How long is the drive from Hana toward the Piilani Hwy?

[worldsbestcandles]

Ok, so would it be best to just drive out towards Hana and see how far we get (assuming we don't do sunrise at the rater) stopping wherever and for however long we like and then just turn back and figure it won't take so long to get back since we're not stopping as much? And we can just stop wherever we want to? Is that how most people do it? From the books I am reading they make it sound fairly regular that people drive all the way around in a day.

[rjscott]

WBC, the best way to drive the Road to Hana is to pick up the CD or tape guide in Kahului. I believe the Shell station has these. It will advise you of points of interest coming up, and at what mile marker and you can decide if it is of interest to you or not. I find this better than trying to follow a guidebook, as you don't want to miss the scenery along the way(what you might want to do is to check out the scenic points along the Road in a guidebook to give you an idea of which stops you want to make). We did the Road in one day, leaving early in the AM and picking up a lunch in Paia. We stopped for a few waterfalls (short hikes) and stopped for lunch at a state park with a black sand beach. We didn't stop in Hana itself, but went on to Oheo Gulch and Lindbergh's grave. We then drove on around the south side, made a brief stop at Tedeschi Winery and met up with friends in Lahaina at 6:30PM. There were quite a few stops we didn't make, but we'll make up for those this fall when we visit Maui for a week. :)

 

Becki

[spleen93]

WBC - yes, very doable in a day assuming that you devote a day to it. I highly recommend the Maui Revealed book's guide to the Road - I found it excellent when I did the Road myself. I'm pretty sure that I didn't miss anything by not having the CD/tape but to each their own. We had a great day hiking to various waterfalls, splashing in mountain pools, enjoying some great scenery.

 

Spleen

[beachguy]

(Beachchick here)

 

WBC: If you don't do the Haleakala sunrise and just plan the day around Hana, you could easily do the entire road (even around the far side if wanted to) as long as you are up and on the road as early as possible. Maui Revealed is an excellent source for this information. The whole series is good. (Just be sure you respect private property and such; locals have justifiably complained that the books sometimes have tourists tromping through private property to get somewhere or destroying a sensitive area with over use).

 

If you devote the whole day to Hana, you should have no problem doing the road and back or around. Just be aware that whomever drives will be exhausted. There's just no getting around that; it's a hard drive. Plus the driver will not get to truly enjoy the scenery unless you stop several times (which is something you should do, IMO, or it's not worth the time and energy--I don't mean every stop listed as that would be too many). If you want to do other things, you could do the road partway and back in the morning. It's really lovely. What you won't be able to do is the whole road, with stops, combined with anything else that day.

 

Enjoy

 

beachchick

 

ps to Spleen: True, but I loathe oysters!

[worldsbestcandles]

I have the Maui revealed book and am loving it. We would probably be aiming to hit Kahului around daybreak assuming the drive between Lahaina and Kahului isn't too bad and can be done in dawn-type lighting. There are a number of places we want to stop based on the book, but probably won't too much hiking too far off the stops (even though I'm 26, I have had reconstuctive surgury on my knee and don't want to risk slipping somewhere too far from the road...). Thanks for all the help...

 

As for the whole provate property thing... I have seen warnings on this board and have read some in the book. The book makes it sound as if there really isn't that much that is truely private property, the people just put signs up because they don't want you there (or there's the whole business of that company owning the land, etc...). Should we just assume that anywhere there is a sign we shouldn't cross? I don't want to tresspass at all. If that is the case, then I will plan on not stopping anywhere the book says "so when you get to this sing, just ignore it".

 

Anyone who has done this and can attest to what is reality vs. what's in the book would be great.

 

WBC

[spleen93]

I don't recall violating any signs that said "Private Land" or "Private Property" and we had a great time so I think it's possible to be ethically compliant and still see a lot. :)

 

Spleen