TRIP HIGHLIGHT - THE ROAD TO HANA
I enjoyed every one of my 21 days on MAUI, but collectively the best were the 3 different days I found myself on the road TO or AT the neat west coast town of HANA.
-The first day was on BANANA BUNGALOW HOSTEL'S free tour to HANA.
- The second about a week later was on ALOHA SURF HOSTEL'S free WATERFALL TRIP.
- The third a few days later was via RENTAL CAR to catch places I'd missed (yes folks - there is such a wealth of interesting stops along here that it would take a MONTH of travel to check all. Indeed at the end of my 3rd trip there were STILL places I fancied a look at).
1 - BANANA BUNGALOW'S FREE** TOUR TO HANA
This is a good one taking in quite a few attractions (but not all - it would be impossible to see everything) ALONG THE ROAD and AT Hana in one day. We did 6 stops in all:
Note that ALOHA SURF HOSTEL at PAI'A also does a free HANA TOUR.
** FREE? Well the guides are BANANA/ALOHA employees who do it for tips. Guests are encouraged to tip in $5-10-20, which still makes this tour way less expensive than the $100+ commercial tours.
STOP 1 - NA'ILI'ILI-HAELE STREAM AND WATERFALL
Soon after the above shot steady rain set in (this part of MAUI has mercurual weather) making the trek to the second falls, which required a scramble up a slippery slope to the left of the above cascade, a bit diffcult.
The second falls had a much bigger pool which was good for a quick swim. I didn't realise, but there is also a rope-swing/jump at left. Guides Nick and Drew didn't point it out - in the slippery conditions access may have been difficult plus I think we were behind schedule already.
Apparently there are several more higher falls, reached after successively more difficult treks. Having much more to see on the road, we didn't bother.
STOP 2 - WAIKAMOI FALLS
About 3 miles/5 km further east at mileage maker 10 we stopped and hiked a much shorter distance (a few mins vs 40) to the above pool and falls.
This area had a really neat cliff jump. I'm a seriouslly old geezer but I just had to give this a go. Several times.
CAVEAT: EMI (EAST MAUI IRRIGATION CO.)
Both of the above falls (and many others along the HANA RD) have water controlled by the EAST MAUI IRRIGATION COMPANY. This outfit is known to sometimes turn off supply in a watercourse meaning you could arrive at a dry falls (which is also possible after a dry rain period - as a matter of fact this is when EMI is most likely to divert flow to storage etc. The good news is that their diversions are more likely to lessen the severity of FLASH FLOODS after heavy rainfall. Nevertheless always be aware that this could occur on any mountain stream in MAUI).
The other aspect of EMI is that they are inclined to stick up a bunch of NO ACCESS signs - whether this is legally enforceable is debatable: locals tend to ignore such signs and continue on along the trails. However it would be a good idea not to abuse any EMI infrastructure such as viaducts, storage pond walls etc.
I must admit I saw no EMI signs at these two falls.
STOP 3 - KEANAE RD
STOPS 4 and 5 - HANA
STOP 4 - RED SAND BEACH HANA
I have a heap of information and pix on what I judge THE BEACH WITH THE MOST SPECTACULAR SETTING about 80% down the MAUI'S BEST BEACHES page.
STOP 5 - HANA RANCH STORE
STOP 6 - ?? LAVA TUBES
Okay it was well over 2 hours to retrace our steps from the LAVA TUBE to the hostel in WAILUKU. Below is a route map (WAILUKU is out of image to left). In all, a very good trip - but it left SO MANY unseen places I knew I'd have to do the road again.
2 - ALOHA SURF HOSTEL'S FREE WATERFALL TOUR
This PAI'A hostel also does a free tour of the HANA ROAD, but with ONE smaller van (12 seats) I figured this was only for people who hadn't seen it. But next day they had a WATERFALL TOUR which included some places along/near the HANA ROAD I hadn't seen. Plenty of vacancies so I signed on.
STOP 1 - HOOKIPA BEACH
Lots more HOOKIPA stuff about 35% down-page on MAUI'S BEST BEACHES
Thing is I was kinda impressed with this beach, so I made a point of walking up to revisit it later in the week.
STOP 2 - NA'ILI'ILI-HAELE STREAM AND WATERFALL
Yeah, I know - already been there with BANANA. Actually ALOHA'S itinerary said we were going to the (considerably closer to PAI'A) TWIN FALLS but when we passed its parking areas it was packed - the trek and pools may have been a bit overcrowded. So we pushed on to NA'ILI'ILI-HAELE.
But it was not wasted time - for a start it was a much nicer day with no rain and additionally we had way more time to spend, particularly at the second falls with its nice pool.
Considerably less mud underfoot in the bamboo forest.
Second falls: the dry conditions meant the climb up to the rope-swing was relatively safe. Naturally I had to give this several goes. My pix of people on the rope didn't turn out.
The French-Canadian girls from the hostel cheese it up.
Ladders (upper left) lead towards several more upstream falls. But tour leader MATTHEW declined to take us there - apparently some of the way is rather dodgy safety-wise.
STOP 3 - HAIKU
HAIKU is a small town in the foothills of HALEAKALA volcano reached by turning left off the HANA HWY a few kms east of HOOKIPA and travelling less than 3km/2mi along HAIKU RD.
I think increasing rents in trendy PAI'A have forced a lot of the alternative life-stylers to relocate to smaller places like this in the nearby hinterland - I saw one hippy over my week in PAI'A but several in the hour or so I spent at HAIKU.
Above is one of the several food stalls/food trucks in the spacious market parking lot - MATTHEW recommended the fish tacos here for a late luncheon but I thought they were a bit underwhelming given the cost.
Route of the trip.
3 - RENTAL CAR TOUR (UNFINISHED BUSINESS)
There were many more interesting places prior research had indicated were worth a look - so a few days later I grabbed a rental car and took off to see as many as possible.
RENTAL CAR ROUTE
With the rental car I decided to see the OTHER road to HANA and so started with the SOUTHERN route after which I returned via the northern side already traveled in BANANA'S van. This way I did an anti-clockwise circumnavigation of the eastern half of MAUI which is more or less the part of HALEAKALA volcano's cone (above sea level - there is so much submarine HALEAKALA that this is the second highest mountain in the world from base to peak).
My southern route to HANA was one road but went under 3 numbers/4 names - Hwy37/HALEAKALA HWY from just south of the airport to PUKALANI (light blue); still Hwy37/KULA Hwy to the south-west corner (yellow); Hwy31/PILANI Hwy to KALEPA GULCH a short distance west of OHEO GULCH in the south-east (white route); and then Hwy330/HANA Hwy to HANA TOWN (lime green route).
The northern return along Hwys 330/360/36 (all part of the HANA Hwy) is supposed to be marked in dark blue but when I sharpened this image from the modified Google Earth, it lightened somewhat to near that of the western 37/HALEAKALA Hwy. Sorry about that.
The place markers with light blue print are the new places I managed to visit this trip. They may be more clear if you click-expand image.
There was much more to see along the way in addition to the blue markers - for instance yellow 37/KULA gets quite high along the western side of HALEAKALA (up to 900m/3000ft) and there are some fantastic views out over the beaches of central-south MAUI. Unfortunately there were few places to pull over which were not already taken by a vehicle or two along here so I didn't get pix.
So I had to pinch this one from the interweb - http://www.hawaiihighways.com - it shows offshore KAHO'OLAWE - that snall vocanic cone mid-pix is the hill just right of mainland MAUI'S best beach - BIG BEACH.
The white route 31/PILANI is still quite high on the south-west corner and you get some panoramic views of MAUI'S south west coast.
This area is in the rainshadow of the volcano and the vegetatation is kinda stunted compared to TROPICAL RAINFOREST on the windward northern and eastern sides.
Typical PILANI Hwy in the drier south-west of my circuit. This image comes from http://www.alamy.com/ who I'm sure will be chasing me for a fee. Bad luck kemosabes - this site is non-commercial - go chase GOOGLE BLOGGER who make a few bucks from their ads. (I'm sure that will be successful).
About half way along it had dropped to close to sea level giving some nice close-ups of the ocean and rocky shore.
Overall the distance to HANA via the southern route is about the same (but you can make better time mainly due to less traffic and slightly fewer one lane sections and hairpins) and is worth doing because it offers new vistas and locations.
Several short sections of the PILAI are unsealed - not car breakers fortunately - but when combined with a one lane section with sharp, blind corners as above, they can keep you focused.
STOP 1 - OHE'O GULCH
This stop-off has a lot of attractions - the SEVEN SACRED POOLS, PIPIWAI TRAIL to WAIMUKU FALLS, KAHAKAI/KULOA COASTAL TRAIL, BAMBOO FOREST, BANYAN TREE, a NATIONAL PARK INFORMATION CENTER yada.
I spent about 3 hours wandering around here. The area was okay but couldn't match the HYPE guide-books and island websites go on about. On reflection I was a bit underwhelmed and I'm not sure it was worth the $US15 entry feee (this is part of the HAKEAKALA NATIONAL PARK - sure you can keep the 3 day pass and access the summit and crater but I'd already done this well over a week before).
THE SEVEN SACRED POOLS
I'm sure these would have been totally excellent in the past when visitors could dip a toe, paddle, swim or at least get a close-up. But in recent years they have been closed to public access with heaps of DO NOT ENTER! UNSAFE!! $100 FINES APPLY!!! signage. USA's litigation culture had a lot to answer for but my cynical side thinks NATIONAL PARK STAFF is may be complicit: it doesn't particularly welcome calls for rescue, first aid, CPR etc - would rather sit in the entrance booth collecting $15 or in the VISITOR CENTER selling overpriced TAIWANESE MADE baseball caps with SEVEN SACRED POOLS - MAUI logos.
One of dozens - there are more than 7 pools and similar signs applied to waterfalls, coastal areas (don't think about swimming kemodabes!) and more.
This is the best overview I got of the pools - all distant and interrupted (here vegetation was cutting the lower view of the bottom pool). Sure would have been nice if I'd been able to get down there for a close-up.
THE BAMBOO FOREST
Not bad but no better than several other more accessible ones around MAUI, including the one at NA'ILI'ILI-HAELE STREAM AND WATERFALL (see up page) which had free access and is less than 50m from the parking area (v 2km for the above).
THE BANYAN TREE
Once again not bad, but in this case MARKEDLY INFERIOR to MAUI'S best just inland of LAHAINA'S sweet little harboour and adjacent central main street. You may be thinking some people will miss LAHAINA, but in fact it is a SHOULD DO - most MAUI visitors check out this great west coast town.
WAIMOKU FALLS
Partial view of the highest (400ft/122m) falls on MAUI - that's all you will legally get.
This is as close as the nanny state will allow you to get. Same with all the pools and the coastal shoreline.
THE PIPIWAI TRAIL
The above attractions (pools, banyan tree, bamboo forest and falls) are all spaced along this 2mi/3.3km (one way) trail except the falls which is just past the upper end. This might be a good image to click-expand.
This is not a bad walk with gradients varying between gentle and moderate but never steep (but it keeps on keeping on and would be a challenge to fitness/mobility impaired and many older people). At the same time keen trekkers would find it a bit undemanding as a good challenging workout.
Overall I was disappointed - I'm a keen trekker and got little satisfaction from that point of view: plus I considered the 2 hours I spent on the track disappointing from the general tourist aspect given the blocked-access or unexceptional attractions along the way.
OTHER GULCH FEATURES
THE COASTAL WALKING TRACKS
The coastal tracks (KAHAKAI and KULOA POINT trails lower 30% above) are considerably shorter at less than a mile/a little over a km if you walk every inch, and seemed way more popular with all the senior citizens I saw getting off a bunch of day-trip shuttles - as a matter of fact I noticed none of these folk on the PIPIWAI.
The tracks give views of the rugged volcanic coast but theses are no better than several near Hana locations (not to mention other places on the island) - all of which have the advantage of NO $15 ENTRY FEE. Not unexpectedly there were heaps of KEEP OUT signs in the above OHEO GULCH area.
THE VISITORS' CENTER
This had a good selection of maps, visual displays and information boards about the GULCH'S features - in the old days this would be great in saving time visiting libraries etc: but of course all this and more is now available online. There were also the usual t-shirts, caps and touristy trinkets for sale. Note NO FOOD is sold in the National Park. There were nearby rest rooms.
THE CAMP GROUND
The campground (lower left and center) is a plus - spacious with ocean views and sound it is FREE once the $15 park entrance fee is paid. It is available on a first come, first served basis and has 100 available spaces. No water but the rest rooms at the visitors' center has taps. Pit toilets. This would be ideal for people wanting inexpensive accommodation in the HANA area for a multi-day visit (and multi days are needed to see everything). HANA TOWN itself had very limited tourist accommodation and none is inexpensive.
SUM UP OF OHE'O GULCH
I was underwhelmed - this is an area that gets raves from the guide-books and online travel sites but doesn't meet the hype. It is time consuming to reach, expensive to enter, time consuming to see (I spent over 3 hours there) - all for limited rewards: no access to many features and others which are no better than in other parts of MAUI.
At the end of the day I kinda resented the time spent at OHEO GULCH - I found I was rushing subsequent call-ins to the point where I had to miss some and curtail time at the totally excellent WAINAPANAPA STATE PARK (see down page) a few km north of HANA TOWN.
My advice to DAY-TRIPPERS - there is so much to see on the road to and at HANA TOWN that you must PRIORITISE call-ins. OHE'O GULCH is one I'd PRIORITISE OUT.
For people on MULTI-DAY visits, particularly campers it's another matter. Probably worth the time.
NO STOP - WAILUA FALLS
This is one shortage of time forced me to give a miss. It's less than 3mi/5km north of OHEO GULCH, is adjacent the road and is reportedly the most photographed waterfall in MAUI.
Having no photo of my own I had to turn to GOOGLE IMAGES who threw up this good one originally from http://roadtohana.com, The drop is 80ft into a swimmible pool.
The good news is my research indicates there are no restrictive signs or expensive entry fees and being virtually roadside, no long trek to access. On reflection if I did the southern route to HANA again I'd stop in here in preference to OHEO GULCH.
STOP 2 - HANEOO ROAD
I did the short HANEOO RD LOOP (starting a little over 4mi/6.5km north of WAILUA FALLS) because 2 beaches along there read up in the guide books and online travel sites are some of the best on MAUI.
I was underwhelmed - the first beach from the south, HAMEO, was not all that attractive, had difficult access and restricted parking. The next along, KOKI BEACH was not that much better. You can see my KOKI pic on this page under MOST DISAPPOINTING BEACH abt 90% down page.
STOPS 3 AND 4 - HANA TOWN
HANA TOWN is only a few miles north of HANEEO RD. Time was limited which restricted me to 2 stops here - those shown in blue above which I hadn't had a chance to check on BAMBOO BUNGALOW'S earlier trip.
STOP 3 - FAGIN'S CROSS HANA TOWN
This is a relatively short walk up to a hilltop behind town where it is possible to get a good overview of the area. However at the main road end a big sign with the usual DO NOT ENTER plus PRIVATE PROPERTY: FINES APPLY gave me pause. Usually I'd ignore this (seems lots of other dudes go up there) but with the day slipping away I thought the 40 minutes it would take to do the 'round trek would be better spent elsewhere where there was no worry about possible confrontation with landowners.
With no pix to show you once again I had to resort to Google Images - this one is from fineartamerica
STOP 4 - HANA BAY BEACH
Once again I was a bit underwhelmed - the usual sources make this beach read like something great whereas I thought it was a bit ordinary. Maybe it was a tad late in the day to fully appreciate. Probably nice with the sun out and more people around.
Lovely RED SAND BEACH is on the opposite side of that hill (actually a small cinder cone) but time was so pressing I didn't have a chance to revisit what I consider the BEACH WITH THE MOST SPECTACULAR SETTING ON MAUI. See up-page for a pic and link.
STOP 5 - WAI'ANAPANAPA STATE PARK
This fabulous area is accessed via a side road which leaves 330 a few miles north of HANA TOWN. With dusk rapidly approaching I spent the limited time checking fabulous BLACK SAND BEACH, other rugged coastal landscape features including one of the blowholes + natural arches, and the rather nice campground. I have more info and pix on this page under MAUI'S BEST CAMPING BEACH, about 2/3 down the page.
Another pic of BLACK SAND BEACH
Unfortunately I ran out of daylight and had to abandon my plans of checking the area's other main attractions: the FRESH WATER CAVES and the 3mi/5km long WAI'ANAPANAPA COASTAL WALKING TRACK.
So it was back on the road for all those hairpins and one lane sections in the dark - luckily I fell in behind some other vehicles and let them do all the worrying about high/low beams, giving way to oncoming traffic etc - and at that later hour there was less traffic too. 2 hours later I was back in WAILUKU.
HANA ROAD STRATEGIES
- there is so much to see ALONG the road and AT Hana itself that unless you have a multi-day visit you must PRIORITISE your call-ins. The less time, the more you must prioritise. The best would be a multi-day visit, staying AT or near HANA TOWN.
- if all you have is ONE DAY, it is a no-brainer to START EARLY. If you already have a rental car, 0600 would not be too early. I wasted too much valuable time collecting my rental at the airport on the same day - and I missed the early bus to the airport (DUH!)
- is a COMMERCIAL DAY TOUR a good idea? Well in its favour is that the guides are expert (good commentary and they waste no time finding places) and do the prioritising for you. Against that is the cost (all seem well north of $100), loss of independence in that you go with the herd, and that herd can use up a hell of a lot of precious time just getting into and out of the transport, in rest rooms and being collected/dropped off at their accommodation. And some places may be short-cutted eg I saw no day trip coach people on the PIPIWAI TRAIL at OHE'O GULCH.
Natural arch - WAI'ANAPANAPA STATE PARK
IF YOU SEE MISTAKES OR HAVE EXTRA INFORMATION, PLEASE POST BELOW.
HOWEVER IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS PLEASE ASK THEM ON THE FORUM PAGE WHICH I TRY TO CHECK MOST DAYS WHEN NOT TRAVELING - WHEREAS I REVISIT INDIVIDUAL LOCATION PAGES LIKE THIS ONE ONLY OCCASIONALLY
STOP 2 - NA'ILI'ILI-HAELE STREAM AND WATERFALL
Yeah, I know - already been there with BANANA. Actually ALOHA'S itinerary said we were going to the (considerably closer to PAI'A) TWIN FALLS but when we passed its parking areas it was packed - the trek and pools may have been a bit overcrowded. So we pushed on to NA'ILI'ILI-HAELE.
But it was not wasted time - for a start it was a much nicer day with no rain and additionally we had way more time to spend, particularly at the second falls with its nice pool.
STOP 3 - HAIKU
I think increasing rents in trendy PAI'A have forced a lot of the alternative life-stylers to relocate to smaller places like this in the nearby hinterland - I saw one hippy over my week in PAI'A but several in the hour or so I spent at HAIKU.
Above is one of the several food stalls/food trucks in the spacious market parking lot - MATTHEW recommended the fish tacos here for a late luncheon but I thought they were a bit underwhelming given the cost.
3 - RENTAL CAR TOUR (UNFINISHED BUSINESS)
There were many more interesting places prior research had indicated were worth a look - so a few days later I grabbed a rental car and took off to see as many as possible.
RENTAL CAR ROUTE
My southern route to HANA was one road but went under 3 numbers/4 names - Hwy37/HALEAKALA HWY from just south of the airport to PUKALANI (light blue); still Hwy37/KULA Hwy to the south-west corner (yellow); Hwy31/PILANI Hwy to KALEPA GULCH a short distance west of OHEO GULCH in the south-east (white route); and then Hwy330/HANA Hwy to HANA TOWN (lime green route).
The northern return along Hwys 330/360/36 (all part of the HANA Hwy) is supposed to be marked in dark blue but when I sharpened this image from the modified Google Earth, it lightened somewhat to near that of the western 37/HALEAKALA Hwy. Sorry about that.
The place markers with light blue print are the new places I managed to visit this trip. They may be more clear if you click-expand image.
There was much more to see along the way in addition to the blue markers - for instance yellow 37/KULA gets quite high along the western side of HALEAKALA (up to 900m/3000ft) and there are some fantastic views out over the beaches of central-south MAUI. Unfortunately there were few places to pull over which were not already taken by a vehicle or two along here so I didn't get pix.
The white route 31/PILANI is still quite high on the south-west corner and you get some panoramic views of MAUI'S south west coast.
This area is in the rainshadow of the volcano and the vegetatation is kinda stunted compared to TROPICAL RAINFOREST on the windward northern and eastern sides.
About half way along it had dropped to close to sea level giving some nice close-ups of the ocean and rocky shore.
Overall the distance to HANA via the southern route is about the same (but you can make better time mainly due to less traffic and slightly fewer one lane sections and hairpins) and is worth doing because it offers new vistas and locations.
STOP 1 - OHE'O GULCH
I spent about 3 hours wandering around here. The area was okay but couldn't match the HYPE guide-books and island websites go on about. On reflection I was a bit underwhelmed and I'm not sure it was worth the $US15 entry feee (this is part of the HAKEAKALA NATIONAL PARK - sure you can keep the 3 day pass and access the summit and crater but I'd already done this well over a week before).
THE SEVEN SACRED POOLS
I'm sure these would have been totally excellent in the past when visitors could dip a toe, paddle, swim or at least get a close-up. But in recent years they have been closed to public access with heaps of DO NOT ENTER! UNSAFE!! $100 FINES APPLY!!! signage. USA's litigation culture had a lot to answer for but my cynical side thinks NATIONAL PARK STAFF is may be complicit: it doesn't particularly welcome calls for rescue, first aid, CPR etc - would rather sit in the entrance booth collecting $15 or in the VISITOR CENTER selling overpriced TAIWANESE MADE baseball caps with SEVEN SACRED POOLS - MAUI logos.
THE BAMBOO FOREST
THE BANYAN TREE
WAIMOKU FALLS
THE PIPIWAI TRAIL
OTHER GULCH FEATURES
THE COASTAL WALKING TRACKS
THE VISITORS' CENTER
THE CAMP GROUND
SUM UP OF OHE'O GULCH
I was underwhelmed - this is an area that gets raves from the guide-books and online travel sites but doesn't meet the hype. It is time consuming to reach, expensive to enter, time consuming to see (I spent over 3 hours there) - all for limited rewards: no access to many features and others which are no better than in other parts of MAUI.
At the end of the day I kinda resented the time spent at OHEO GULCH - I found I was rushing subsequent call-ins to the point where I had to miss some and curtail time at the totally excellent WAINAPANAPA STATE PARK (see down page) a few km north of HANA TOWN.
My advice to DAY-TRIPPERS - there is so much to see on the road to and at HANA TOWN that you must PRIORITISE call-ins. OHE'O GULCH is one I'd PRIORITISE OUT.
For people on MULTI-DAY visits, particularly campers it's another matter. Probably worth the time.
NO STOP - WAILUA FALLS
This is one shortage of time forced me to give a miss. It's less than 3mi/5km north of OHEO GULCH, is adjacent the road and is reportedly the most photographed waterfall in MAUI.
The good news is my research indicates there are no restrictive signs or expensive entry fees and being virtually roadside, no long trek to access. On reflection if I did the southern route to HANA again I'd stop in here in preference to OHEO GULCH.
STOP 2 - HANEOO ROAD
STOPS 3 AND 4 - HANA TOWN
STOP 3 - FAGIN'S CROSS HANA TOWN
This is a relatively short walk up to a hilltop behind town where it is possible to get a good overview of the area. However at the main road end a big sign with the usual DO NOT ENTER plus PRIVATE PROPERTY: FINES APPLY gave me pause. Usually I'd ignore this (seems lots of other dudes go up there) but with the day slipping away I thought the 40 minutes it would take to do the 'round trek would be better spent elsewhere where there was no worry about possible confrontation with landowners.
STOP 4 - HANA BAY BEACH
Lovely RED SAND BEACH is on the opposite side of that hill (actually a small cinder cone) but time was so pressing I didn't have a chance to revisit what I consider the BEACH WITH THE MOST SPECTACULAR SETTING ON MAUI. See up-page for a pic and link.
STOP 5 - WAI'ANAPANAPA STATE PARK
This fabulous area is accessed via a side road which leaves 330 a few miles north of HANA TOWN. With dusk rapidly approaching I spent the limited time checking fabulous BLACK SAND BEACH, other rugged coastal landscape features including one of the blowholes + natural arches, and the rather nice campground. I have more info and pix on this page under MAUI'S BEST CAMPING BEACH, about 2/3 down the page.
Unfortunately I ran out of daylight and had to abandon my plans of checking the area's other main attractions: the FRESH WATER CAVES and the 3mi/5km long WAI'ANAPANAPA COASTAL WALKING TRACK.
So it was back on the road for all those hairpins and one lane sections in the dark - luckily I fell in behind some other vehicles and let them do all the worrying about high/low beams, giving way to oncoming traffic etc - and at that later hour there was less traffic too. 2 hours later I was back in WAILUKU.
HANA ROAD STRATEGIES
- there is so much to see ALONG the road and AT Hana itself that unless you have a multi-day visit you must PRIORITISE your call-ins. The less time, the more you must prioritise. The best would be a multi-day visit, staying AT or near HANA TOWN.
- if all you have is ONE DAY, it is a no-brainer to START EARLY. If you already have a rental car, 0600 would not be too early. I wasted too much valuable time collecting my rental at the airport on the same day - and I missed the early bus to the airport (DUH!)
- is a COMMERCIAL DAY TOUR a good idea? Well in its favour is that the guides are expert (good commentary and they waste no time finding places) and do the prioritising for you. Against that is the cost (all seem well north of $100), loss of independence in that you go with the herd, and that herd can use up a hell of a lot of precious time just getting into and out of the transport, in rest rooms and being collected/dropped off at their accommodation. And some places may be short-cutted eg I saw no day trip coach people on the PIPIWAI TRAIL at OHE'O GULCH.
IF YOU SEE MISTAKES OR HAVE EXTRA INFORMATION, PLEASE POST BELOW.
HOWEVER IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS PLEASE ASK THEM ON THE FORUM PAGE WHICH I TRY TO CHECK MOST DAYS WHEN NOT TRAVELING - WHEREAS I REVISIT INDIVIDUAL LOCATION PAGES LIKE THIS ONE ONLY OCCASIONALLY
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