Are we making a big mistake by NOT doing the sunrise bike ride down Hakeakala? We love bike riding, but there are several things about this adventure that turn me off. 1) Getting up at 3 or 4am 2) The long drive up the mountain before dawn (do they make "pit stops"?) 3) Bringing warm clothes to Hawaii, or freezing to death at the summit! I don't want to miss a life enriching experience, so your opinions will be appreciated. Thanks!

We didn't do it either. I figured my luck I'd wreck the bike and ruin my trip!
You forgot to mention that a lot of times when you get up there it is foggy and you don't see the sunrise.

Consider a helicopter tour of the island. The one we took went down inside the crater and it was awesome.

We did the bike ride and loved it! If you do it one of the first mornings you are in Hawaii (i.e. make reservations b/f you go), it won't be a problem getting up early. If you are on east coast time, 3am is really 9am; so do it before your body clock adjusts. The ride up the mountain is not long, maybe only 45 mins, and there are not pit stops on the way but there are bathrooms at the top. A lot of the companies provide you with a warm jacket, a rain jacket & pants (in case there are rain cloudes you bike through on the way down) and gloves. You stay warm enough, and make stops on the way down to remove some of the layers as it gets warm. So, you don't need to bring anything with you on your trip.

I would definitely do the bike ride. The sunrise is beautiful, and you get wonderful views of the island on the way down the mt. There's nothing like it.

Have a wonderful trip!

We got up at 3 in the morning, took blankets given to us by the hotel for the purpose of staying warm, drove up Haleakala and absolutely loved the sunrise and the views on the way down. We stopped along the way to snap pictures, etc. There were six of us and we were able to save $600 by driving up and driving down in our rental car. We saw a lot of people bailing out on the way down. It didn't look like a leisurely ride to me. The bikers were following the van. Don't miss Haleakala at sunrise, just don't waste your money biking.

DON"T DO IT!!! THe worst money I ever spent. It is a volcano and can get down to 30 degrees with a 20 mile perhour wind at the top before sunrise. You are given a breakfast cold coffee from a thermos or juice. you then WAIT. They pick you up at your hotel at olike 2 am, you drive and pickup others who will take the tour then go to a very small wearhouse to watch a safety video. VERY MUCH A TOURIST TRAP. We load with a bunch of bikes from the 1970's and go to the top. Not good if you get motion sickness. While you ait outside in the dark for the sun to rise you FREEZE. Then the sun comes up and if it is overcast, like the day I was there, you see nothing. Then the ride down (it's still 6am!) you ride down very steep s shaped curves to the bottom. The worst part was the fact that we only stoppped once to take pictures. My advice rent a car and drive at your leasure to the top and enjoy the view to the bottom on your time.

When I was there my fiance and I rented a car and drove to the top to see the sunrise. It was probably the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen. It was VERY cold up there, but we brought blankets and wore lots of layers. On our drive down we stopped to take pictures and then used our rental car to drive along the coast. We had a magnificent day. (We only had one day there because we were on a cruise.) My fiance has also done the bike ride down and loved every minute of that as well. I chose not to do that tour because I can be kind of a klutz and I didn't want to ruin my vacation by breaking something! But it is a must to go to the top of Haleakala for sunrise. Whether in a car or on a bike it is worth the trip!

Well, I can see there is a big difference in opinions here! Since we will have already been in Hawaii for 5-1/2 days by the time we get to Maui, doing it the first day won't work for us. I think we'll skip it and do a helicopter tour instead. Thanks for your input everyone!

Have done it once, will never do it again. But what a wonderful idea just to drive up with borrowed blankets to see the sunrise! A helocopter ride is fantastic, even better on the Big Island where the volcano can be seen.

My husband and I are traveling to Maui for our 10th anniversary Sept. '02. After reading four travel books, yes, four, the latest,Maui Revealed, mentioned the possibility of accidents riding down on bikes. We both ride bikes, but are by no means expert mountain riders. We were planning one day to either Hana or do the Sunrise on Haleakala. Any opinions as to what would be the better excursion will help tremendously. We are staying at the Kea Lani (6 days) and really hope to relax most of the time, however, we did want to go to Lahania, and the other excursion will be the Road to Hana or the mountain trip. HELP. Thanks.

Hi Lenore,
Don't miss the bike ride - it's great!
But, I recommend what we did, the ride without the sunrise! We used a self-guided company, I think we only had to be there (in Haiku) by 9 AM, were up the mountain and had toured the park by 10:30 (bathrooms available!), and had the rest of the day to get back down, at about half the cost of a guided tour.
I've argued guided vs. self-guided on this forum before, but my wife and I are no kids, and are only occasional riders, but felt no more peril than we do riding on rural PA secondary roads - give it a try!

Thanks Bill (and everyone else!) We are thinking about DRIVING up ourselves to watch sunrise. That way we won't have to get up so darn early. We also looked into something similar to your suggestion about going later and at our own pace. I think that will be the best of both worlds. Thanks again!

I loved the bike trip. It isn't like mountain biking, it is all on the road. It sounds like some people may have went with a lesser bike tour provider. We went with Maui Downhill and had a great time. It was such an exhilarating feeling. When else in your life can you do something like this? For the person needing to choose between Hana and the bike tour...that is a tough one. No where else on Maui is as lush as the road to Hana. That was the only section of Maui that was what I expected Hawaii to be. If you are also going to Kauai, skip it though. I was much more terrified driving on those narrow, hairpin, blind curves than I was doing the bike tour.

Why would anyone want to immediately ride DOWN the Volcano after you spent so much effort to drive up to the top? The energy you spend biking down (braking all the way down) would be better spent on a hike up top. Hike down into the crater. Spend a few hours to hike to the first cindercone. If you are in reasonably good shape, have good shoes and carry water and a snack it isn't any more difficult than the bike ride. Hakeakala is an amazing place....not like any other place on earth. Not because of the sunrise views but because it was once an active volcano. Get up at a reasonable hour and spend some time exploring the top...it's truly amazing! Regarding road to Hana...to each their own but I didn't think it was worth the drive because there are similar , easier drives on other parts of Maui. For example go to the Iao valley and do the drive north of Kaanapali. Just as nice scenery for a fraction of the effort!

Driving your car is a perfectly wonderful way to see Haleakala. The road is none too wide, it seems to me that bikers must pay very close attention to maneuvering the bike, without opportunities to see the magnificent scenery. I see little gained by biking.