Going to Maui in May We have never been before can anybody tell me about the road to Hana??

The road to Hana is fantastic and is not to be missed. I was a nervous wreck because of all the things you hear and read, but we found it to be a much better road than we had read. You just need to take your time and pull over and let the locals pass as soon as you can. We had a convertible and the view and the smell of the air and everything about it was awesome. We stopped a lot and it was amazing to see the waterfalls and the impatiens growing wild that were waist high and the incredible beauty. The black sand beach is not to be missed. It was absolutely the most incredible sight with the black sand and turquoise water and white surf---too beautiful to put into words. We had a picnic lunch at the park where the black sand beach is. Whatever you do, do NOT miss the road to Hana! The people that complain about it should just go to California to vacation on a great beach and not go all the way to Hawaii because it is things like the road to Hana that you experience the real Hawaii and see the Hawaii you have dreamed about. Have fun!

We drive the Hana road every year enroute from the Kahului airport to the Hotel Hana-Maui. The road has been improved in recent years in that the pavement is now smooth. Most bridges, however, are still one lane and date from the road's construction in 1911. Guardrails are few and far between, and so a good rate of speed is about 15 mph. The preceding note speaks eloquently about the scenery and things to do enroute. The black sand beach in question is at Wainapanapa State Park, about two-thirds the way to Hana from Kahului. With stops, it is about three hours from ths start of the "interesting" part of the road to where is straightens out just outside of Hana. Then, there's another very excellent stretch from Hamoa Beach (three miles south of Hana) to Kipahulu, about ten miles distant. That takes about an hour to drive, but places to stop are few and far between. You can make the trip in a day; I would start very early (6 a.m. isn't out of the question), and would plan to "decompress" at Hana or Seven Pools. The Hotel Hana Maui has an excellent restaurant, there's also the Hana Ranch Restaurant for hamburgers, and Hana Gardenland which now has an open-air restaurant with passable food. Don't plan to get back to the other side of the island much before dark. This is an all-day trip.

joel -- i'll try this again -- my last message didn't "arrive" for some reason -- we went to maui about two years ago for our first time -- the road to hana and hana were some of our best memories -- we live in oregon and are used to rural and forest roads, so the road to hana was no big deal -- just take it slow and enjoy the drive -- i would suggest spending the night there -- most visitors do a day long adventure thing, like mentioned above -- we were staying to the ritz carlton (that's a whole other story) and chose to spend one night in hana, just so that we could really enjoy "the neighborhood" and the drive without the pressure of having to do it all in one day -- oh, one more thing, i'd suggest your vehicle be a smaller car, rather than "a boat" -- one guy i know had rented a lincoln and the curves were rather adventuresome in it -- have a fabulous time!!!

I saw your posting on the Web about the trip you made to Maui. You indicated that you stayed at the Ritz. What did you think?

jcs

john -- you asked about the ritz -- when we went to maui, we went "with" a local radio station -- the radio station was going and "had room" to take along a plane full of people at a GREAT deal -- we were supposed to go for 7 nights and stay at a "regular" hotel -- well, someone goofed by overbooking and we all ended up at the ritz -- the plane and 7 nights cost us $550 a person!! -- we normally don't spend much on accomodations since we only sleep there -- our room at the ritz was lovely -- a marble bathroom -- it was posted in the closet that the maximum price for the room was $625 -- i'm really glad we didn't spend that much -- since it was our first time to the island and we only had 8 days, we didn't spend much time on site, because each day we went out adventuring -- like i said, it's a lovely resort -- i'd personally spend my money on other things, unless i'd get a GREAT deal like that again!!! email me if you have additional questions......

The Road to Hana is not to be missed! Pick up one of the audio tapes before you start. It does a great job of narrating the drive!

The Road to Hana is not to be missed! Pick up one of the audio tapes before you start. It does a great job of narrating the drive!