Road to Hana stop questions, for driving it yourself..

[judyf]

I have finished the RTH section of the Maui revealed books and searched this board endless hours. I stole I mean copied what others have put together and or have done. I'm now putting together a list of things and places to stop at during our drive to Hana and have pages of notes many questions still left unanswered believe that or not :rolleyes:

 

To help others I thought I would start a new thread.

 

1) Has anyone ever stopped at the Maui Cave Adventures mile marker 31 off the Ulaino Rd.? The MV booked states it as $29 pp and there's a 1 hour walking tour. Is this worth a stop, sounds interesting and different.

 

Let me add this here I'm a little concerned/ confused from all I've been reading about the safety of swimming or even just going into as far as our waist in the waters of Hawaii.

 

 

2) I hope to stop at 2 or maybe 3 beaches to swim along the road, of course one will be Pools of Ohe'o or 7 Sacred Pools, about an hour there. The others maybe 2 will be about 20-30 minutes or whatever hits us at the time. Where to stop?

 

I'm a little confused on what would be the other best spots to go. We are doing the RTH on our first day, renting a car with no worries on returning by a certain time and we are NOT concerned about driving the road even at night.

 

Is it safe to go to either of the 2 black sand beaches or the 2 red sand beaches the MV book talks about?? We don't want to walk too far to get to a beach, hiking is not one of the things we want to do too much of on the RTH.

 

Of the 4, which are the easiest to get to and which are the best for a quick dip? Or just a do not miss beach.

 

Sorry to go on and on :o but I know to try and give details when asking a question, :) that's plenty for now. :rolleyes:

 

Any other tips or suggestions please let me know.

 

Thanks in adavance, looking forward to BC and the locals suggestions and of course those that have been there and done that already!!

[judyf]

Oh yeah, I forgpt to mention the Blue Pool and what the MV notes as Best Place for a cool swim Cave #1 at Wai'anapanapa Park. Hard to get to these?

[9illi9an]

We've done the RTH twice, but we didn't stop at any beaches. To me, the best beaches in the world are on the south side of the island (Big Beach being my favorite.) The RTH is more for exploring the rainforest rather than a beach outing.

 

That said, if you're looking to take a dip somewhere, it's hard to beat Blue Pool. The water is not exactly warm, but it's a nice, refreshing break from the long journey. Swimming in a pool of fresh water, right next to the crashing waves of the Pacific, underneath a gently trickling waterfall...it doesn't get much better than that.

[judyf]

Thanks for the tip, did you hike to the blue pool? Was it a long or hard hike? If it's not to hard I think we will stop there, thanks again.

 

We're not really looking for a "beach" just what is the good spot to stop and take a dip maybe or just see and relax a little. I read a lot about the red sand and black sand beaches and we would like to see one of each just not sure what ones.

 

Thanks

[9illi9an]

Blue Pool is located right at the end of a road (sorry -- I don't have my map on me to tell you which road.) It's not a very far walk to it at all. In fact, we almost missed it, because we figured it would be a much farther walk. You simply drive to the end of the road and walk, maybe, 100 yards over some big boulders.

[lambs2]

Wai'anapanapa Park is absolutely gorgeous! It was my very favorite stop on our Road to Hana trip. You can swim at the black sand beach there. VERY cool!

[jmo1]

We have done the RTH twice, and have to recommend swimming at Blue Pool, Wai'anapanapa Park and 7-pools. At Wai'anapanapa Park (black sand beach) we didn't actually swim, but waded knee deep in the surf. They should call it black pebble beach, because the surface is more small smooth black pebbles than sand. The sound of the pebbles washing over each other as the waves retreat is cool.

[jerseyjk]

Oh yeah, I forgpt to mention the Blue Pool and what the MV notes as Best Place for a cool swim Cave #1 at Wai'anapanapa Park. Hard to get to these?

 

I didn't particularly care for the caves but one is swimable, one is not. Follow the entrance rd to the last lot and follow the path straight ahead. Look for the signs to the caves.

 

Other than the caves, Wai'anapanapa Park is the site of a terrific black sand beach and scenery. Definitely worth a stop ...

 

 

I've heard the Blue pool is quite a long trek with mixed encounters with the land owners at the end of the drivable rd. We skipped it.

 

We did a trek down through Nakiku which was interesting, but not earth shattering.

 

Also a stop on Keanae Rd for some Banana Bread.

 

We did a stop at Ching's pong and a few other waterfalls and pools along the way. Chings pond has little parking (side of the road) but is very close to the road.

 

By the time we got to Oheo my kids were spent and were actually dreading the drive back. I'm glad I made the drive, but once was enough for me. I wouldn't do it again.

 

One other comment ...

and we are NOT concerned about driving the road even at night.

 

You should be. I would caution against driving the road at night. I'm an extremely confident driver and I would think more than twice about doing it.

[judyf]

Great thanks! This is just the info I was looking for, Wai'anapanapa Park is on our list to stop at.

 

So I think it will be these three Blue Pool, Wai'anapanapa Park and 7-pools.

 

Lambs2 was it easy to get to the blksand beach at Wai'anapanapa Park ?

 

Has anyone been to the red sand beach? Is it hard to get to either of them?

 

Great info thanks for sharing!

[skbaw]

It is very easy to get to the black sand beach at Wai'anapanapa Park - there is a paved walk down to it. It is fairly steep though. We went to the black sand beach and the 7 pools. However, neither one was swimmable that day (March) as the waves were very high. At 7 pools there were signs advising against swimming. But they are worth a visit anyways because they are very scenic

[judyf]

I didn't particularly care for the caves but one is swimable, one is not. Follow the entrance rd to the last lot and follow the path straight ahead. Look for the signs to the caves.

 

Other than the caves, Wai'anapanapa Park is the site of a terrific black sand beach and scenery. Definitely worth a stop ...

 

 

I've heard the Blue pool is quite a long trek with mixed encounters with the land owners at the end of the drivable rd. We skipped it.

 

We did a trek down through Nakiku which was interesting, but not earth shattering.

 

Also a stop on Keanae Rd for some Banana Bread.

 

We did a stop at Ching's pong and a few other waterfalls and pools along the way. Chings pond has little parking (side of the road) but is very close to the road.

 

By the time we got to Oheo my kids were spent and were actually dreading the drive back. I'm glad I made the drive, but once was enough for me. I wouldn't do it again.

 

One other comment ...

 

 

You should be. I would caution against driving the road at night. I'm an extremely confident driver and I would think more than twice about doing it.

 

 

Wow great pictures.

 

We are leaving as early as we can so we should get an early start. I think we would be well on our way back by dark but we don't want to rush and be looking at the time.

 

I live at the foot of Hunter Mt in the Hudson Valley and when rt #23 was closed do to a mud slid last year we had to drive Platt Clove Road up and down the Mt. Any one that knows the road would understand, ;) Must beep around every turn and sometimes pull over to let a car go the other direction and there's no guard rails :eek: and it was dark coming down, on cliff side :eek: with campers going up and down to North Lake.

 

We drive on roads like this all the time living where we do, so for us it's nornal driving with a little different view:D I also have a CDL and have drove large buses up and down these roads. We will for sure be very careful and most likely be back near the pier by time it's real dark. Thanks for the safety warning, we saw NYC people driving Platt Clove Road last year that should NOT have been on that road and you could tell they didn't want to be there either.

 

Keep the great info coming!

[judyf]

Is the second picture of the cave swimming area? I know the first one is the blk sand beach. Wow, I can't wait to see them for myself.

[beachchick]

I have to agree with jerseyjk's caution about driving the road at night. Not the part between Haiku and Kahului so much because that's not very challenging. But the rest of the road is completely dark at night and is narrow with many one-lane bridges, some near-to-the-cliffs driving, and many twists and turns.

 

I understand that you drive roads "like" this one, but that's not the same as driving this actual road. My DH is an extremely experienced, confident, and excellent driver who has driven just about every type of road you can imagine throughout a good portion of the world (city, mountain, desert, coastal cliffs, you name it). He's not afraid to drive anywhere. He's driven the RTH, the north Maui route, up to the summit of Mauna Kea (steep graded gravel, 4-w/d required), out on the pseudo "road" past Kalapana on the BI, etc. Even so, I would not particularly care for us to be on the road to Hana after dark. Keep in mind that Haleakala makes dusk come earlier to the that part of the island because it blocks the late-day westerly sun.

 

Of course it's entirely up to you, and you're certainly familiar with this type of road. I'm just urging you not to take it lightly or casually. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the drivers you saw on Platt Cove Road last year thought that because they do that type of driving at home, then they'd have no problems at all with a similar road. Do be aware that weather should be a factor in your timing choices and be prepared to alter your plans if necessary. If it starts to rain heavily (which can happen) and you're on the road after dark, the challenging road can become downright unsafe.

 

beachchick

[jerseyjk]

Is the second picture of the cave swimming area?

 

No, that's the coast and lava arch just to the right of the black sand beach as viewed from the bluff up top by the parking lot. Actually the caves are not much to look at so I didn't really shoot any decent pictures of them.

[judyf]

Thanks BC and jerseyjk's. :D I will take your caution as we want this to be a safe trip, Safety is my business so I better make sure I travel safe ;)

 

I already have the weather number on the top on my RTH page. The MV booked posted iand I plan to check that first before starting.

 

Any idea about what time it will start to get dark end of Oct. first week in Nov so we can plan?

 

I will report back, as I always do a review on what I think of the road compared to our mountain roads we travel in upstae NY.

 

Thanks for all the tips

[skbaw]

We drove RTH in the dark when we did it in March. I think sunset was about 6:45. We had gotten a late start - didn't leave the ship until about 10 AM. We just continued driving until we saw all we wanted to see. We had left 7 pools about 5 pm so probably about half the drive was in the dark. DH was also comfortable driving on these types of roads but he was more than happy to be the second car in line. I told him I was glad he was driving as I would have been incredibly nervous. We did not meet many cars going the other direction. We just took it slow and followed the guy in front of us.

[jmo1]

Thanks BC and jerseyjk's. :D I will take your caution as we want this to be a safe trip, Safety is my business so I better make sure I travel safe ;)

 

I already have the weather number on the top on my RTH page. The MV booked posted iand I plan to check that first before starting.

 

Any idea about what time it will start to get dark end of Oct. first week in Nov so we can plan?

 

I will report back, as I always do a review on what I think of the road compared to our mountain roads we travel in upstae NY.

 

Thanks for all the tips

Sunset will be about 6:00 the end of October. There is not a lot of seasonal change in sunset times that close to the equator. Try to start on the RTH between 7 and 8 am, and you will beat the rush.

[judyf]

Thanks, That's our plan get off the ship asap and get the rental car, booked a convertible through Thrifty, will look around for a better deal but at least I have one booked.

 

What is it about 2-3 hors to drive back without stops?

 

Any car rental agency quicker then another in Maui?

[jmo1]

2-3 hours is about right. I have not experienced any significant differences in car rental agency speed in two prior rentals. The ones I used (I think they were Budget and Alamo) were equally fast.

[judyf]

Thanks