The road to Hana (pronounced Hona according to Marty) was probably my favorite day. It was a very full but beautiful day. We saw waterfalls, sea, mountains beaches and all in low 80-degree weather with a nice breeze.
We downloaded a guide on my phone before we went. It was called Shakaguide. I would highly recommend it. It was triggered by GPS, so it told us where to go, what things to see on the way, and gave us some background on many of the places. At times it was a little corny, but it was entertaining. Without it, we would have missed a lot of things.
The first stop we made was at twin falls. It cost $10 to park and was a short little hike to see a couple of pretty little falls. For me, it was worth the stop.
The next stop we made was at the Garden of Eden. It cost $20 per person to get in. It wasn’t as landscaped as I would have thought but was mainly trails made through the existing foliage. It had some very beautiful views and was somewhat informative, but I think the entrance was a little high for the experience.
We also stopped at a small cave. It was interesting and 3 of us went into it. The opening was small but got bigger as we went in. We would not have known about it except for our Shakaguide.
The guide took us a little off the highway to a lava rock-lined shore with waves crashing in. This was one of Martha’s favorite areas. We ate our picnic lunch there while listening to the ocean. We also bought some banana bread near there and enjoyed a loaf of it with our lunch. It was quite good.
We didn’t get to stop at the state park near Hana. You have to make reservations at least a day ahead of time to get into the park because they have so many visitors. It’s supposed to be very pretty.
All along the way were photo ops and great views of the shore, waterfalls, and different vegetation than we are used to. It was very cool. We finally got to Hana and felt like we stepped back into the ’50s. Our son and his wife walked along the beach in Hana. They said it was their favorite beach in Maui. Once you get to Hana, you can drive back on the same route, which is a well-paved but slow highway, or you can take the backside that has some sketchy roads but is also beautiful but different from the front.
The guide I purchased had guides for both ways, so we opted to go the back way. We wanted to stop by some pools that are supposed to be pretty, but the park was closing by the time we got there. After the first 10 miles or so, the view reminded me of Ireland. Less rain falls on this side, so it was more grassland, rocks, and scrubby trees on this side.
There were high rocky cliffs we drove along, some of them a little scary, and beautiful sunset views. One thing I noticed about Maui is that the sun must be brighter there. When the sun starts setting and you are driving into it, you can barely see where you are going.
The last memorable stop we made before dark was at a historic church out in the middle of nowhere. It was well kept and had awesome sunset views. Soon the sun set and we took another hour and a half to get back to our condo.
When you take the road to Hana, I would recommend taking the back road back. If you try to do it in one day, you won’t be able to see everything. I think if you could stay the night in Hana and make it a two-day trip, you could see almost everything and not feel rushed. Overall, it was a great day for us.
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