Road to Hana Partially Closed
 

I was just browsing the website of "Driving and Discovering Maui & Molokai" at www.discoveringhawaii.com and came across some interesting information about the Road to Hana. <BR> <BR>It says from April, 1999 to March, 2000 that the Road to Hana will be closed at the 14 mile marker each weekday from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and then from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. But it will be open on weekends. <BR> <BR>Does anyone disagree with this information?

Sandi, it's true. We were in Maui in February and we were told about the planned closing. Seams the surf is eroding the road away in some places and major work is planned. An alternative is the drive around the north west side of the island. Kapalua to Kahalui. It's about an hour and a half and very pretty. Hana is very nice except for the driver. If there are delays, it would be a very long day and a half. <BR>Bart <BR>

When you say "at mile marker 14", do you mean that the whole road is closed during these hours from this mile marker on; or, do you mean just the area AROUND mile marker 14 is closed?

Mark, the road will be closed to any and all thru traffic. Not a detour or inconvenience. Locals are talking about driving around the south coast during the construction. The sites along the Kahalui to Hana road are the reason for the trip and there are no alternate routes to get around the closed section. <BR>

My husband & I will be on Maui in September. We planned on taking the drive to Hana-on a Sunday. Are you saying it will be open then? <BR>

We just did road to Hana over easter week. <BR>No problem. Left around 8:15 am and returned from Hana at noontime. We saw construction and one lane driving but we went through without a hitch. <BR> <BR>I would contact AAA or perhaps when you arrive at your hotel.. ask at he desk. They all know these things. <BR> <BR>By the way...according to a local..go ahead and do the route around the south east part of the island. Go slow and you will have no problem on the unpaved part. You are CRAZY to go to Hana and return the same way. Tedious, tiring... carsickness. This guy who said this lives on island and sends all of his relatives and friends the way that "the rental agencies" don't want you to do. <BR> <BR>La Perouse Bay at south end is spectacular. <BR> <BR>He said everyone does this despite your contract with rental co. <BR> <BR>I suppose if you broke down..... <BR>but when was the last time your rental car broke down? <BR> <BR>

Just did Hana last week and took an interesting approach (which might have saved us from the construction, but I did not see any). We drove there using the southern route. Even though the rental companies don't cover you, the road can easily be driven in dry weather. We did it this way because we wanted to do the hike through the bamboo forest to the 400' waterfall and we were concerned that we might stop too often going the other way to make this feasible. On the way home, we in fact stopped very little because it was hard to imagine anything better than the hike. We passed the mile 14 spot well after 4:30.

Hi! I was just in Maui last week and we did the road to Hana and continued around the south side of the island. What a shame that more people don't do this. We rented a tape for the road to Hana and the man said not to miss the southern side. We also checked with the rangers at Oheo Gulch and they said the road was open to all traffic. I did get a little nervous driving around some of those narrow hairpin curves, but the horn comes in handy, and it was worth it. It took about 1 1/2 hours from Oheo Gulch to get back to the airport (can't get the name of the town straight) as opposed to approximately 3 hours to get to Oheo Gulch. I would try to plan my drive around the construction time because it is something that you shouldn't miss. Another thing, we got a late start, and didn't have any traffic -- most everyone was on thier way back in the afternoon.

<BR>My husband and I did the Road to Hana in 1997. I totally loved the drive---but I do like shady, curvey roadways. There is a lot to enjoy along that route, can't imagine anyone getting bored. Seems, tho, they'd have picked a better time slot for their consturction work. <BR> <BR>We missed our turn into the Bamboo Forest area (not to be missed) and the Seven Pools and got to "meet" some of the totally BLIND SPOT <BR>and extrememly narrow "hairpin"-on-cliffs-around-boulder/mountain turns. Definitely believe the signs that say -- "horn area"----very scarey not knowing what is around the corners. If more people start using that southern route---there are sure to be some seriously, deadly accidents . . . Be very careful.... <BR> Enjoy the beauty----it is awesome!!!!