Hi, we have 4 nights booked at the Embassy Resort in Kanaapali for their minivac(timeshare).Since they are sold out for the fifth night (Dec 26th-our last night in Maui),we were thinkin of driving to Hana, staying overnight if I can find a place for one night,& driving straight to Kahului airport the next morning. Does that sound like a good idea? How long would it take? I am a little hesitant in case the weather does not cooperate, we would not have the option of going another day. Thanks.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

I would leave yourself about 2 hours to get back to the airport from Hana.

The drive back is much quicker because people stop on the way to Hana but not much on the way back.

Check these sites:

www.hawaii-hotels.com

www.vrbo.com

Dusty, thanks for the input, I wasn't sure how the drive from Hana to OGG would be. I have not foound any hotels or inns willing to rent for one night but have emailed a few rental owners from vrbo.com. Thanks forthe suggestion.

Hi, I am not had any luck finding a hotel in Hana for one night. Please provide suggestions if anyone has any. I did find something in Wailea but is there no way to get from Hana directly to Wailea without going up to Kahului & heading south again?

I just looked on www.hawaii.com and www.expedia.com

They appear to be the same source and price for hotels.

Out of four pages of Maui hotels, there are only a few hotels with rooms available for that night. All the rest say click here for availability. That usually means they don't have anything.

One of them is Maui Seaside Hotel. It is in Kahului, which must be close to the airport. So at least you wouldn't have to drive all the way back to Wailea.

You could probably check in on your way to Hana or at lest be able to drop off your luggage there on the way to Hana.

You can look online or:

www.hawaii.com or 1-800-282-6487

www.expedia.com or 1-800-509-1176

Try http://www.hanamaui.com/lodging.html
Many of these places do single nights, but be aware that many places have minimum stays over the holidays that they don't impose the rest of the year.

I always allow myself least three hours to get from Hana to Kahului. I have made the drive to Kahului in much less, but 2.5 hours is about average. I've been stuck behind trucks who can't pull over, and drivers who just don't know to pull over. I've encounterd cows on the road, farm vehicles, rock slides, and other delays that added to the total drive time. And even though the day trippers are coming the other direction, a single lane bridge still only allows one car to pass at a time.

here_today_gone2Maui, thanks a million for that site, will try calling tomorrow but it has a lot more places to try than I have seen anywhere else.
dusty56438, thanks for suggesting staying in Kahului. I take it that means that there is no shorter way to get to Wailea from Hana. I looked at a map & thought Wailea would be much closer if we continued around Hana, just didn't realize there was no road connecting the highways.

I'll add a caveat to this discussion - no doubt much to the consternation of the reknown poster "here today" who knows and promotes the island, with whom I've crossed, well, not swords, but opinions on the Hana road.

The road is pushed by many as an attraction unto itself, not just a way from point A to point B. It is lush and visually interesting. However, if you have any experience with twisting, ultra-dynamic mountain roads with aggressive local drivers before, you don't need this one. In our experience (and that of many on our posting about the road of last May who agreed with us, which isn't all of you folks), we kept going around each turn or section of road thinking, "Well, the Really Special thing must be around the next bend," but it wasn't. Hana was pretty, but not special. The 7 Pools were the same spilling-water pools we'd seen in a dozen places in our travels. We kept the faith that the Road would reveal its magic, but while it was pretty, the balance between the Pretty and the Hair-Raising Drive was off-kilter.

There's no "there," there.

You may love the road and the peaceful sleepy town at the end. But to make it an overnight trip, and Especially to depend on the Road to make the plane on the return, may damn well kill you.

We are Not saying the Hana Road and the town isn't nice. We are saying it is over-hyped, presents too many unmet expectations (particularly for travelers who have seen and done a lot, including dicey drives) and that - in this one opinion - you'd have a better and more relaxed time on your last day getting a hotel around Kahalui and day-tripping into the cowboy country at Pali and up the mountain a ways, and be fresh for your flight out the last day.

Excited/confused, you can't tell from a map what the altitiude is for a given road, but it is a big factor on most islands. With Maui's steep mountains, there aren't many places to put roads.

I like the suggestion of a visit to upcountry Maui for your last day, if you decide against Hana. It's very different from the coastal areas. Look at the Kula Lodge and other rentals near Makawao.