Maui Road to Hana Tips
Driving the Road to Hana in Maui has been on my bucket list for some time. The moment my trip to Hawaii was booked, I knew I wanted to make this happen. Throughout my 2-week trip to Hawaii, 3 of those nights were spent in Maui. Since Oahu Island was “go, go, go” wanted to spend my time wisely on Maui. Hoping for the perfect blend of adventure and relaxation, Maui Island did not disappoint. There’s many beaches that will allow you to be a beach bum (Kaanapali and Wailea were my faves). Room for adventure too… Paia Town, the Road to Hana, and Upcountry area. Today, I’m going to specifically give my Top Road to Hana tips.
Buy the CD
If you plan to drive the Road to Hana yourself (without the help of an organized tour), you’ll find the CD very helpful. Keep in mind there is no good cell service on this road, so the CD is a lifesaver. I purchased it on Amazon for about $10, but if you’d like to purchase it directly from the source, here is the link to R2H. The CD comes with a map with organized stops along the way. Very helpful so you can see which stops are ahead and which stops may be worth a skip.
Rent a Jeep
You’ll need a powerful car to get you up the windy curves. The Jeep was a lot of fun to drive too! Is it the only thing to rent for this? No, however it looked like some cars struggled while driving the windy curves. If you are skiddish, I’d highly recommend a big SUV to get the job done. The only disadvantage was there there was no aux cord for the car… only a cigarette lighter. We just purchased an adapter for about $5.00 at Safeway in Lahaina.
Fill Up the Tank
Make sure your gas tank is properly filled before you begin your route. Gas stations on Hana Highway are few and far between on this 55 mile stretch of road. There’s plenty of gas stations near Paia Town to peruse. These gas stations also hand you a map of Hana as well when you get gas there. Super handy! Of course, I recommend using the map from R2H but the more maps the better.
Travel Tip: The gas here is PRICEY, so it took us about $27.00 to fill up the Jeep 1/4 tank.
Pre-Bought Snacks are NOT Necessary
Maybe years ago, when this road wasn’t as commercialized, it would be imperative to buy snacks and food ahead of time. I can assure you there were PLENTY of stops along the way for food. At the halfway mark, you can purchase some delicious shave ice. There’s Aunt Sandy’s offering their famous banana bread (yum!) and some savory snacks like chili dogs and pork bbq sandwich. There’s also little stands set up in the Garden of Eden plus unofficial stands on the side of the road. Needless to say, you will not go hungry!
I of course had to try the banana bread. It was a nice big, warm loaf for just $6.25. Craving something savory I went for their chili dog with a bag of chips I purchased from the gas station before driving the Road to Hana.
Additionally, check out my Top 20 Favorite Things to Eat in Hawaii.
Don’t Worry About Wi-Fi
Continuing my Road to Hana tips… don’t worry about the lack of Wi-Fi you’ll have. You may as well just set your phone to airplane mode. Just take in the sights and really enjoy it all. With the curvy and windy roads, trust me you will want to pay close attention to the road anyway and won’t want to be bothered with your phone being reachable. There’s SO much natural beauty on this road. Between beautiful bamboo trees, waterfalls, and birds, there’s SO many beautiful sights to take in.
Focus on the scenery and just relax. As someone who is incredibly Type A and always glued to their phone I actually enjoyed being “unplugged” for this day.
Bring Cash
There may be vendors who accept card, but we did encounter a few cash only vendors so just a heads up. To enter the Garden of Eden Arboretum, we paid $18 for the both of us. I’m not sure if that was the per car price of the per person (x2) price.
This was a unique stop along the way (and the only one we cared to pay money for). There are wild birds around like peacocks and red crested cardinal. There’s 26 acres of trail to explore here. You can check out their photos and list of activities HERE.
Obey the Signs / Let Locals Pass
It’s always wise (and legal) to obey signs. There are some areas of the road where two lanes turn into one lane and you must yield for cars. Cars in the opposite direction aren’t always in visible line sight, so it was stressful having to back up and let them pass. Especially on the windy/curvy roads (as shown in my pic below!) You’re only driving about 10-25 mph on this road, so DRIVE SLOW! If there’s a car behind you that is speeding up, they are likely a local. Be sure to let the locals pass!
There are plenty of scenic overlook points that have paved out a mini parking lot so just park there. No need to hold up traffic in order to stop and take a photo. Driving downhill can cause you to pick up speed… so you’ll want to watch that.
Wear Comfy Clothes
All I brought with me was my one piece swimsuit, cover dress, and sandals. I also brought tennis shoes in case were were doing any major hiking (which we didn’t end up doing). Just dress as comfy as possible. It rained almost the entire time we were on the Road to Hana so keep that in mind. Don’t worry about getting your hair wet (trust me, I usually have this issue), and just go with the flow.
Know When Enough is Enough
Not everyone finishes the Road to Hana and that’s OKAY! Only you know when enough is enough. It is an all day affair (if you stop a lot), and if you get tired or restless it may be best to head back. For those who don’t finish the entire Road to Hana, they usually turn back at the Halfway point. The fact that you made it that far is celebration enough!
There’s so much to see and do, some travelers even find it worthwhile to sleep over night in Hana. So only you and your traveling companion(s) can determine what’s the right amount of time. My fiance and I decided to travel the entire road in a day. But trust me… it was very trying! I remember reading others’ blog posts saying that this would test your relationship like no other. Where is the lie?!
Not to be dramatic, but this can make or break your relationship/friendship. But if you both make it through with no hard feelings… you know it’s a relationship/friendship destined to last.
Bring Your Camera
Don’t forget to snap tons of photos! Everywhere you go is pretty much a photo opp. So don’t forget your camera or camera phone. Snap away! So many beautiful waterfalls, palm trees, lush greenery.
It’s the Journey… Not the Destination
Remember that it’s the journey… not the destination. The town of Hana itself is fairly small. I saw a few schools, 1 hospital. The journey driving on the Road to Hana is the main attraction. So don’t have high expectations for Hana Town (like I did).
Celebrate Reaching Hana!
If you make it to Hana Town, and remember it’s OK if you don’t…, you need to celebrate your achievement! Enjoy the ride back to Paia Town. Or… if you’re feel EXTRA adventurous continue on to the “And Beyond” portion that lies right after Hana Town. I’d actually love to hear anyone’s adventures who have made it past Hana Town. Feel free to write a comment below talking about your experience.
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4 COMMENTS
Honestly, we didn’t love our “road to Hana“ experience, and not because of the white knuckled drive it was getting there, but because of the people we encountered. They had zero Aloha spirit and it was clear they hate tourists. From the gas station lady at Hana Gas who was rude and condescending over a simple question (not to mention overpriced gas) but getting gas in middle of nowhere comes with a price and was expected. Horrible customer service was not. Then we had some local meth head in a truck scream at us as we moved over as far as possible without scraping our car against some rocks to let him pass-boy, that was fun! On top of that, other drivers don’t always follow the “yield to oncoming traffic” signs as you begin to cross the one lane bridges and then you need to reverse back up the winding road because of course they won’t. Then you have the militant and unfriendly employees working the red curtain entrances at both the national park and black sand beach. It took us almost 3 to 4 hours to get past Hana town to the national park entrance and that part of the drive was even rougher and scarier. We arrived at 4:33pm and they refused to let us in. They close at 5pm but won’t let you in after 430pm even if, like us, you’re only a few minutes past 430. Despite telling them we just drove 3-4 straight hours without stopping (not even for a bathroom break) to get there they wouldn’t even let us take a picture in front of the building to document that we “made it” even if not inside the park. It would have taken thirty seconds but nope-heartless people. who could not care less. So we wasted our time and gas money driving that extra 20 treacherous miles round trip for no reason. Thanks national park employees! So then we thought, well at least we can see the black sand beach for sunset on our way back-WRONG! We had no idea that you needed a reservation to visit a beach as we thought all beaches were public, and again, despite arriving at 530 (they close at 6pm) and the parking lot being virtually empty, the two women working the red curtain entrance gate took pleasure in denying us entry since we didn’t have advanced reservations. Again, explaining our story fell on deaf ears. They couldn’t care less if you had said you walked to Hana on one leg. They were actually smirking while telling us we couldn’t enter. There’s rules and then there’s being human and having a heart which they clearly lacked. And we couldn’t make a reservation on the spot if we wanted because there’s no internet there in order to do it online, AND per these really super friendly employees, they were “sold out” for the day even though pretty much everyone had gone home and the park closed in half hour. Wouldn’t even let one of us pay the entrance just to go onto the beach for five mins just to see the black sand. What’s worse is how they were laughing as we were turning around to leave. Of course as we were leaving some locals showed up without a reservation and got in no problem-if you’re a local, you can get in without paying or having a reservation. So basically we drove to Hana for nothing. Yes, it’s a beautiful yet stressful/scary drive but our encounters with the people here left a bad taste in our mouths, so for us it wasn’t worth it and wasted a full day of our trip while also leaving a negative memory of our time in the island of Maui because of these local people who ironically work for the state. It’s pretty obvious that many locals in Hana don’t like tourists and certainly don’t appreciate what tourism brings to the economy as a whole, so while the drive may be pretty the people we encountered were ugly. If you don’t have much time in Maui we would recommend other day trips rather than going to Hana. Mahalo!!
Hi!
Apologies or the delay in my response. Thank you so much for sharing your experience about the Road to Hana. I’m sorry to hear about the folks you encountered. For us the only unfriendly experiences we had was the locals driving, but we just chalked that up to us driving very slow along the windy roads and them being far more experienced to drive faster. We actually missed the black sand beach (and possibly a red sand beach that I found out about later??) but that’s so unfortunate they didn’t let tourists in. That would’ve definitely left a bad taste in my mouth as well, especially after making the drive there. I’m not sure what the experience is like staying in Hana. We turned around right when we reached there. I imagine it’s very peaceful to stay there though. There’s definitely more adventures that await in Maui if anyone is short on time. Completely agree.
Aside from this your info is helpful and wish we would have seen it first! Definitely requires advanced planning to go to Hana so you don’t have our experience. It’s not a day trip you can just do last minute unless you only plan to drive there and back.
Hey,
Glad you found my blog post helpful (albeit too late). I’m grateful for the blog posts I read before heading out there so thought I’d continue the info sharing. The Road to Hana is definitely not a last minute thing, completely agree. You have to wake up early and go in with the mindset that you’ll be gone for the entire day and will be completely wiped out when you return to your hotel/BNB. I don’t recommend making any dinner reservations or booking anything else that day. Just see where the night takes you. May want to order food in and chill!