Is the road to Hana that bad? Can you drive a rental car there without incurring damage? Any horror stories about being billed for damage after returning to the States?

The road to Hana is not bad at all...just narrow and can be crowded. It is not until you come to the end past the 7 sacred pools and decide to keep going to circle back, rather than taking the road to Hana back. I have done this in a rental car without incurring damage, but it still takes a long time to get back. If the car has GPS on board they can identify when you take the car where you shouldn't.

Leave early to miss a lot of the crowds and come back by the same road and you will have no worries. Stop at the less important stops on the way back rather then stopping at every stop on the way up. Plan to use the whole day for the trip. Enjoy, it is lovely and I hope someone is selling fresh banana bread for you to sample.

The road itself is fine. It twists and turns constantly so you have to drive slowly. Many, many places to stop to admire the view. It's also busy with tourist and local traffic.

First, parrot, and please take this in the spirit intended, never EVER say you're returning to the "states" after a trip to Hawaii. You're returning to the MAINLAND. Hawaii is a U.S. state, after all. ;-)

I may be a lone dissenter here, but we've tried the trip a couple of times and turned back. but, that's because both of us spend long hours in the car for work and spending that many hours in yet another car (on vacation), on a winding road where you really have to pay attention at almost all times was just too much. We'll probably try it someday, when we can spend more time there. If you do try it, however, good luck and enjoy!

My favorite part of the road to Hana is to continue and return by going all the way around. I love this dry, windswept part of the island. The scenery is magnificent! Just allow most of a day for the trip, take water/drinks and some snacks with you. We've driven all the way around several times and damage to the vehicle was never really a concern. If you suffer from car sickness however be sure to take some Bonine along for the first half of the road. Have fun!!!

I also think that the back side of the volcano is magnificent scenery. The road (past the gulch/pools) is constantly being improved. You go through some different climate zones coming back after you round the highway and head north again. Simply a beautiful drive.

Thanks to all who replied. So it is the GPS that rats you out. And yes I know Hawaii is the most beautiful of the 50 states, and I been been in all but 2 states. However,even most residents feel disenfranchised from the decisions of the mainland, only taxed. Thanks again.

The backside of Maui is one of our favorites and knowing the history of that part of the island will only increase its appeal.

As for the damage, the road itself isn't the biggest cause of damage. Over the years the road has been improved but after each good rain, rockfalls and landslides are normal. The maintenance crews are part of the scenery early in the morning. Around each corner a driver needs to be aware that a few good sized rocks maybe littering the road, sometimes giving you good scrapes to the car's undercarriage. A driver who is focused on the incredible scenery and not the road, are the most dangerous part of the journey. Unfortunately, there are a lot of those.

The other vehicles on the road to Hana who are most likely to be the cause of damage to your rental vehicle. Many local vehicles have either missing or damaged side mirrors due to encounters that came too close.

The road from Hana around the backside has a few loose gravel cliff side sections which will make your heart pound a little. Good thing there is not a lot of traffic coming the opposite direction from Ulapalakula. If you do you encounter them at those wrong times you will wish that you were better at backing up on a winding downhill or parallel parking with no room for error.

When going to Hana, please keep in mind that there is not much in Hana - just a small hotel, a snack bar and a few stores but not much else.

In other words, your journey to Hana should be about The Journey, not the destination. I see too many tourists who rush to get to Hana only to be disappointed once they get there.

Trust me, there are lots of interesting and beautiful places to visit along the way. For example, stop at Wainapanapa State Park and you'll be treated to magnificent scenery and an awesome black sand beach.

So remember to take your time.

Enjoy the Journey.

Aloha.

We have driven the Hana Highway 5 times, once all of the way around. This time we said, "no, we are not going to do it" but it called to us. We drove past the half way point and turned around because we had early dinner plans but it is a lovely drive. We also like the Rte. 30 drive past Kapalua towards the north. There are high cliffs, narrow roads, spotty cell coverage but "Julia" is right. She has the best banana bread on the planet.

I can go along with what has been said above about the road to Hana, but that road past Kapalua is not one that I will take again.... the "risk" is not worth the "reward"!
To me, its just another narrow, bad road (and I know really bad roads, I've gotten 4WD's stuck enough times!), with scenery that I did not particularly enjoy.... high, barren cliffs, with sparse vegetation is not the Hawaii that I came to see.
The banana bread would have to be other-worldly for me to endure that trip again.
But to each his own!

We just did the Road to Hana for the first time in May . DH and I are use to mountain driving and to us the road was an easy drive. We started really early and missed a lot of the traffic. It caught up to us latter in the day. We hit a lot of rain on most of the early part of the drive but the sun came out at the Black Sand Beach. The 7 paths to scared pools were closed that day because they had had so much rain. I loved the change of scenery going all the way around.

Our rental car agreement was voided if we took the road past the 7 sacred pools, but we had already voided it twice already going to La Perouse Bay and doing the Kahekili Hwy. The road past Hana was the easiest of the three.

Utahtea

Before our vacation I took a poll of people I met and knew. Those that did the actual drive... said never again. Long drive, winding road, continual stopping and many never knew to do the backside. The passengers usually thought it was an easy day and had enjoyed it all.

So! We took a tour. They did the driving, we stopped for a lovely picnic lunch w/ real china plates,had time at all the stops to see things to our satisfaction = I swam in the 2 or 3 of the 7 pools, and we saw and drove the backside.

A wonderful day, and the tour I would do again!

Leanna, can you share the name of the tour you enjoyed? Was it van or bus? Thanks

Oh my goodness...too many years ago.....but it was a van and very comfy. Let me check about in old pics and see if I can find any names etc.

We also did an excellent tour of sunrise on the Mt. It was pitch dark when THEY drove that winding road up the Mt and after wards we passed those on the bikes and stopped and had a HUGE breakfast at the golf club Another tour that was well worth it.

I know Ekahi or something like that did the one tour but I now forget which was which! Sorry!!!

We drove out to Hana - 4 of us - with luggage - in a VW Big with the top down. This was back in the 70's.

On the way - we even picked up a hitchhiker (she was originally from NY but had been living in Hana for a couple of years) - who clued us in that there were only really two types of people living in Hana: The wealthy and the rest on food stamps, but all enjoyed it.

We chose to stay overnight - which I recommend, and we were by a beautiful beach (on the other side of town from the beach that author James Michenor raves about) - with nice waves for the surfers and I even did a little body surfing.

The next day - I asked a local how the road around the bottom/other side was - and he said - not bad - haven't had any big rains lately. (this was in September?)

So - back then - with no GPS to track you - we went for it. Once - up a grade - which had some ruts - the others had to get out while I navigated it - and then we were back in the car and driving along. It has a different kind of beauty on the backside - more arid like Big Island on the Kona side - but it was still a great experience - and the little store we stopped at didn't have the banana bread for sale as I recall.

We had also driven out to La Paruse Bay to snorkel - back when it was really a dirt road/adventure to get there - and a local guy had shot two fish and they were going to have a big party that night.

We also love driving around the north end - beyond Kapalua - which is incredibly scenic - and at a couple places - the road narrows to a single lane - but look ahead and you can make it easily if no traffic is coming. People driving it seem pretty friendly and we never have had a problem there.