I've never understood this phobia of the road to Hana, it's not like driving through the Alps. It's an easy road in good condition, maybe narrow in some places and some twists and turns. We have driven the route 3 times, never had a problem like car sickness. The biggest hazard are the other drivers who are not used to driving on these types of roads, they drive so slowly and are on their brakes the whole time.

I would advise taking a packed lunch & drinks because there is a lack of places to buy food, and leave early thereby avoiding some of the traffic.

The road to Hana is the only piece of the island we have seen which gives a glimpse of how the island might have been before the overdevelopment.

All the advice I read here is good, Dayenu. I would not go to Maui without a rental car though, as I like to explore. I think you'd like the Sheraton at Whalers village, but there are others & it's very walkable to dine/shop.

And, I recommend that when you DO do Oahu, that you do it without the cruise. It just gives you more island time.

It never dawned on me on our many journeys on the road to Hana to be scared. I think taking a tour on the road to Hana would be a great addition to your carless vacation. Only complaints I ever heard were people prone to car sickness having issues with the many turns. The tour drivers are quite familiar with the roads and to understand Maui is to see Maui outside of the tourist areas. Most people that don't like Maui, never leave the resort areas. There is so much more.

I do think that the West end drive can be scary for some. We love it, but it can be daunting. Especially when you have to back up to let a school bus go by.

A tour up country might also be nice. I don't know what type of tours are avialable, but either Hana or Upcountry will allow you to see the island. Without a car, if you choose Haleakala, don't bother with sunrise, driving up there in the dark.

Not scarey but our daughter did get car sick. Are you interested in foing to the volcano?

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Next time you go, take a drive through upcountry Maui.

"if you choose Haleakala, don't bother with sunrise, driving up there in the dark"

Amen. Never understood getting up at 3 a.m., following a chain of cars to stand in sub-freezing weather to see what's usually foggy clouds. However, sunset (maybe after a park visit and a picnic), parked in one of the western facing overlooks, is something quite lovely.

Middle of the day is great up there too!

I agree. We went up Haleakala mid-morning. That was perfect.

We didn't do road to Hana because my entire family gets car sick so no one was that interested in trying it.

Dayenu, we didn't think the Road to Hana was the least bit scary. I chose to take the Valley Isle van tour because, like you, I was unsure about how the drive was actually going to be. *AND* I was driving my 78 year old mother and wanted to avoid any possible conflict by having someone else doing the driving and being in control of all the stops. Which worked out great, BTW. Our van driver was genuinely nice and full of local information, and quite a comedian really. The barbeque chicken lunch they provided was delicious. It was such a lovely experience that I encourage to take this excursion. They'll pick you up right at your hotel.

Reading the reviews, most places have a tour desk or front desk with information, so finding all tours should not be a problem.

As much as I love to watch sunrise/sunset I would not get up at 3 am for that! Sorry!

We did ( based on recs here at the time ) & though we enjoyed the experience - I would not do it at that time of day again.

I've been upcountry at Maui - drove those crazy one lane roads around the north side but only drove part way to Hana as I get car sick and it's pretty curvy. Couldn't do it. Also been to Maui 5 times and have never done the Haleakala sunrise. I'm just a lazy ass on vacay.

We did both the complete road to Hana as well as the West ( what some call north) loop - so we traversed the whole perimeter of Hana. Loved them both!

The whole perimeter of Hanna Maui.

Oops! Yes, Suzie I was rushing to say goodnight. It also occurred to me that to do the rest of the perimeter, you must include La Perouse Bay, which we did.

And you notice I totally botched the spelling of Hana. LOL

We are like Suzie, too lazy on vacation. We got up to Haleakala about 9am and it was beautiful and well with it.

Not just out of lazy-nes... I wouldn't want to drive that winding road in the dark. If I was determined to see the sunrise, I'd sign up with a tour and take a bus up.

Suze, I am going over Fodor's Hawaii - you are quoted the most, I think.

Suzie, I don't remember the road being bad - in fact, I remember being surprised that it did not live up to the hype, imo. It was nice & wide & there were very very few cars when we went up. It was dark, so you HAD to watch the road - not so when we came down & the beautiful scenery fought for our attention.

Also, how do you draw a line thru a word to post here?