Road to Hana - How Long?

[Crablegs77]

I have seen several different post to how long the road to Hana will take.

 

The actual drive would be how long if you made no stops?

 

Also, is there another road to get back to the pier or do you have to back track over the same road.

 

Thank you

 

Traveling the POA on September 25th to celebrate my BIG 50.

[sceptic]

Hi. There are a ton of recent threads that discuss this. I'll be happy to do a brief summary.

 

Time of drive to Hana without stopping: Depends entirely on the time of day you start. If you started from around kahului at, say, 7:30 AM and did not stop, you could probably make it to Hana in about two hours (assuming you're comfortable with narrow twisty roads.) It's almost exactly 50 miles and not all of it is twisty - so two hours is probably the fastest you could drive it.

 

If you started around 10:00 AM it would be closer to 3.5 hours. Again, without stopping.

 

The problem is that if you do stop along the way, even if you leave extra-early, you're going to slow down enough that you'll join the late-starters. I say - give up. Don't ever, ever try and rush to Hana. You'll probably enjoy the drive more if you start as early as possible simply because - at least for the early part of the drive - you're not battling traffic as much nor looking for elusive parking spaces as some of the more interesting stops (expect that every other driver will want to stop exactly where you do). Other than that, roll down the windows and take it easy.

 

And I must ask - why on earth would you want to drive it without stopping?:) This is a road where the journey is better than the destination. Hana's fine and all. But lordy, what you see along the road...

 

Yes, there is another road back. You continue on to O'heo gulch, then around the south side of the island on a road that is, um, rather challenging for some folks. I'd suggest perusing the recent threads on the Hana road and then decide if you're up for it (and whether your car rental company thinks highly of this practice or not). There are some good folks herein who say, "Not on your life." There are others who say, "It's a blast."

[breeding]

The actual drive would be how long if you made no stops?

 

No stops would be impossible! You have to stop and wait at the one lane bridges for on coming traffic. Once we had to wait a few minutes because there were 3 cars coming and 4 in front of us.

[beachguy]

(This is beachchick)

 

IMO, it's not worth the time and effort to just blast to Hana and back (or blast to Hana and then try to blast around the circle--really can't be done on either road). The point is all the beautiful scenery along the way. Hana's a fine stop and all, but not if you have to zoom in and zoom back to the ship. Also, whomever drives will get no enjoyment out of the scenery and will be exhausted after the drive--unless you make several stops (the options are numerous) and even then the driver will still be tired after the drive.

 

Please don't go just to say you've been there (not assuming, but that's kind of what it sounds like). It's really an all day (or at least most of a day) kind of thing. There are many other options that will let you see beautiful parts of Maui.

 

I don't want to discourage you from taking this drive if you are absolutely set on it. I just don't think it's worth it unless you want to really take in the whole drive.

 

beachchick

[rjscott]

Have to agree with the other posters, the point of the Road to Hana is not getting to Hana, it is the beautiful scenery along the way. Most of the people who have made the drive w/o stopping wonder what all the fuss is about this drive and say they'd never do it again. We left our condo in Kahana about 7:30AM, stopped in Kahalui to pick up the tape guide to the Road drive, picked up a picnic lunch and were on our way. We stopped at several spots recommended (but by no means all the stops), and had our lunch at a state park outside Hana. We continued on to Oheo Gulch and Lindbergh's grave and on around the southern route back. With a brief stop at Tedeschi Winery, we got into Lahaina to meet friends for dinner at 6:30PM.

[Crablegs77]

If we go, yes we defiantly plan on stopping along the way. The reason for the question was if it’s 3 ½ to Hana and 3 ½ hours return. That’s 7 hours of driving and than add 2 to 3 hours of stop time. That makes a 9 to 10 hour trip. My Husband drives for a living and would just assume not drive on his vacation. I don’t think I can ask him to spend 7 hours driving.

Thank you for all your very helpful answers. Sorry my questions confused everyone. No I would never do Hana straight through.