travel : road to hana, maui

road to hana, maui | madeline made i have been sharing about our trip to maui, hawaii this week, i shared about paia town already and today - the road to hana! before we left paia, we downloaded an app called gypsy guide, that came highly recommended to us. i wish this app existed for every city; it is a gps guided tour that tells you when to stop and prioritizes sites for you while driving. the road to hana is a famously treacherous, 42 mile drive along the northeastern coast with 600 hairpin turns. have i sold you? this drive took us about six hours because we took our time and stopped every chance we could. this is truly about the journey, not the destination.

we stopped first at the ho'okipa lookout to see the windsurfers and surfers. the next stop was the rainbow eucalyptus trees off the road in a grove - their bark looks like watercolor. love at first sight. next was the garden of eden arboretum, a small nature preserve with peacocks and local flora where parts of jurassic park were filmed. next was the black sand beach at waianapanapa state park; there are beautiful sea caves and you can go for a swim at the beach. there are many waterfalls (upper waikani, wailua) along the way, we stopped in at a few and swam in the icy water. we drove along the keanae peninsula and stopped at a stand for warm banana bread and shaved ice.

along the route, we stopped at the nakihu mile marker for the most amazing fish tacos and famous 'coconut candy.' the last stop was in our little town in hana at hamoa beach where we would stay for a few days. the beach at hamoa is beautiful (one of maui's best) and there are a few restaurants for dinner if you plan to head back. we saved the south coast for the drive back to wailea.

road to hana, maui | madeline made

{the first stop - ho'okipa lookout and windsurfers}

road to hana, maui | madeline made

{our jeep for the week}

road to hana, maui | madeline made

{rainbow eucalyptus grove - my favorite stop of the whole trip}

road to hana, maui | madeline made

{rainbow eucalyptus grove}

road to hana, maui | madeline made

{rainbow eucalyptus grove}

road to hana, maui | madeline made

{winding roads and lookouts on road to hana}

road to hana, maui | madeline made

{'garden of eden' arboretum black rock from jurassic park}

road to hana, maui | madeline made

{banana bread on keanae peninsula}

road to hana, maui | madeline made

{waianapanapa state park - black sand beach}

road to hana, maui | madeline made

{waianapanapa state park - black sand beach}

road to hana, maui | madeline made

{perfect black sand beach at waianapanapa state park}

road to hana, maui | madeline made

{sea caves at waianapanapa state park}

tips:

  • download guide before you leave when you have wifi
  • take snacks and water with you, not stops till later in the drive
  • plan for this to take a full day (early morning) if going there and back (or stay in hana)
  • rent your own car if you can so you can stop at your own pace (and fill up your tank)
  • convertibles and jeeps are most fun for this drive, be prepared to close to top for passing showers
  • bring hiking shoes, towels, and swimming clothes!
  • leave enough time to return and don't drive back in the dark (we rented a place and stayed a few days)

road to hana, maui | madeline made

{white plumeria everywhere in hawaii}

road to hana, maui | madeline made

{last stop at hamoa beach in hana town, pastoral, and beautiful}

xoxo

madeline