Road to Hana

Beautiful, clean, airconditioned van with huge viewing windows.  The tour will provide you with a morning snack with muffins, fruit, and cold beverages.  For lunch, you will have a deli style lunch with sandwiches, wraps and a vegi platter.  It all is wonderfully delicious; and did I forget to mention the tour guides are not only funny to hand around, but extremely informative about Maui and everything it has to offer.

Get ready for a trip back in time to ancient Hawaii, slower paced Hawai'i and the most beautiful tropical rainforests you've ever seen. But be prepared to take your time getting there, there should not be any rush as the road to Hana offers some of the most spectacular scenery found anywhere in the Hawaiian islands, but the road is long and winding, with over 600 curves and 54 bridges. It's only 53 miles from Kahului Airport to Hana, but it usually takes about 2½ to 3 hours to make the drive, of course that depends on how often you stop.

Key tips:
•    Leave as early as you can
•    bring plenty of film
•    pack a lunch or pick one up in Pa'ia on the way
•    plan for rain
•    bring your bathing suit
•    make sure you have a full tank of gas
•    plan for an all-day adventure

It's the journey, not the destination. Stop often.

Early on the road you will see that farming is still an important lifestyle for many people on Maui, from the pineapple fields of Haiku, and a little later on, the taro fields of Keanae. Taro, or kalo as it is called in Hawaiian, is a starchy root vegetable that was a staple food for the ancient Hawaiians, and is used to make poi which you will hopefully get to sample at a luau during your visit. Later along the road, you will encounter lush tropical rain forests with an astounding variety of exotic flora, especially guava, papaya, and bread fruit trees, and bird of paradise, ginger and heliconia blossoms. Watch for the Rainbow Eucalyptus trees. They are beautiful!

Drive through Keanae and nearby Wailua to see some of the oldest churches on Maui. You will have seen many beautiful waterfalls by now, both large and small, and fresh water pools that you might want to take a swim in. Just before Hana town, take a short drive down to Wainapanapa State Park. It's just a quick walk in the park to see a wonderful black sand beach, and you can hike through some small caves. The water in the caves are very cold, but it is part of the adventure. Just jump in!

Next stop is Hana town, an old style Hawai'i. A cute little homestyle take out restaurant down at Hana Bay is a good stop for a snack.You will need to travel another 45 minutes or so down the road to reach Oheo Gulch, better known as the "Seven Sacred Pools", but it's worth it. The pools are located in Haleakala National Park, and you can swim in the pools if it's not raining. If you have the time, there is a great rainforest hike to some upper waterfalls, but it takes 2 hours to reach the farthest and biggest one.