Road to Hana tour?
 

My husband and I are going to Hawaii for the first time. We would like to do the Road to Hana but were told we should not drive it ourselves (and that rental car companies don't usually allow it anyway). Does anyone have recommendations for a small group tour? Is this something we should arrange ahead of time? We will be staying in Wailea. Where do the tours usually begin? Thanks.

We drove ourselves so that we could stop and explore and take pics whenever we wanted instead of sticking to an organized tour schedule and from what I seem to recall, most of the traffic on Road to Hana was people driving themselves in their rental cars. The souvenir shops even sell tapes/cds that narrate the tour while your driving. Friends of mine went on a van tour that included lunch and was $100 bucks a person, they said it was nice but wished they had driven themselves instead. I guess the plus with the tour is that everyone gets to concentrate on the scenery since no one has to drive.

I agree with ggrtist. We also drove ourselves and it was nice being able to stop at certain points and spend as much time as we wanted. Definitely get the tape/cd that narrates the tour. We would have missed out on a lot of good stops.

We did a tour with Valley Isle Excursions. DH decided upfront that he didn't want to drive the road and would like a tour. He was very glad he made the decision as he was able to enjoy the scenary and not have to worry about driving. Hotel pick-up in a comfort cruiser. All seats are captain chairs, big windows and only room enough for 12 people. We had 10 on our tour. The driver was very knowledgeable and personable. First stop was for a continental breakfast. Then off to Hana. We stopped at a variety of places to look and take pictures including the Black Sand Beach, the Seven Sacred Pools, Charles Lindbergh's grave site and the Tedeschi Winery. We stopped in Hana for an included bar-b-cue lunch. It was very good. Anytime we wanted to stop for a photo op, we just told the driver and he stopped. We went all the way around. Took about 10 hours.

KVR,

Thanks for the info on Valley Isle. It is just what I was looking for. I will have a car, but will be traveling alone and do not want to drive to Hana and sightsee at the same time. Do they pretty much pick up from any hotel? Meaning in Lahaina, Kaanapali, or Wailea?

Thanks.

We stayed at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel and they picked us up right at the front entrance. Here is their link for more and booking:

http://www.mauibound.com/activities/1/4/475.php

We took several pics. If your interested our pic page is:

http://community.weshots.com/user/kvrlvn

KVR -

You have a typo in your link (you left the "b" out of "webshots").

Here's the correct link folks:

http://community.webshots.com/user/kvrlvn

Thanks for sharing the photos.

Ken

Thanks for all the information. KVR, your pictures are nice - thanks for sharing.

The first time we did the Road to Hana, we used Temptation Tours. We stopped at a botanical garden & all the ladies were given a stalk of flowering ginger, we had beverages all the way there, had a wonderful lunch in Hana. We've since driven the Road to Hana twice on our own & realized everything we missed on that first tour! It really isn't a difficult drive - take along "Maui Revealed" & your common sense, some food & beverages, and you're in for a wonderful day!

We drove ourselves last May and was nice to go at our on pace. We drove around the whole way instead of turning around like most do. I really believe doing the tour on your on is the way to go.

I haven't checked with our rental company (Dollar) but thought I read somewhere (maybe here) that rental car companies don't allow you to take the cars on the Road to Hana. Is this true?

Cerlaurie:
It certainly not true. Zillions drive it every day. There is an urban legend that you are barred from taking them beyond Hana. However, the road beyond is fine in good weather. If you have doubts, ask your rental company.

Sorry about the link. Thanks for fixing it. I'm trying to get used to a new keyboard. I really don't like it.

We had a rental car for our stay on Maui and the fine print indicated that if any damaged occurs driving the Road to Hana to the vechile, they will not pay for the the repairs. It will be the renter's responsibility. With that said, many people drive the road anyway and don't substain damage, therefore, it doesn't apply. If all depends on how comfortable you are driving.

Reply to <font color="blue">Cerlaurie</font>,
The last time we drove around beyond the town of Hana (e.g. beyond 7 sacred pools), portions of the road were unpaved.

Suggest checking with your rental car company if your rental car will be covered by insurance, or is permitted to be operated on unpaved roads, if this concerns you. :S-

Cerlaurie, we just returned from Maui and drove the road to Hana ourselves, and stayed 2 nights in Hana. Loved it. Better to drive yourself because you are basically going to a beautiful drive out in the country and you literally want to have time to get your feet wet, to walk out to a little pool with a waterfall, take off your shoes, swim a bit, sit in the sun and dry off, leave whenever you feel like it...and if you spend the night you can head out the next morning before all the tour buses arrive and discover your own private beach like we did!!!

You have to take the drive slow because it's a country lane, narrow in spots, meandering around curves. All the tourists drive slow and careful and some of the locals drive too fast but they know all the curves.

Have you ever driven on mountain roads that wind around curves? Or have you ever driven on coastal highways that go along the cliffs, like in northern california? If so, then you are already well prepared for the road to hana.

We didn't have much traffic as we planned it that way. When we headed for hana we planned on driving the road to hana in the late morning after the crowds had already passed through. This plan worked great. You can only do it this way if you are spending the night in Hana. then the next morning you get an early start and in this case you're ahead of the crowds.

Cerlaurie, I forgot to mention that you will need to bring along a good guidebook for the road to Hana so that you'll know where you want to stop. The stops for waterfalls, pools, beaaches, etc. aren't well-marked so you will need the guide. We used Maui Revealed which was mostly pretty good though I wished we'd brought along a second book as well, wish we'd had fodors as well. Sometimes Maui Revealed didn't always give exact directions on how to find something. You can't get lost as there's only one main road, though you might miss a turn-off for a waterfall or something.