Beautiful drive in Maui

[furluvcats]

I am looking for your thoughts on past experiences on driving yourself in Maui...can anyone reccomend a beautiful drive? Ship is in port from 730am til 5...

[marysb]

Probably, the obvious answer for a beautiful drive in Maui would be the Road to Hana -this is if you are up for the drive on the twisting, turning, narrow road. There are plenty of reviews of the road to Hana -just do a search of this conference.

 

Another wonderful day would be to drive to the Iao Valley Park (beautiful, tropical and lush), then over to the west coast up to Lahaina. Here, on the way, you will get views of the 2 volcanos and drive along the ocean. It is common to see whales or dolphins on this drive. In Lahaina, have lunch in one of the restaurants on the water, have a look at the Banyan tree at the harbour, and stroll the streets shopping or looking at the historic buildings.

Then, if you have time, go up to Kaanapali Beach for swimming, snorkeling (at Black Rock at the north end of the beach, or a lovely beach walk(there is a beautiful walking path from hotel to hotel just along the water). -Whaler's Village has parking and will validate parking if you buy something.

Enjoy!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

The Iao Valley drive is exactly what we had planned for our first day in Maui! You make it sound even better than what I had envisioned. Can't wait!:D

[furluvcats]

Probably, the obvious answer for a beautiful drive in Maui would be the Road to Hana -this is if you are up for the drive on the twisting, turning, narrow road. There are plenty of reviews of the road to Hana -just do a search of this conference.

 

Another wonderful day would be to drive to the Iao Valley Park (beautiful, tropical and lush), then over to the west coast up to Lahaina. Here, on the way, you will get views of the 2 volcanos and drive along the ocean. It is common to see whales or dolphins on this drive. In Lahaina, have lunch in one of the restaurants on the water, have a look at the Banyan tree at the harbour, and stroll the streets shopping or looking at the historic buildings.

Then, if you have time, go up to Kaanapali Beach for swimming, snorkeling (at Black Rock at the north end of the beach, or a lovely beach walk(there is a beautiful walking path from hotel to hotel just along the water). -Whaler's Village has parking and will validate parking if you buy something.

Enjoy!

Thanks so much for the info! we dock in Lahaina..I have always wanted to do the road to Hana but everyone says there just isnt enough time...what do you think? The other places sound beautiful as well..all we have ever done there before is whale watch, which is amazing but we do that on every cruise lol so we needed to change it up a bit

[Jenbo57]

If you're up for a real adventure, drive the Kahekili Highway (Hwy 340)! A real nail biter in some spots, but something we'll never forget.

 

Google it... :D

[marysb]

The Iao Valley drive is exactly what we had planned for our first day in Maui! You make it sound even better than what I had envisioned. Can't wait!:D

 

Here are some of our photos of the Iao Valley: (Thanks to Cruising Goddess for the photo posting hints)

 

 

 

 

 

[furluvcats]

Oh my! Those are GORGEOUS! I cant wait to explore maui on land! Thanks so much =).

[chipmaster]

The road to Hana is a nice drive. There is a lot of great scenery and water falls to stop at and enjoy well before Hana. I have to admit I've done this route 4 times and 3 times we never made it to the end, always stopped at some great spot before and called it good enough. After doing it to the end was like that is it, the best stuff is along, you can get a lot by targeting going only 1/2 of the way IMHO.

 

Enjoy Maui

[furluvcats]

very good advice. Are there lagoons and pools along the way to stop and safely swim in??

[Browezilla]

Given your limited time and location, I would recommend Iao Valley.

[Deb in Cali]

I would not recommend the drive to Hana.

 

You will not have enough time. Lahaina is a tender port, so you will need to factor that into the calculation along with picking up and dropping off the rental car.

 

If you try the Hana drive, you will be stressed and spend most of the time watching the clock. The drive to the Io needle might just be the ticket.

[furluvcats]

sigh...alrighty...one of these days I will actually book a cruise that overnights in maui therefore can do the road to hana...so..on the other routes suggested...any lagoons or pools to swim in??

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

I am overnighting in Maui and will have a rental car so I think we might attempt the road to Hana this time. I didn't do it last time I was in Maui because we had a snorkeling excursion plus parasailing at Lahaina so this time we will have friends with us that haven't seen Hawaii and I think I would like to attempt.

 

I am interested also to know if there are any waterfalls that we can swim at? We aren't hikers, in fact 2 of us are not in the best physical shape so I thinking hiking to the bottom isn't an option.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We did the road to Hana the first time we were in Maui and it was beuatiful but nerve wracking for the driver. Also, be sure to check your

rental car agreement. Some (but not all) companies specify that you may not drive the road to Hana.

 

We did the Iao needle and Haleakala on our last cruise. The lavendar farm on the way up to Hale. was terrific.

[Deb in Cali]

We did the road to Hana the first time we were in Maui and it was beuatiful but nerve wracking for the driver. Also, be sure to check your

rental car agreement. Some (but not all) companies specify that you may not drive the road to Hana.

 

We did the Iao needle and Haleakala on our last cruise. The lavendar farm on the way up to Hale. was terrific.

 

I love to drive the road to Hana, but then I enjoying driving. The rental car agencies do not want you to drive past the Seven Scared Pools area. The drive to Hana that starts at Kahului and goes to Hana is fine with them.

 

The other road that is a no no is the other complete loop beyond Kaanapali. I am not sure where the no go area starts, but I will confess to driving the whole loop in 06. It made the road to Hana look like a freeway. It was a ONE lane road for both directions.:eek: If you encountered someone coming from the other direction someone had to back up or if you were lucky you were all ready in a wide spot. The drops offs have no guard rails, only grassy berms.

 

My mom and I had a blast, it was an adventure to say the least. We stopped this tiny village and bought some banana nut bread about 3/4 of the way into the trip.

[furluvcats]

Well thank you for the advice and the pictures! I need to do a land based vacation to maui.