Hi Just a quick question. We planned to spend one day doing the road to hana. My wife doesn't want to drive all the way to hana. Is it to much to drive half of the road to hana and then turn around somewhere and then drive up to the top of Hakalea to see the crater and the view and then head back to Kanapali. I don't want to rush but How long will it take to do all this. I plan to leave the Hyatt in Kanapali by 8AM and hopefully be back by 5-5:30 PM. Is this doable.

Hopefully someone else will really answer your question...

That said, to me the volcano trip was enough for one day (it's a fairly long curvy drive, the altitude really effects me AND i get carsick). Although it didn't take all day I was more than happy to spend the rest poolside. Combining it with even a one-half of the road to hana would not be a fun day for me!

Thanks for the info. Any other comments regarding this. We really only wanted to spend one day in maui touring. We will be arriving in Maui on a sunday around 12 noon and leaving that Friday night at 11 pm so we really didn't want to spend more than a day site seeing. Will it really be that bad doing a half day hana trip and taking a ride up to the top of Hikalea in one day. Or do we do two half day trips. Let me know. Thanks

Hi, my husband and I just returned in August from a six night stay in Maui and we also stayed in the Kaanapali resort area. Yes, you can go as far as you'd like on the road to Hana and then turn back (we actually never made it quite to Hana, but close), but it still is a long journey with many, many turnoffs and lookouts and only two small single lanes of traffic. It is a very curvy road and the speed limit is very low so it takes significant time to do it. There are no cutoffs from the road before Hana over to Haleakala so I believe the only way to get there is to do the entire circle around Maui, past Hana which is really a very long, long drive. Having said that, if I had to choose one side trip over the other, I would definitely pick the road to Hana. The views are the best in Maui and when we went to Haleakala it was a sporadically cloudy day (the weather being more unpredictable in that location) and we didn't get as clear a view from the top as we would have liked. I believe the weather along the road to Hana is more stable and you are guaranteed to see some remarkably beautiful sights. Definitely pick up the CD tour guide sold at the gas station before the road to Hana, it is really a great way to do the drive. I was skeptical when I first heard about it, but it was a great find. It will let you know what sights are ahead and which ones are hidden and you'll really enjoy it. Hope you have a wonderful time in Maui. Aloha!

Well, if you maybe as far as Keanae or Nahiku and turn back from there, you can then head up towards the summit at either Maliko Bay and cut from there up to Haleakala Hwy through Makawao, or you can go back into Pa`ia and head up Baldwin Ave. Pick up a good map when you get here. I've seen many that do not show anything but the main roads.

You can get a sampling of the rain forest, see some watefalls, etc. Driving from Ka`anapali to Keanae should take about 2 and a half hours, plus any time you need for stops along the way. Then it would about and hour and change back to Pa`ia another one and three quarter to two hours to reach the summit. I'd say you could make it back to Ka`anapali from the summit, if you just drive straight through, 2 and a half to 3 hours depending on time of day and traffic. Pad that with some time to stop along the way and you've got a full day. You could be pushing it be back by 5.

My drive times include normal traffic snags and driving at the speed limit. You might make better time, but why rush along? Take some time to take in the sights, sounds and smells.

Marshall, I was in Maui for 5 days/5 nights last august, I too had the same thought as you, that is to do the road to hana and haleakala in one day. Many people told me that that is a bad idea b/c it's too much to do in one day. after much consideration, I went with splitting the two activities into two. The road to hana is HARD CORE, it doesn't make sense to do half and not finish it off. the waterfalls are beautiful, i would say the nicer ones are at teh end, and if u make it early, u can go see the 7 pools, which is all the way at the end of the drive, the Kipahulu National Park. When i got there with my friend, it was 5pm, and it wouldn't have been enough time to walk to the top of the 7 pools. Also, when u get there, u pay for parking, the same pass can get u to the Haleakala. As for the Haleakala, I went there on the day of my flight to Oahu. My flight left at 1pm, and i did the haleakala in the morning. It was not bad at all, it's right by the airport, so after the trip, we just headed straight to the airport.
have fun. u're gonna love maui. i loved it and i'm still dreaming about it now, even though i went in august.

The one thing we learned about Haleakala is that the earlier in the morning you get there, the better your chances of seeing the crater since the clouds tend to come in in the afternoon. After getting there at 1:00 PM on our first try and not seeing anything but clouds, someone at the gift shop told us that mornings are much better (this was in August). The next day we tried again, this time arriving at eight in the morning, and we could see most of it, an awesome sight. Lo and behold, by the time we left around two in the afternoon the clouds were covering the crater entirely. Our next two visits to the crater (on different trips in April and October) were also in the morning and the crater was completely clear, not a cloud in sight.

Marshall531, we just returned from Maui and if you do Hana and Haleakala in one day, if that's even possible, you wouldn't enjoy either one doing it that way.

We did haleakala as a day-trip from the Maui Prince hotel, which is south of Wailea, and it was a very full and tiring day for us. We spent 2 nights in Hana and discovered that not only is the drive to hana very slow, you must sloooow waaaay down to enjoy it, because enjoying hana involves doing things like bumping along a side road, parking your car, getting out, walking down to a lovely little waterfall with a pool, taking off your shoes, going for a swim in the pool, sitting in the sun, drying off, getting your shoes back on, walking back to the car...SERIOUSLY, I strongly advise against considering trying to do Hana and Haleakala in one day!!!

By the way, we LOVED Hana, but agreed it takes a minimum of a FULL day to see Hana, and spending a few nights in Hana is better.