elainmir Posted July 11 #1 Share Posted July 11 While reading threads in the Hawaii forum last night I came across a post that said the person waited 1.5 hours at a bridge for workers to work and eventually let them pass. I know many of us may be driving ourselves on this tour and I certainly don't want to miss the ship- so upon researching I found this: https://hidot.hawaii.gov/highways/roadwork/maui/ Highways | Maui Lane Closures (hawaii.gov) Hope it helps someone else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BermudaBound2014 Posted July 11 #2 Share Posted July 11 (edited) Good resources. I would add that's it's always best to check road conditions on the exact day you are traveling and in other areas on Maui too (and any island really). The Honoapiilani Hwy (Pali) is often closed (or backed up) and is the only way from the west side of the island to Kahalui where the ship is docked. I highly recommend people on one day cruise ship stops do not cross the Pali. Traffic before the fires was terrible and it's significantly worse now with debris removal. Any fatality along that hwy will close it for many hours and even a fender bender can put you couple hours behind schedule. And just today, the only road to Haleakala is closed due to a fire. There are currently approximately 300 cars stranded at the top of the mountain and last reports some had already been there 4 hours or more. They are working to let people off the mountain in caravans of 10 vehicles at a time, but it's going to take hours and the fire is still growing. The good news is that as long as Maui isn't the last stop on your Hawaii tour you can always hop on a puddle jumper and reunite with the ship on another island, but traffic on Maui is no joke and it's complicated because there maybe only one road available to get where you are going. Hana is not one way, it's a loop. You can typically just turn around and drive back to Kahalui the way you came. Locals actually prefer you do this. It's the backside of RtH that is often closed. Also, be sure to check rental car insurance agreements. As they are void on certain areas of the island. Edited July 11 by BermudaBound2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elainmir Posted July 11 Author #3 Share Posted July 11 oh goodness I had no idea the rental car insurance agreements excluded areas...do you know what areas are typically excluded? we won't be there until October which is not the high season but I don't know if that'll make much of a difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCwom Posted July 11 #4 Share Posted July 11 2 hours ago, elainmir said: While reading threads in the Hawaii forum last night I came across a post that said the person waited 1.5 hours at a bridge for workers to work and eventually let them pass. I know many of us may be driving ourselves on this tour and I certainly don't want to miss the ship- so upon researching I found this: https://hidot.hawaii.gov/highways/roadwork/maui/ Highways | Maui Lane Closures (hawaii.gov) Hope it helps someone else We were on the POA with a 2 day stop, we did the road to Hana on day one because of the open ended return time. If you stop a lot it will take a long time, we were chasing darkness on the way back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BermudaBound2014 Posted July 11 #5 Share Posted July 11 Typically 2 hours ago, elainmir said: oh goodness I had no idea the rental car insurance agreements excluded areas...do you know what areas are typically excluded? we won't be there until October which is not the high season but I don't know if that'll make much of a difference Typically the backside of road to Hana and for sure stay far away from the top yellow arrow (Kahekili hwy). Far away. Also remember you need reservations (well in advance) for the black sand beach on road to Hana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elainmir Posted July 12 Author #6 Share Posted July 12 Do you know how we make reservations for the black sand beach? oh goodness I had no idea the rental car insurance agreements excluded areas...do you know what areas are typically excluded? we won't be there until October which is not the high season but I don't know if that'll make much of a difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCwom Posted July 12 #7 Share Posted July 12 1 hour ago, elainmir said: Do you know how we make reservations for the black sand beach? https://gostateparks.hawaii.gov/waianapanapa We didn't make a reservation, but if you do, you need to plan on getting there at your appointed time, given the many potential stops on the road to Hana we couldn't really figure out when we would have arrived, so rather trying to keep to a timeline, we decided to forgo the black sand. As it turned out we took the whole day getting to the Pools of Ohe'o and back before dark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princeton123211 Posted July 13 #8 Share Posted July 13 20 hours ago, elainmir said: oh goodness I had no idea the rental car insurance agreements excluded areas...do you know what areas are typically excluded? we won't be there until October which is not the high season but I don't know if that'll make much of a difference There is a stretch of road beyond Kipahulu/Ohe'o pools that some rental companies traditionally have excluded. There is a good part of that stretch that has washed out and has been closed for months so there is a very good possibility that this wont make any difference. But when it is open it is possible to drive the entire way around that part of the island and it is quite a beautiful drive to do. I asked Avis for clarification on it years ago and the deal is that driving on those roads doesn't actually void your insurance (as a lot of people claim) which makes sense because most people use their own insurance for the rental and you are driving on a maintained state road. What happens is the rental companies will not provide you roadside services on that stretch of road which means if something does go wrong you are 100% responsible for getting the car out of there which can be very time consuming and very expensive. You would also be responsible for things like a blown tire. That being said we've done the road all the way around many, many times in many rentals and have never had an issue. There are multiple tour companies that will take you all the way around in a mini bus. There is a stretch of road on the North side of the island beyond Kapalua that is absolutely unsafe for a rental car and you should not under any circumstances attempt it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elainmir Posted July 13 Author #9 Share Posted July 13 I appreciate the link for reservations as well as all the information..this is why I love CC , everyone tries to be super helpful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeepCalmBearOn Posted July 14 #10 Share Posted July 14 I didn't read the links, but as a general rule, I'd never risk driving the road to Hana on my own on a port day unless it is an overnight in Kahului. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mort&fran Posted August 19 #11 Share Posted August 19 [If someone who has visited Maui more recently has updates, please correct my post as needed.] The ROAD TO Hana is magnificent! It’s been a couple decades since we traveled it, but we did it twice; we made more stops than I could count; each time it took the whole day. Hana itself was not worth the drive but, as I said, we did it twice because the scenery along the route was that impressive. (Watch the clock; you don’t want to be left behind.) And do pay particular attention to the map on post #5. The two arrows point to the areas where the rental contracts placed100% of the responsibility for EVERYTHING on the renter. Going past Hana as far as Venus Pool was OK; however, north of Kahului (past Waihe’e Beach?) was unbelievably hazardous and terrifying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCwom Posted August 19 #12 Share Posted August 19 2 hours ago, mort&fran said: [If someone who has visited Maui more recently has updates, please correct my post as needed.] The ROAD TO Hana is magnificent! It’s been a couple decades since we traveled it, Yeah, the road is 20 years older! I don't think there have been any improvements since then🥴 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princeton123211 Posted August 20 #13 Share Posted August 20 15 hours ago, mort&fran said: Going past Hana as far as Venus Pool was OK; however, north of Kahului (past Waihe’e Beach?) was unbelievably hazardous and terrifying! These are two different roads. Going all the way around the Hana Road is generally fine for most folks-- there are some dirt sections (which have been closed due to a wash out) but overall its not treacherous driving. Mini busses that are part of tour groups go all the way around normally so you are fine in your Jeep or Mustang. The other road that you are referencing is truly dangerous-- Kahekili Highway. Never take a car on it. Rent a moped or scooter if you have to see it and even then not very safe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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