Road to Hanna TOUR
 

Has anyone taken the bus or coach tour to Hana.....or any other tours on Maui? Would you reccomend the TOUR? We know we don't want to drive....but we hear its an absolutely beautiful once in a life time place, so we would like to see it, if wiht the construction its not unbearable. if you have recently done the TOUR, please respond. Thanks!

When you read the long thread, you read about people with motion-sickness that needed to stop the drive toward Hana because of discomfort. I'd rather be in my own car in such a situation then on a bus or a van with no choice but to continue on for the full trip.

Your hubby should be fine driving. There isn't anything scary or hard about the drive. It's just a long trip, lots of curves and lots of tourists. Get a guidebook, read a lot and choose where you would like to stop along the way and enjoy your long day to and from Hana.

I agree with the poster on one of your other threads tonight. With only 5 days in Maui, I would save the Hana trip for another visit and plan an overnight in Hana. With 5 days in Maui, I wouldn't spend 2 of them getting to and from Hana.

The construction will not make the drive "unbearable".

Thanks, the point about motion sickness is a good one. This is actually our second trip to Maui. Last time all we did was the Beac, a helicopter trip and Laahina (sp) the Whaling town. We loved it!!! This time we want to see some more of the island.

Then, by all means, go to Hana this trip. Spend at least one night there and most of the negatives (regarding the drive) will not be relevant. It's a very long trip to come and go in the same day. You'll enjoy it MUCH more if you spend two days. Hana itself is wonderful and an overnight there gives you yet again a different perspective of Maui.

Drive your own car so you have flexibility.

I would highly recommend taking a tour. I returned from Maui on May 17th and our Road to Hana tour was the tour of a lifetime. We learned so much from our guide: Lynn Stone. She normally drives for Ekahi Tours, but also subs for Valley Isle Excursions when needed.

I think the advantages of a tour are: you don't have to pay attention to the road since someone else is driving allowing you (and whoever you are with) to take in all the sites, the person driving will most likely be accustomed to driving the road and will be able to provide an informative narrative along the way, and you'll most liekly meet some very nice people to share your adventure with.

Here's a link to my recent trip report and pictures:

http://www.myronman.com/annahead.html

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

We did a van tour with Ekahi http://www.ekahi.com/ that way we could both enjoy it without driving as it was our first trip to Maui then:)

They did a good job, in fact the tour went all the way around the back of Mt Haleakala. Quite a long day but worth it.

We used Temptation Tours for a combo that started with a helicopter tour that took us around the island and then to Hana for a delicious lunch. Then we traveled by van - a very nice one with only five passengers - back up the Road to Hana, stopping at all of the better known sites - a flower farm, swimming in a waterfall-fed pool, etc. It was fun, but an exhausting day even without us driving!

Sandi,

I was there in April and took the Hana tour with Valley Isle Excursions. You can get it for about $85 per person. They picked us up and dropped us off at our hotel in Kaanapali.

We started about 7:00 a.m. and returned to the hotel about 4:00 p.m. It was great to have someone else drive. We stopped too many times to count. Waterfalls were flowing beautifully. It was a wonderful day. The tour was upcountry as well. Simply beautiful.

We went on a Sunday. Not much traffic. Did not meet a crowd until we got to Seven Pools. They were flowing so much that day, you could not get in the water. We stopped in Hana for a BBQ lunch. It was included in the price of the tour.

Highly encourage it.