road at hana

[Cavegirl]

Although....we have left Kihei at 7:00-7:30 a.m., driven to Hana with a few stops here and there, stopped at Lindberg's Grave, skipped Oheo Gulch (7 Pools), continued via the 'back' route, had a half-hour picnic at Tedeschi Winery, and been back to Kihei by late afternoon.

 

Where is this Tedeschi Winery? Sounds like a good place to stop for picnic.

[spleen93]

Tedeschi Winery is up in Ulupalakua - up on the slopes of Haleakala.

 

Spleen

[MOUSE LADY]

Oh yes I did the road to Hana. There were six of us..The three guys in one Jeep and the three of us girls in the other Jeep. We had walkie talkies and were off to a great trip...I was in the back of the jeep and I must say in my 57 years have never been car sick until the "ROAD TO HANA". We never made it to Hana..headed back where we stopped to eat and everyone was having beer and food and I was dying..The waitress gave me half of a Papaya and it took me about a hour to eat it but I was better after a couple of hours. One day I would like to try it one more time, as the drive, what I saw, was beautiful. So the moral of the story is..papaya is great stuff for "THE ROAD TO HANA.

Enjoy

[RET_REF]

Last week we got half way to Hana, we got as far as Ke'anae where I had to turn around to head back because time was against us. We didn't get on the road until 10 AM as the ship was late tendering us ashore. I understand what Mouse Lady said above about being car sick with all those bends in the road that can really make one dizzy. However, being from Pennsylvania and driving all the roads in our state we have some back roads that are very similar so the drive for me wasn't that bad.

 

You really do need to get an early start, and if I could have started out just an hour earlier I think I could have made it to Hana and back prior to our ship's departure time of 5:30 PM. Oh well, hopefully in my lifetime I will get another chance to go back and try it again. The next time I will stay on Maui to enjoy its beauty because there is so much to see and do there. We enjoyed all the sights stopping breifly at each highlighted mile maker identified along the way. We enjoyed the ride despite not getting there!

[Hoosier Gal]

Can someone tell me if there is a preferred rental car company for the Road to Hana excursion? I have read that some rental car companies put restrictions on certain parts of the road. Actually a jeep rental sounds like fun! Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[ksmith]

Just returned from Serenade of Seas Hawaii cruise. Would NOT rent a car to do Road to Hana. There is no way your driver can enjoy all the scenery and drive. Road requires constant attention to driving. Our tour driver was great and stopped different places for pictures. Parts of bridges and road are so narrow you could hardly pass a piece of paper between vehicles. People were having to pull in their mirrors to get past each other. Also, most rental companies will not let you do the Road past Hana, which we were able to do. Our tour van blew out the transmission and we had to sit be side of road for approx. 15 minutes. Luckily, our driver called for another van and we were picked up immediately. Tour drivers on this Road earn every penny.

[Cavegirl]

Good point about the driver not being able to enjoy the scenery. However, we have a party of 6. All the tour operators (whether booked through NCL or directly) charge close to $100/person, from Lahaina.

 

So it's either $600 + tax + tip, or van rental at around $68+tax+gas. Hmm, as the driver I should charge my friends big time :rolleyes:

[Bucky3]

What company did you use for your Hana tour? Was it booked thru the ship or on your own? Thanks. We are going in October.

[sceptic]

From prior posts here and other threads you know I'm a big fan of the drive to Hana. Truth be told, though, if I had only one day on Maui and couldn't get going on the trip until 8:30, I'd bag the drive to Hana entirely... just too darn much traffic for my tastes. By then the trip, at least for the driver (who is yrs.trly.) would have a grand time closely and nervously watching the rear end of the car in front of me, and jockeying for the occasional open parking space in the stops along the way. It's still a great drive, but it's simply a different trip at 7:30 instead of 9:00, no matter how far towards Hana you drive.

 

So what would I do? Probably pick up the rental car and head towards south Maui for beaches. Lots of awesome (and often nearly empty!) beaches down there, like Makena, Polo, Palauea, and my fave - Po'olenalena, just north of the Makena Surf hotel. I've been on this beach several times with ZERO other people. And it's over 1/4 mile long. After sun and surf, up to Lahaina or Ka'anapali for lunch etc. Then either back to the ship or if you're really dying for more beaches, up to Napili or Kapalua.

(btw, once the road to Hana gets serious, most of the bridges are One Lane. Or, as they pronounce them in Hawaii, oh-neh lah-ne. So the previous post that talked about too-narrow bridges was peculiar, because cars going in opposite directions should NEVER be on these bridges simultaneously. Driving on these bridges is simple. You come to the yield line, and if vehicles are coming, wait for them to pass. Then it's your turn, plus any vehicles behind you. Back and Forth, just like that - the same system is also used on Kauai on the road past Hanalei.)

[ksmith]

Our Road to Hana trip was booked through the ship. I did not want to be worred about being back before the ship left. The tour operator was Roberts of Hawaii and they did a fine job. There were at least 4 times that we barely made it past other oncoming cars and they were all local drivers. So, I don't know about the give and take thing that another poster mentioned. Just stating our experience. Also, our van blew it's transmission, and we sat by the side of the highway while another van was dispatched to pick us up. If we had been in a rental, I don't think we'd have been back to the ship by 5:30 PM. The scenery was definitely worth the trip.

[sceptic]

ksmith, the "give and take thing" I described is the law. As you approach the one lane bridges you must yield to oncoming traffic that is already on the bridge or beyond the yield sign in the opposite side of the bridge. (There is a yield sign and limit line on each side of the one lane bridges.) When you are on the bridge, cars coming from the other direction must yield to you until you and any vehicle behind you leave the bridge. If they don't they're breaking the law. Frankly, I'm truly surprised that two vehicles could fit side by side on some of those bridges. When they say "one lane" they really mean it.

 

It's weird, but in all the times I've been to Hana or beyond Hanalei on Kauai (and other places with one lane bridges in Hawaii) I've never encountered such idiocy. Maybe I'm just lucky.

[spleen93]

Neither have I. Most cars are very courteous (especially in the Hana region) and will gladly yield to you if you have the right of way. 'Course, can't comment about the tourists that are driving it ... :D

 

Spleen

[okstfan]

Just back from the POA cruise and drove every island. IMO, the road to Hana and around the back side was the best! We used the "Maui Revealed" book to decide on where we wanted to stop and so were several others who travelled on the road with us. We left at 7:00am and didn't have much traffic. We had time to make it all the way around, even with numerous stops including one to jump off the middle cliff at 7 pools. I really enjoyed the drive as the driver of our convertible (enjoying the scenery ahead as well as above) because I could decide when and where I wanted to stop and for how long. I don't know how anyone could enjoy it as much being restricted on a tour bus. In fact, I'm not sure how a bus, I guess they are probably vans, even make it on those roads.

 

The back road was different scenery than the front, but not bad without a 4wd. I don't know if our rental agreement forbid us to go there and didn't really care. There are always other back-up plans (at your own expense of course) if something very unlikely were to happen along the way including meeting the ship at the next island. I was concerned about my DW getting sick on the road because she gets car sick easily, but she took her Dramamine before time and the road TO Hana didn't bother her. She actually got a little motion sickness on the road FROM Hana because of the faster speeds going up and down the hills.

 

The one thing that I must say is that you should definitely keep an eye on the clock and know where you are and where you need to be. Although we didn't get to go to the crater, we did make it all the way around in 8 hours for a lot less money than a tour group and IMO with a lot more freedom. We even had time to make it to the Iao Valley before heading back to the ship.

[Middleager]

Just back from the POA cruise and drove every island. IMO, the road to Hana and around the back side was the best! ...even with numerous stops including one to jump off the middle cliff at 7 pools.

 

..we did make it all the way around in 8 hours for a lot less money than a tour group and IMO with a lot more freedom. We even had time to make it to the Iao Valley before heading back to the ship.

 

Great to hear that. We're also going to rent a van (from Lahaina, port time 8am - 9pm) and drive the circle trip to Hana.

 

I heard somewhere that it takes some walk to get the the 7 pools at Oheo Gulch. How long did it take you to walk in?

 

There's also supposed to be some roadwork from June 21 to July. So you made it just before the road work.

[okstfan]

Great to hear that. We're also going to rent a van (from Lahaina, port time 8am - 9pm) and drive the circle trip to Hana.

 

I heard somewhere that it takes some walk to get the the 7 pools at Oheo Gulch. How long did it take you to walk in?

 

Sorry, should have made it clear that was 8 hours from Kahului leaving at 7:00am. You'll have to add at least 45 mins. each way to get to and from Lahaina. Plus, if you're leaving later, then it will probably take longer with more traffic.

 

There is about a 1/2 mile walk to the pools. It's not too bad and you should be sure to make the circle back around rather than the same way you go in. The park rangers office has a map.

 

According to the park rangers office, it is 64 miles either way back to Kahului (or 2 1/2 hours non-stop). It took us a lot less time on the back side because we didn't make as many stops and the road isn't as winding as going TO Hana.

[bankofdad]

We are doing the Wind in mid-August and have arranged to take a Limo tour to Hana. I don't have my notes, but we are paying a little over $600 for the limo (this total includes tax, tip, etc). They will pick us up in Lahaina at 8:30 and drop us back off at 5:30. Here's a link to the website if anyone is interested.

 

http://www.hawaiiansuntravel.com/RatesFlyer.html

 

Julie

 

Hi pugsbest,

 

I look forward to your review on this. We had wanted to do this very same thing, and had a reservation through Star Limo but they cancelled our reservation and all limo tours to Hana not long before we left. DW brought this up as something she would still very much like to do this October!

 

Have a great trip!