South Road to Hana/ North Road Back
 

My husband and I are staying in Wailea in October and my thought was to drive to Hana via the south shore and then take the North shore back and eat at Mama's Fish House around 8pm. (How long does it actually take to drive this route?) Keep in mind my husband and I will probably want to stop a lot to take pictures. Is this doable with regards to time? Your comments are appreciated!! Thanks.

In February, my wife & I actually had the same itinerary....leaving from Wailea for the the Road to Hana with an 8 o'clock at Mama's to make for dinner.

We left before 7 A.M., but did the "normal" clockwise route around. We finished up the Seven Sacred Pools at around 6:30, reversed our field, and drove back the way we came (figured it would be faster that way than continuing on), making our 8 o'clock (actually got there at 8:20 but they held our table).

So, obviously it's more than doable in the time allotted, but keep in mind that I would have liked another 2 hours or so to do the rest of the trip around. Also, we stopped "everywhere", did some little hikes, and lingered a lot at various places.

The Road to Hana is as long or as short (to some degree) as you make it.

So do you think that the 2 hour reverse trip that you made would be the amount of time it takes to do the south road in the morning? We are renting a convertable but everyone seems to say that you can drive the south road in any car.. . just don't know if it will take longer because of it.

hi-
on the maps and at the rental car company they make it really clear that you are not allowed to drive the unpaved portion of the road. if this is what you mean by the south road beyond hana, then i think you should double check with your rental car agency.

Hey LDK,

You first have to get to the beginning of "south road" which takes 45 minutes or so from Wailea.

Mileage-wise, the Seven Sacred Pools is about the midpoint in the "circle" starting and ending at Paia where Mama's is. But because of the road conditions it probably takes a bit longer getting there going clock-wise (past Hana) than counter-clockwise (the backside of Haleakala) and hence the reason why my wife and I turned around as we had our eye on the clock to get back by 8.

Thank you for your feedback Doug!!

The road just past Hana becomes bad enough that I was convinced if they said "don't do it, and if you do you won't be insured", I would take them at their word. That's just me--really not keen on what I consider to be a hair raising drives and this became one. I was very glad to turn back.

Our son and d-i-l did the entire drive this spring and although they left Kaanapali early, they ran out of daylight and he admitted to being concerned (rare for him), saying it wasn't something he'd do again. They made a lot of stops along the way, and didn't get back to the hotel until almost 10 PM. Glad I didn't know about it as it was happening!

Just my $.02....

We went the "regular" route along the road to Hana and then continued on the south/western route. The rental car companies say it is forbidden due to bad road conditions, but the reality is that they don't want to service your car if it breaks down out there. The best partof our Maui vacation was the road beyond Hana along the southwestern route. It was absolutely breathtaking watching the sun set into the ocean and seeing numerous rainbows, etc. Once in a lifetime...don't follow the rules, LIVE your life and take the road less traveled!!! (btw we did NOT have 4 wheel drive and didn't need it. I live in Vermont and the road was wonderful compared to our dirt roads)

I agree with taking the south road, any way you can--it's absolutely breathtaking! The enormous Pacific on one side (with two peaks of the Big Island popping in when we were there in July) and the incredible otherworldly beauty of Haleakala on the other...then as you start rounding back north through central Maui, you'll see the entire Wailea/Kihei area, and every neighbor island, our jaws were on the floor!

The road is rough, it's just gravel for maybe ten miles or so, but it's not unpassable, we just had a rented Subaru Outback and it was fine, you just have to slow down.

Yes, take the road less traveled!

love
roxy