road to hana
 

we are going to maui in December. my husband and i will definitely want to take the trip to hana. do we drive it ourselves or go on a "tour" bus? i would prefer we drive it ourselves but i've read that it's best to have someone else drive so we can sit back and enjoy. we're not really the "touristy" type and this sounds very touristy. Also, we are staying at the royal lahaina. is it clean? we don't need fancy - i don't plan on spending that much time at the holtel - want to get out and enjoy what maui has to offer! any advise, tips appreciated.

thanks,
vickey

Both ways have their advantages, if you drive yourself then of course you set the schedule & stopping points. A van tour leaves you free to look around but you don't control the stops. We've done it both ways, first time was with Ekahi tours (ekahi.com I think), they make a day of it by going all the way around the "back", it was a good day out. The other time I drove it as we knew where we wanted to go etc.
Have fun

When I took this trip my boyfriend and I drove ourselves. I didn't even know there was a tour bus! Driving left the time we wanted to take up to ourselves and we stopped at the local Wal-Mart, I think it was Wal-Mart or it was something just like it, and got a tour on tape. It was a really nice touch to have the narration.

The only thing about driving is that the road is very twisty and very narrow. The going was fine, but the coming back was exhausting. One other thing, this is a really popular thing to do so I would set out as early as possible.

Have fun!

I drove it myself and was pleased that I had. On the other hand, my parents found the trip exhausting and regretted not taking the van tour. I think it really depends how you feel about driving around long, twisty roads.

did this with my sister and her fiance driving. i enjoyed the first few hours then got tired of being in the car and wanted to go back and sit on a beach in the sun. it was rainy and being from seattle i get enough of that here. but it was a lovely drive. my sis had a great guide book called oh no can't remember. i'll find out and post it. but it had places listed by mile markers to pull over and see. a lot is simply visible from the road but this book had us out and hiking /walking a bit to see waterfalls. it was nice to get out and strech legs and be in places where there were no other tourists snapping photos. personally i'd drive for the freedom to skip some stops and see things the buses didn't stop for. the tape from the gas station was fun and cheesy but this book was super informative. i'll post it as soon as i hear back from my sis :) oh! and drive the south route. the road is unpaved only a tiny bit. we took rental sedan and were fine. the differnce in terrain is quite striking. and the road way less twisty, not all the hairpin turns. have fun!

Two Words: Car Sickness :-0

The road to Hana, with it's six hundred (?) curves, *nearly* caused a problem for me. I've never even came close to car sickness in the past. Perhaps I was going to fast, and perhaps a professional driver would do a better job, but it was very nice to be able to say "time to stop" and not cause delays for a van-load of tourist.

Either way you go, I think you'll have a great time.

Mike Honeycutt

Hubby drove - and I thought it was much more fun that way...we stopped when we saw something pretty (i.e. waterfalls) and also he had driven with his uncle before so he knew about these "off-roads" where you could find your own private black sand beach! We also had a audio-guide - it was a freebie for booking something else - and it was a nice addition. If you do it yourself - you can buy this or get this from a tourist info stand....It's definitely doable on your own.

If you decide to drive yourself pick up a "Road to Hana" CD or cassette which are widely available on Maui (e.g. Walmart/Kmart) and or plan ahead now using excellent guidebook "Maui Revealed" available at Borders or Barnes&Noble, here is link:http://www.wizardpub.com/maui/maui.html

We did the Road to Hana last month and the best parts were near the end at Wailua Falls and the Seven Sacred Pools. I hope that Nov. and Dec. bring more ((R))rain((R)) to replenish the waterfalls along the beginning of Hana, because it was pretty dry this past October. The Venus Pool was also worth checking out and location is described in Maui Revealed. Enjoy your Trip! :S-