Day 2 in Maui - Road to Hana

The Road to Hana takes you through what I and most people imagine to be that Hawaiian paradise - Lush scenery with the ocean taking the boundary on one end, and on the opposite, beautiful waterfall after beautiful waterfall.

It's a LONG drive.

It took us about 5 1/2 hours to get from Mile Marker 0 to Mile Marker 35. Keep in mind, and you'll see in some of the pictures, that it's a very windy road. But the drive was well worth it.

So if you're interested, this is a long blog, but the pictures should take you through what we saw on The Road to Hana...

The early parts of the trip were mostly green, green, and more green, and then you start to get a little more of the ocean in the background.

It's a two lane highway for maybe more than half of the way, but the other half, you have to wait for other cars coming in the opposite direction since there's literally only room for one car, especially on and around these bridges.

Here's the first waterfall we encountered, Haipua'ena Falls (after Mile Marker 11). It was a smaller one, and required a muddy path along the way. We both wore flip flops, and for the most part, it's no problem, but you're definitely gonna get dirty, and on some stops later in the trip, could have helped having shoes (more on that later).


This is a view of Ke'anae Peninsula (Mile Marker 13). On the middle right of the picture, you can see the path of the highway, and on the bottom right, is a black sand beach, and the next stop.

Our first black sand beach, Honomanu Bay (Mile Marker 14). In the background, you can see the road we just traveled, and where the previous picture was taken. This beach was completely empty.

Another view of the zig zag highway that we've just passed. If you're not driving, better bring some Bonine or Dramamine.

Next stop was the Wailua Valley State Wayside (Mile Marker 19). In the first picture, you can see some taro fields. On the other side is the Ko'olau Gap. 

We didn't get to stop at Waikani Falls, aka Three Bears Falls (Mile Marker 19), but did get a quick shot of it from the road.

Narrow bridges along the way, a common sight. 

Next was a Pua'a Ka'a State Park (Mile Marker 22) which had a sequence of waterfalls and pools, one of which had people jumping into from the top of the rock (though the sign says not to), so if you're into that sort of thing, I guess this works. Each of these pictures is a different part of the falls.

At Mile Marker 24 is Hanawi Falls.

29 miles in, and 3 hours later, we took a break for some fish tacos at Island Style Tacos. Pretty good, and a good snack to split before lunch. And yes, those are wild chickens.

Right before Hana is Wai'anapanapa Park (Mile Marker 32), a black sand beach. Probably one of my favorite stops along the way, a great looking place. 

It's hard to find, but a little after Mile Marker 35, on the left side in front of a house, is Braddah Hutt's BBQ Grill. This place is awesome! The chicken bbq was hands down the best Hawaiian bbq I've had.

This food stop basically wrapped up the Road to Hana, about. But the day isn't over, because you can go either of two ways. You can go back home the way you came, or you can keep going on the highway through Kipahulu, or Southeast Maui. You're probably wondering, "wait, what about Hana?" Well, the Road to Hana is really moreso about the trip to Hana than the place itself. There's a couple places to stay in Hana, and apparently it's really nice, but we didn't do that. Up to this point, roads are well paved and any rental car would do.

On the Road to Hana, you see things along the way, and you're in awe, and then at the end of the trip, you're so tired you're not sure how much you enjoyed it. But really, looking back, it was amazing. 

Up Next: Day 2 in Maui continued - Southeast Maui past Hana (Kipahulu)