Road to Hana, but not all the way

[smrtypnts]

For those of you that have done the RTH all the way beyond Hana to the Sacred Pools(ish) area--how do you think you would have felt if you had maybe only gone to Hana, or possibly not even that far? As much as I want to do that, I want to go to the Old Lahaina Luau more. So I need enough time to come back and drive to Lahaina. Also, If I wanted to be back to the beginning of the Road at let's say--3:30...what time would you turn around? Obviously, that would depend on how far to Hana you were, so for argument's sake, let's say you made it to Hana. Let's also assume that no cars have run off the road causing a complete stop of traffic, but let's assume there's a decent amount of stop and go traffic of people looking at the sites and waiting their turn to pull over.

[GypRasc]

Although I haven't done this myself yet but plan to next March, from a previous post I was told it would take approx. 2.5 hrs to return from Hana. Like you, we are also planning on doing the Old Lahaina Luau and will do this in the evening after our drive to Hana. I also had read that some folks believe just 1/2 the ride to Hana is necessary as after a couple hours its just a lot of driving and seeing basically the same scenery. I'm going to plan to do the RTH until we're tired of it, then return and go to Lahaina. If we get to Lahaina early that's ok because I've also read that there's quite a bit of sightseeing to do there that we can fill in the empty time before the luau.

[vbmom87]

Hawaii on a cruise is all about choices. We went all the way around the RTH with a tour, leaving shortly after 8:00 a.m. and returning to the ship betwen 5:30 and 5:45. I, too, wanted to go to the OLL, but I had to make that sacrifice. If you don't want to stop much on the road, I am sure you can make it. I say that because I did read of another poster who drove the RTH and went to the OLL all in the same day. I am just not sure if they turned around or did the loop. I decided to go with the advice of some of the "experts" on this forum and just didn't push it. I have no regrets. We thoroughly enjoyed the RTH tour. Frankly, I think we would have been too exhausted to truly enjoy the OLL.

[smrtypnts]

Hawaii on a cruise is all about choices. We went all the way around the RTH with a tour, leaving shortly after 8:00 a.m. and returning to the ship betwen 5:30 and 5:45. I, too, wanted to go to the OLL, but I had to make that sacrifice. If you don't want to stop much on the road, I am sure you can make it. I say that because I did read of another poster who drove the RTH and went to the OLL all in the same day. I am just not sure if they turned around or did the loop. I decided to go with the advice of some of the "experts" on this forum and just didn't push it. I have no regrets. We thoroughly enjoyed the RTH tour. Frankly, I think we would have been too exhausted to truly enjoy the OLL.

 

There's no doubt I'll be pushing "Maui" to the limit!! The 2nd morning I plan to be off the ship at 3:30 for the sunrise on Haleakala. But I will catch up on the missed sleep, etc. in the afternoon as it'll be a beach day at that point. I know it's about choices, etc. I asked hubbypnts if he would prefer RTH or Iao Park and then off to Lahaina, but he said he'd prefer RTH, soooo.....now I'm scrambling trying to figure it out.;):rolleyes:

[Raison]

Although I haven't done this myself yet but plan to next March, from a previous post I was told it would take approx. 2.5 hrs to return from Hana. Like you, we are also planning on doing the Old Lahaina Luau and will do this in the evening after our drive to Hana. I also had read that some folks believe just 1/2 the ride to Hana is necessary as after a couple hours its just a lot of driving and seeing basically the same scenery. I'm going to plan to do the RTH until we're tired of it, then return and go to Lahaina. If we get to Lahaina early that's ok because I've also read that there's quite a bit of sightseeing to do there that we can fill in the empty time before the luau.

 

Hi GypRasc, I notice we will be on the same sailing in March. Have you been over to the roll call yet? There are a few of us chatting away there. Come on over and meet us!

[riofriotex]

...If I wanted to be back to the beginning of the Road at let's say--3:30...what time would you turn around? Obviously, that would depend on how far to Hana you were, so for argument's sake, let's say you made it to Hana. Let's also assume that no cars have run off the road causing a complete stop of traffic, but let's assume there's a decent amount of stop and go traffic of people looking at the sites and waiting their turn to pull over.

 

We turned around at Hana around 2:15 PM. We were back in Kahalui by 4:30 PM. We pulled over about 4-5 times on the way back to take some quick photos (things we missed on the way to Hana because of the heavy rain that day), but no long stops.

[Giantfan13]

For those of you that have done the RTH all the way beyond Hana to the Sacred Pools(ish) area--how do you think you would have felt if you had maybe only gone to Hana, or possibly not even that far? As much as I want to do that, I want to go to the Old Lahaina Luau more. So I need enough time to come back and drive to Lahaina. Also, If I wanted to be back to the beginning of the Road at let's say--3:30...what time would you turn around? Obviously, that would depend on how far to Hana you were, so for argument's sake, let's say you made it to Hana. Let's also assume that no cars have run off the road causing a complete stop of traffic, but let's assume there's a decent amount of stop and go traffic of people looking at the sites and waiting their turn to pull over.

 

You ask a very tough question. In that it all would depend on how you 'attack' the RTH. If you just want to drive it, make a few quick stops to take a few pix, then you will have no trouble making it back in time. Many, like myself, wanted to be a bit more adventurous and stopped very often to look at waterfalls, do a couple of hikes and just stop and enjoy the beauty of the area. To be honest, we never made it all the way to Hana. My DW was feeling a bit car sick ( not a isolated thing, from reading here), and we stopped at

Wai’anapanapa State Park. We found this place so magnificent, we ended up spending about 2 hours here, then decided to turn around and go back.

Several people said that you should drive all the way to Hana first, no stops and then do your stopping on the way back, so if you see you are running late, you can just move along more quickly.

However you decide to do it, it is a wonderful experience.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[riofriotex]

You ask a very tough question. In that it all would depend on how you 'attack' the RTH. If you just want to drive it, make a few quick stops to take a few pix, then you will have no trouble making it back in time. Many, like myself, wanted to be a bit more adventurous and stopped very often to look at waterfalls, do a couple of hikes and just stop and enjoy the beauty of the area. To be honest, we never made it all the way to Hana. My DW was feeling a bit car sick ( not a isolated thing, from reading here), and we stopped at Wai’anapanapa State Park. We found this place so magnificent, we ended up spending about 2 hours here, then decided to turn around and go back.

 

Agree with Len. Our group was older with less mobility so we did not do any hiking. My mom in particular really wanted to get all the way to Hana - she actually wanted to go all the way to Lindbergh's grave, and we probably would have had time to do so (we needed to be at church in Kahalui at 6 PM), but my husband was not feeling well so we turned back at Hana.

 

We spent the most time at Wai'anapanapa (ate our lunches there; might have stayed longer but it started to pour) and also the Ke'anae Peninsula (great banana bread stand, and awesome coast and surf).

[cleobella]

Hi,

Does the RTH end up at the Haleakala Crater or is this an entirely different trip? I was thinking it would take us about 2.5 hours to get to the Crater via Hana and then another couple of hours back to the port? Does this sound feasible?

[salty dingo]

It is a different trip. The two places are not too far apart as the crow flies, but they are not on the way to one another. Here is a map:

 

[saffy22]

Well Smtypnts,

I will look forward to your report. I would like to do the same in Maui. We are booked for Old Laihana Luau, want to do RTH. However hubby has said a flat No to Halekala sunrise. Maybe a trip up a little later on Day 2.

 

Have a great cruise,

Cheers

Saffy

[vbmom87]

Well Smtypnts,

I will look forward to your report. I would like to do the same in Maui. We are booked for Old Laihana Luau, want to do RTH. However hubby has said a flat No to Halekala sunrise. Maybe a trip up a little later on Day 2.

 

Have a great cruise,

Cheers

Saffy

 

 

My group did not want to do the sunrise trip either. We drove up to Haleakala on Day 2 and it was a wonderful trip. I suggest you do try to get a fairly early start as it has been reported many times on this forum that as the day goes on it starts to cloud up. We were very fortunate to have a beautiful morning for driving up and viewing the crater. There were a very few clouds when we got to the top. The ranger did say that there are pretty much always a few clouds around the top.