road to hana GUIDE

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A post shared by liz stanford | travel planner (@spenditlikestanford)

road to hana BACKGROUND

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TIP: If you plan on traveling to Maui, book your car rental before you even book your flight! There’s a huge car rental shortage right now. If you are looking for the best price, use the rentalcars.com search engine below. It’s what I use for all of my trips and I always find the best price.

If you’ve done any research on Maui, you’ve heard about the Road to Hana. This 64 mile road trip is a long day of traveling and sight-seeing. It’s a super windy journey that takes you all along the eastern part of Maui filled with different beaches, lookouts, hikes and waterfalls. It’s nearly impossible to see everything in one day so you have to be choosy on what stops you make.

I break down all my must-see stops along the Road to Hana and mention other memorable stops that we didn’t have time for below. If you want to spend your time wisely while on the Road to Hana or are crunched for time, these are the must stops on my Road to Hana guide:

• Ho’okipa Lookout
• Ke’anae Peninsula
• Nahiku Marketplace
• Hana Farms
• Wai’anapana
• Wailua Falls
• Pools of Ohe’o
• Coconut Glens

road to hana prep

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If you’re following my Road to Hana guide to a tee, you’re waking up early to start this trip. Before leaving for the Road to Hana, make sure to fill up your tank the night before. There is only one gas station on this road and it’s in Hana so make sure you have enough before leaving. Another thing to keep in mind is food. If you plan to leave early like we did (5:30 am) then make sure to get some breakfast the night before. Most of the breakfast spots you pass won’t be open until 9:30 or 10:00 am.

road to hana travel tips

My best piece of advice is to plan out your stops in advance and FOR SURE (like for sure, for sure) download the Gypsy Guide app on your phone. I know, I know. $10?? I’m telling you, it’s so worth it. This is coming from a girl who doesn’t spend $0.99 on an app. You’ll appreciate everything you see along the way more than if you were just listening to the radio. Plus, you’ll have no service the whole time so you’re not missing much!

I researched this place beyond belief. I knew the roads were windy and there would be traffic, which is why we started early. I’m talking, left our hotel in Lahaina by 5:30 am early and it was one of the best decisions we made. We felt like we were the only ones on the road for most of this trip with little to no traffic. I didn’t experience any of the pain points other travelers had and would say waking up that early had its benefits.

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Another pro tip, if you followed the first day of my Maui travel guide, you’ll already have done the Ho’okipa Lookout (mile marker 9). This lookout is one of the first stops you can do on the Road to Hana. If you didn’t do this beforehand then try to catch this on the way back. It will be too dark to see if you are leaving as early as we did.

Ke’anae Peninsula

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If you left when we did, you’ll hit your first stop at Ke’anae Peninsula (mile marker 16) just as the sun is rising. Friends, you are in for a treat if you go this route! It is truly breathtaking to see and you’ll be amazed. We were the only ones here and it was amazing to experience the sunrise here just me and my husband. Honestly starting this early has its perks. Not only the killer sunrise, but we hardly ran into anyone! It felt like we had the whole Road to Hana for ourselves!

If you get here later in the day, make sure to stop at Aunt Sandy’s. If you are looking for where to eat the best banana bread in maui then this is a must for you. You’ll pass this on the turn to Ke’anana. The only downfall of an early start is we were there too early and the shop wasn’t open just yet.

Nahiku Coffee Shop

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Nahiku Marketplace at mile marker 29 is a must stop on the way in to the Road to Hana or even on the way back! If you’re there for lunch, I’ve heard a must-eat in Maui is BBQ from Uncle Bills. Unfortunately, some of these shops that would’ve been open have closed due to COVID.

HANA FARMS

Hana Farms (mile marker 34.5) isn’t a typical stop on a typical Road to Hana guide, but I would say this is a must stop on the Road to Hana. There are plenty of road side stands to pick up fresh fruit along the way and this one is no exception. Grab a coffee and maybe a few pictures because the views are stunning. It’s a quick 10 minute coffee break.

Wai’anapana (back sand beach)

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One of my favorite stops on the Road to Hana travel guide was Wai’anapana black sand beach (mile marker 32). The official name is a mouthful and if you are listening to the Gypsy Guide app, you learn a lot about its history. Right next to this black sand beach is a lava tube cave that you practically crawl into, but it’s well worth seeing. A lot of people actually miss this. Supposedly a Hawaiian princess who was forced to marry an older chief hid in this cave until her murder by said chief (you know me, I live for history riddled with drama).

WailuA Falls

Next up is Wailua Falls (mile marker 45). It’s a quick stop and there is a place to park just off the side of the road. Although you can just pass by and see this beauty from the road, taking the time to actually stop is well worth it. It’s no wonder it’s considered the “perfect” falls.

POOLS OF ohe’o (seven sacred pools)

Although, the Road to Hana seems like you are meant to reach this amazing destination in Hana, it really is more about the journey there than the actual town of Hana. It’s a super tiny town and most turn around once reaching it. However, you should keep going a bit further down to the Pools of Ohe’o.

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Getting to the Pools of Ohe’o (mile marker 42) costs an entrance fee and once there, it’s a short hike to the waterfall and pools. Typically you can swim in these beauties unless there are high levels of rising water. I had read before coming that more often than not, these pools are closed and unfortunately they were closed the day we were there. I still recommend making the jaunt because it leads to one of my favorite views on the drive.

You can also do the Pipiwai trail after seeing these pools. It’s about 4 mile hike and it’s one of the coolest hikes you can do in Maui.

After visiting the seven sacred pools, most people will turn around and head back to Maui the same way they came in. That is the route we did because there were a few other stops we wanted to make on the way back. Others (but very few) will keep on trekking and go the “back way” towards Maui.

A LOT and I mean a lot of Road to Hana travel guides do not recommend doing this. Some rental car companies won’t even let you take this path because of how poor the road conditions are in some spots (the roads were ruined by an earthquake a few years back). However, I have heard others say that it’s no problem. Not going to lie, we would’ve tried this route if we didn’t want to see other spots but it’s really up to your comfort level.

COCONUT GLEN’S

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Coconut Glen’s (mile marker 27.5). Let’s talk about ya (or let’s not if it’s not your thing). Coconut ice cream? Yes, please! I put this on my gotta eat it in Maui list because it was so freakin good and the nicest people work here. And, just look at this cute little set up! Ya’ll know I live and breathe for instagrammable places like this. Coconut Glen’s was our final stop on the Road to Hana and we headed back in to Maui.

other notable stops

If you have more time, some other stops on a memorable Road to Hana travel guide are:

• Garden of Eden: where the opening of Jurassic Park was filmed (mile marker 10)
• Kaihaulul beach: red sand beach (mile marker 50)
• Aunt Sandy’s Bread: who doesn’t love banana bread? (mile marker 16)

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happy travels, liz stanford

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