chris

For anyone who has driven the road to Hana past the Oheo Gulch in the last six months: How many miles of this road is paved, and how many miles is gravel? What is the condition of the paved road (alot of bumps)? Is the gravel road graded? If you rent a jeep, do the rental agencies cover it if something happens, and will they come get you if necessary?

Thanks,
Chris

Holls

We were there in May of 1999 and went all the way around (past Hana and all the way back to the Four Seasons. It was great! We rented a jeep and had no problems. (and I am a bit of a worry-wort so I would have been P-Oed at my hubby if it had been bad) I don't really recall any gravel roads - although there might have been. We MARVELED at the NEW bridges and NEW roads that existed on the road PAST Hana. We decided that it was all a big SCAM to keep tourists from taking that route. We laughed at the Tour buses that kept flying past us at 60m/p/h. We figured that they wanted to keep the road open for their own use (to make more $$$)!! Have a great time! Also have a burger and onion rings at the Maui Onion at the Renaissance! yum!

scigirl

We drove this road in November, 2000. For about 12 miles or so past Oheo Gultch the road is pretty scary - paved (old) and/or gravel with tight twists and turns. It really isn't much worse than the road to Hana. After that stretch the road was newly paved and wonderful. I don't know of any rental car company that will cover you for this stretch of road. Additionally, if you do get stuck there really isn't any way to call for help - no pay phones and out of range for cellular service. There is other traffic, so you would have to depend on someone stopping and helping you out if you did get stuck for some reason. Because of this you would not want to be on the road after dark.

The warnings about the road really relate to wash-outs that can occur with heavy rains. A few months before our visit the road had been washed out in some flooding. There are signs posted at Oheo Gultch to advise of current road conditions. Just check that and be sure of good weather before proceeding. My recollection is that it took us about 3 hours past Oheo Gultch to get to the Tedichi Winery.

We drove the road in a rental Dodge Status and had no problems. I actually would have preferred a smaller car or jeep due to the tight twists and turns. Its a beautiful drive - I'd recommend doing it if weather and time permits.

I hope this helps. Enjoy your trip.

tmn

My husband and I went past the Gulch all the way back to The Hyatt - it is one of our fondest memories of Mauii - we had a jeep which was great, and we made alot of stops on the way home - we have more pics taken along this stretch than we do of the RTH. We went on the RTH very early, so we had alot of time to explore - I believe when we rented the jeep (alamo) we had to sign a waiver that said we would NOT drive past the gulch, oh well.....Oh Yeah, when you get to Hana you can buy something to eat and drink and take with you - we spent hours going home

Dick

The road past Hana has some incredible scenery. I suggest you ask the rangers at Oheo Gulch the condition of the road beyond. They are able to give current info on any problems.

PS.
While in Hawaii we stopped at a grower and arranged to send flowers to us....coordinated to arrive just after we got home. The day after we got home..our flowers arrived...felt like we were still on vacation.