw a rainbow, very pretty.

Then, was the unfortunate drive back which took almost 4 hours to get back to the condo. By this time, we barely had time to grab some dinner at Da Kitchen. Good local Hawaiian food, good price and huge portions. Then time for bed.



OK, I have to come up with something positive to say about this..... well, the coast line was very beautiful. The true black sand beach was neat. I just didn't enjoy spending all day in the car. Folks say, "It's not about getting to Hana, it's about the drive there"...well the drive lasted ALL DAY. I would have rather been spent the day in the water. Dan agrees. Maybe it would have been more enjoyable had the water falls been flowing.