Road to Hana
 

We will be traveling to Maui in March with our two teenagers and would like to travel some of the road to Hana. I feel that going all the way to Hana would be too long of a drive, especially for the kids in the back seat. Is it worth while to go as far as the waterfalls? Can you swim at the falls? Is there places to turn around if you want to turn back? Is the senery very tropical(rain forest) at the falls, or do you need to get closer to Hana to see real beauty? <BR>Thanks for any imput. <BR>Judy

Hana is the only "town" on this road, and it is only about half way to Oheo Gulch (totally misnamed as "Seven Sacred Pools", and which I presume you mean when you say "the falls"). There are falls elsewhere on the road, as well as a wide variety of jungle scenery and beautiful overlooks on every stretch. You can turn around whenever you want [or when your kids start to hurl :^) ]. Most people drive to Hana and back (Kasegawa's Store is a typical stopping point for turn-arounds), which would make a full day's drive.

We took the road to Hana in Dec of 1996. It was the most beautiful drive I have ever been on. Hana is aptly named heavenly Hana. The black sand beach is awesome. I wish that we would have spent more time in Hana. I would take the trip again in a minute. If the teenagers don't want to go leave them in the room!! Hana is very romantic. They don't know what they will be missing. We stopped on the way back (West) to eat at Kula lodge. THe flowers there are wonderful. Have fun!! I'm ready to go back NOW!!

Chris <BR> As the person above said..Go the distance!!!..you wont regret it! <BR> When you close your eyes and think <BR>"tropical forest" the road to Hana is it!!.. Awsome..There is only one, well maybe two waterfalls from the start of the drive to Hana that you can really stop and swim in,,parking is a problem at most of them..,others are on private property. When you say "as far as the waterfalls"..if your thinking of the "seven sacred pools" those are several miles past Hana..however, IMO they are worth the trip all in themselves..was the highlight of our trip anyway, cliff diving, fantastic scenery..and if you go that far, for a little bit of history, Lindburgs grave is just up the road a bit from there. <BR> One thing though, if its raining,( and it does alot on that side) you might want to wait..depending on how much rain, alot of the falls will be brown gushers..

If you and your husband are "scenery" people, then you will probably enjoy it. Your kids probably will not. Make sure that if you do go that there hasn't been a drought, like a year or two ago, because then the waterfalls will have no water, and the greenery won't be green. There are some places that you can turn around at, that shouldn't be a problem. Just as a warning- sometimes the water in the water falls is contaminated by wild pig "droppings" making for a health hazard. When we went we enjoyed stopping at a little town along the way at a seaside chapel and going the rest of the way to Hana. We ate at the Hotel there for lunch. Forget going to the seven "sacred" pools- they're more like dirty holes than anything else. On the way back we were not very interested, matter of fact we were deep in conversation and I didn't realize that everyone in front of me was pulling off the road as soon as we approached them until someone pulled off and honked at me. I realized I was riding everyone's bumper doing about 50 to 60 mph on a very winding and sometimes narrow road. I'm just use to big city driving ...anyway, sorry folks! As a one time thing its ok, if you only go half way and turn around, don't feel to bad about it.