For Day 1, click here.
Driving the "Road to Hana" is on just about every single bucket list for Maui. Hana lies on the far eastern end of the island, and can only be accessed on land by traveling a narrow, winding road along the shore, typically the north shore through scenic rain forests with lots of waterfalls and pools of water.
Not my map, but pretty much exactly the drive we took over the course of Day 5 and Day 6 (Source)
Even though the actual distance to Hana is only about 50 miles along this road, it takes a good 2 1/2 hours to drive it, even without stopping to admire the many beautiful sights along the road. But as they say, the journey IS the destination, and this is especially true for the drive to Hana.
Because I had read that there was so much to explore both along the drive, as well as on that side of the island, I had planned for us to spend two days on this part of the vacation - one day to drive to Hana along the north shore, then spend the night there, and drive back the second day along the southern shore route.
My husband woke up at 4 a.m. that day, but I got to "sleep in" until 5 a.m. We packed an ice chest and some things we would need for the trip, and left the house before 6 a.m. We stopped to get cash and fill the gas tank before leaving civilization.
There are several audio CDs for sale that give a narration of worthwhile sights and stops along the drive. After looking into the various versions, I wanted to buy one particular one that seemingly everyone online was recommending. We tried to find it at three or four stores and gas stations without success, passing up other popular audio guides in search of this "special gem", until I finally gave up and downloaded their mp3 version that did not include the map. This guide turned out to be really cheesy and lame, something that offered my husband ample opportunities to needle me along the drive, after going to such pains trying to find it, and not settling for anything else. Maybe the other audio guides are even worse? Who knows.
People really live here! It was in the middle of nowhere.
We held off making our first stop, knowing that we could always come back to the early parts of the drive at a later day of our vacation, giving us more time to focus on the parts that we would only be able to visit this once.
At mile 9.5 we stopped at the Waikamoi nature trail, where we hiked through the beautiful rain forest for about 45 minutes. There was some sort of bamboo-like plant there that smelled like ginger root - very strange.
Our next stop came around mile 17, on the Ke'anae peninsula, where we bought a kalua pork sandwich and some seriously great banana bread at a roadside stand.
The actually baked the banana bread in small batches in this regular oven.
We also drove to the shore here, where the waves were crashing in quite forcefully. Before we left for Hawaii, I was thinking that maybe it would be nice to go with the kids some day. When we actually got there, I was SO THANKFUL that it was just the two of us. Not only did it mean we actually got to take a break, but I would have died a thousand deaths watching the kids explore all the treacherous spots we visited. As it was, I kept worrying about what I would tell my mother-in-law if my husband were to get hurt doing his usual antics.
One of the most photographed waterfalls on the island, the "three bears", came up at mile 19.5. My husband climbed all the way down to the pool and went for a swim, but it was too steep and treacherous for me to attempt.
We made one more stop at a waterfall along the way, before arriving at the Black Sand Beach in Hana. This beach is as famous as it is popular. Most of the tour buses going to Hana stop here for lunch, before turning around and going back to the inhabited western part of the island. Accordingly, this beach was a little overrun, and I did not very much enjoy it. The black sand is not actually sand, but tiny lava rock, which was uncomfortable to walk on. I did not go into the water here because the surf was high and the shore was rocky, but my husband enjoyed swimming for a while I watched and relaxed.
After that, we hiked down to a cave at that beach, which had a pool of water at the bottom. The water was very cold, but my husband jumped into it a couple of times anyway.
It was about 1 p.m. at this time, so we left and started working our way toward the little guest house we had rented for the night. Along the way, we stopped at the farm stand of an organic farm, where we bought some fresh fruit, as well as a little sample of organic, Maui-grown coffee for my mother-in-law. There was also a food truck in that parking lot, which the lady at the farm stand recommended, so we bought our lunch here. I had the grilled mahi with a white sauce with capers in it, over rice, plus the obligatory macaroni sald. Delicious! It might have been the best meal I had the whole time we were on vacation, and that's saying a lot because they were all awesome.
We checked into the guest house around 2 p.m. It was right on the shore, and the landlord told us about a really cool bay just across the street, within walking distance, that offered some really awesome cliffs for jumping off off. After getting settled, we took a walk and spent a couple of hours over there.
It was not possible to get into the water here without jumping off a cliff, which I was obviously not going to do being pregnant and all (and even if I hadn't been...). There were tons of coconut palms all around, and some of the coconuts had fallen into the water, so I asked my husband to fish one out for me so I could peel/husk/shell (?) it. Not having any tools or the know-how of natives, it took me a good hour to get the coconut out of its shell, and then crack it open on a sharp rock. My husband enjoyed the fresh coconut water.
After going back to the guest house, we headed into Hana again to go swimming and boogie boarding at Hamoa Beach. This turned out to be one of my favorite beaches on the entire island. One side of the bay had a very gentle slope of perfectly soft salt-and-pepper colored sand. I felt safe going far out without having to worry about stepping on an urchin because the water was crystal clear. The other half of the bay offered great waves for boogie boarding.
While in town, we stopped in at the only store, which was a cool experience in itself as they literally sold everything from groceries to hardware supplies. Other than that store, there is pretty much only a one gas station and one restaurant in the entire town, plus a tiny post office. By this time, however, the town was going to sleep and everything was closing.
We took a drive around the "harbor", and then headed back to the house for a dinner of salami sandwiches we had packed, and some of the fresh fruit we had bought along the way. We ate these while listening to the sermons that had been preached at our church the previous day in our absence.
We checked into the guest house around 2 p.m. It was right on the shore, and the landlord told us about a really cool bay just across the street, within walking distance, that offered some really awesome cliffs for jumping off off. After getting settled, we took a walk and spent a couple of hours over there.
That's a coconut floating in the water next to him, not the head of a less fortunate cliff jumper.
It was not possible to get into the water here without jumping off a cliff, which I was obviously not going to do being pregnant and all (and even if I hadn't been...). There were tons of coconut palms all around, and some of the coconuts had fallen into the water, so I asked my husband to fish one out for me so I could peel/husk/shell (?) it. Not having any tools or the know-how of natives, it took me a good hour to get the coconut out of its shell, and then crack it open on a sharp rock. My husband enjoyed the fresh coconut water.
After going back to the guest house, we headed into Hana again to go swimming and boogie boarding at Hamoa Beach. This turned out to be one of my favorite beaches on the entire island. One side of the bay had a very gentle slope of perfectly soft salt-and-pepper colored sand. I felt safe going far out without having to worry about stepping on an urchin because the water was crystal clear. The other half of the bay offered great waves for boogie boarding.
While in town, we stopped in at the only store, which was a cool experience in itself as they literally sold everything from groceries to hardware supplies. Other than that store, there is pretty much only a one gas station and one restaurant in the entire town, plus a tiny post office. By this time, however, the town was going to sleep and everything was closing.
We took a drive around the "harbor", and then headed back to the house for a dinner of salami sandwiches we had packed, and some of the fresh fruit we had bought along the way. We ate these while listening to the sermons that had been preached at our church the previous day in our absence.
Our plan for the next day was to sleep in (for the first time ever on this trip), and then work our way back to the other side of the island again along the southern route.