Maui: Road to Hana (and Haleakala National Park Kīpahulu District)

When we asked people who had visited Maui before our own trip there about the activities they most enjoyed while on Maui, the Road to Hāna was perhaps the most frequently mentioned activity.

I cannot think of a better example of a situation in which getting there is at least important as the destination. In other words, although I would love to do the Road to Hāna again and stay a night in Hāna the next time, the things I remember most from our drive on the Road to Hāna were the stunning beauty along the way and the national park just beyond the very small town of Hāna.

The vegetation along the Road to Hāna is lush and there are multiple waterfalls to stop and look more closely at.

As gorgeous as the scenery was on the Road to Hāna, my favorite part of the day trip was a short drive past Hāna at Haleakala National Park's Kīpahulu District.

The Pools of ‘Ohe’o (AKA "Seven Sacred Pools", "'Ohe'o Gulch") are beautiful and special.

I'm not typically a fan of "drama," but the natural drama that occurs where the fresh water hits the pounding ocean waves and the exhilarating breeze at the cliff's edge make this location beautiful and exciting.

There are multiple hikes available in the Kīpahulu District of Haleakalā National Park and we chose to do the very popular Pīpīwai Trail hike. This is one of the most rewarding hikes I have ever been on. While most good hikes offer a reward at the end of a view or a waterfall or something else special, this hike afforded these types of special experiences at multiple points along the hike.

Fairly early into the Pīpīwai Trail hike, one encounters another beautiful waterfall.

The next major attraction along the Pīpīwai Trail is a gigantic banyan tree. Although I had seen several of these before while in Hawaii (such as in Lahaina), the sheer enormity of this one along the hike made it special.

After the banyan tree, another highlight was two small waterfalls close together.

We soon entered the bamboo forest.

It got quite a bit darker inside these tall bamboos and it was really wet from water dripping off the bamboo stalks from a rain storm earlier that morning.

After the bamboo forest, the next major attraction along the Pīpīwai Trail was Waimoku Falls.

We needed to cross a small creek to get closer to Waimoku Falls and used rocks in the creek to step/jump across.

Waimoku Falls features a 400 foot drop.

The white water of Waimoku Falls among the lush vegetation creates stark contrast.

After Waimoku Falls, we turned around and headed back down to the restrooms and national park facilities at the trailhead and near the Seven Sacred Pools. Our feet were muddy and wet from the hike and we were able to rinse them off before getting back into the rental cars. The Pīpīwai Trail is a little less than 4 miles roundtrip (just under 2 miles up and 2 miles back). For the most part, its slope is generally gentle and there are areas of flat ground and even wood decks (such as through the bamboo forest). There are some tree and plant roots in the ground and rocks embedded in the trail floor to be aware of. Most of the trail was damp to muddy during our hike.

The Pīpīwai Trail and Pools of ‘Ohe’o at Haleakala National Park Kīpahulu District were my favorite part of the day on the Road to Hāna and one of my favorite days on Maui.

The Road to Hāna itself needs to be considered carefully before traveling it. There are several things to consider before choosing to ride along this road, but I think the benefits of the trip are worth the costs.

• The road curves and turns a lot and can (and did in one or two cases in our party) lead to motion sickness.
• The road is long and the speed limit is not very high (a good thing), so plan on sufficient time to go both directions and make stops along the way, at Hāna, and at the national park.
• There are several places (especially bridges over creeks and rivers) where the road becomes a single lane, meaning that drivers of vehicles approaching these bridges from both directions need to be aware of one another.
• The scenery along this road is fantastic and I sometimes felt cheated to be the driver and not be able to take it all in. Some might consider hiring a tour or van to drive them so that everyone can enjoy, but the cost of that is not being able to follow one's own timetable.
• It's not possible to stop at every worthwhile site and attraction on the Road to Hāna, in Hāna itself, and in the national park all in a single day. Multiple days should be planned or prioritization should be made regarding which sites to stop and enjoy. I would love to return to Hāna and stay a night or two in Hāna the next time we're there to break up the long drives in each direction and to have more time to enjoy everything along the way.
• The Road to Hāna takes one to the portion of Haleakala National Park (Kīpahulu District) that is not close at all to another well-known portion of the park (Summit District or Summit Area known for its Haleakalā volcano crater). Although it's possible to drive from the Kīpahulu District to the Summit Area without first going back on Hāna Road in the other direction, it's a drive that must be carefully considered and many people simply split the two areas into two (or more) different days or choose one or the other.

For me, the two "must see" attractions in Maui are the Road to Hāna with the Haleakala National Park Kīpahulu District and Molokini.

Maui: Molokini and Turtle Town

We scheduled and participated in Pride of Maui's Molokini Snorkel Tour & Turtle Town Snorkel Tour. We SNUBA dived and snorkeled at Molikini and then snorkeled again at "Turtle Town." We tended to use the GoPro more for video than photographs during these activities, but there are a few photographs that will be included in this post.

Molokini is one of my favorite places to snorkel because you combine protected waters (the water inside the crater ridge can be relatively calm) with a large number of different species of fish living near the crater. The water clarity at Molokini is often excellent because there is no sand beach for sand to be stirred up.

Although one can see Molokini from Maui's shore, a boat ride is required to get from Maui to Molokini.

The biggest drawback to Molokini is its popularity, which leads to lot of boats and people in the same relatively small space. I found, though, that most people just bobbed in the water neared their anchored boats and I was largely on my own when I snorkeled near the crater itself. Because that's where most of the fish are anyway, it worked out fairly well.

We participated in the SNUBA diving for 20 minutes while at Molokini and enjoyed the opportunity to go under water about 20 feet and enjoy the large schools of fishes and clear water. There were more varieties of species of fish near the crater, but large schools of the same species of fish could be seen better when SNUBA diving.

We departed Molokini for "Turtle Town," where we snorkeled and watched some turtles. The water in Turtle Town was less clear than at Molokini and we saw far fewer fish (number of fish or number of species of fish), but it was interesting to watch a couple of turtles swimming around.

Oahu: Pearl Harbor

One of the more well-known Hawaiian tourist sites is Pearl Harbor. The Pearl Harbor National Memorial website states, "At the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, learn about one of the most pivotal moments in US history: the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the subsequent entry of the United States into World War II."

Many people visit Pearl Harbor each day, but it is also a large area with multiple attractions that help spread out the crowds. Because we had young children as part of our large party, we had to choose select activities to keep their interest and were only able to see some of the many highlights to be experienced at Pearl Harbor.

The highlight of our Pearl Harbor visit (and the highlight arguably for most people visiting Pearl Harbor) was the USS Arizona Memorial.

An interesting introductory film was shown before boarding a boat to ride to the USS Arizona Memorial.

Fellow tourists on the USS Arizona Memorial were quiet and respectful and it served as a great memorial to those who had died there suddenly.

Tickets to the USS Arizona Memorial should be reserved well before one's visit to Pearl Harbor. Reservations are required for certain times lots to see the film and visit the memorial.

Maui: Highway 30 (Honoapi'ilani Highway)

The Road to Hana provides arguably the most beautiful drive in Maui and has even been listed as one of the 12 Amazing Drives Drives in the United States and is listed first in America's Most Scenic Roads. As impressive as the Road to Hana is, I found the drive and scenery along Highway 30 (Honoapi'ilani Highway) in west Maui to be particularly impressive in its own right.

Highway 30 forms forms an oval around the northwestern portion of Maui and includes cities and towns such as Wailuku and Lahaina. We didn't do the complete circuit, but mostly limited ourselves to the "reasonable" portion of this road (Wailuku through Lahaina to Kahakuloa). We had a few things we wanted to see on Highway 30 and felt like the day of the morning ride on the Atlantis Submarine and our visit to Lahaina was a good opportunity to see some of these sights.

Heading north out of Lahaina on Highway 30 takes one past fancy resorts near Ka'anapali Beach and Kapalua (Honokahua). As you drive north on Highway 30 past Kapalua, the view gets especially impressive as evidenced by the two previous images and the next photograph.

One of the highlights on this route is the Nakalele Blowhole. The next photograph shows that from a distance. We did not go closer because of time constraints based on the morning Submarine ride, lunch in Lahaina, and other activities planned for the day. If I ever get the opportunity to visit Maui again, I'd like to spend more time and get closer here.

Another highlight of this drive is the so-called Olivine Pools.

We only looked at the pools from above because it was a windy day and it didn't look like we'd be getting in or near the water in those pools that day anyway.

The Olivine Pools are another Maui attraction that I'd like to spend more time getting closer to on a future visit.

We ended our travel in that direction in Kahakuloa near the gorgeous Kahakuloa Bay.

The road is narrow (one-lane) for a bit here and falls and rises rather quickly.

The last photograph and the next photograph attempt to demonstrate this narrow road at this point, but the photographs don't do it justice. To get a much better idea of what it's like to drive on this section of Highway 30, see the YouTube video Honoapiilani Hwy.

We turned around at Kahakuloa Bay and headed back to Lahaina and ultimately to where we were staying in Kihei. However, I thought this drive from Lahaina to Kahakuloa and back was fantastic. We didn't complete the entire circuit and others have provided warnings about how harrowing it can be. These include Driving Maui’s Wild Highway and Death Road of Maui.

Like the Road to Hana, I found Highway 30 to provide exhilarating and inspiring views. Also like the Road to Hana, this route has its curves and narrow roads requiring the driver to focus sometimes on the drive more than the beautiful surroundings. This route is shorter than the Road to Hana and can be covered in less time. My suggestion for anyone visiting Maui for the first time is to do both!

Maui: Lahaina

Our primary reason for visiting Lahaina was to board the boat that would take us to the Atlantis Submarine from Lahaina Harbor. It was nice to have a motivating reason to visit Lahaina and presented the opportunity to travel a portion of the picturesque Highway 30.

Lahaina offers the Lahaina Harbor, but it also presents many other things popular with tourists such as art galleries, restaurants, and numerous shops (including small local shops, the Lahaina Cannery Mall, and the Outlets of Maui). Lahaina also features several places of historical note including the Pioneer Inn where we picked up our tickets for the Atlantis Submarine Ride.

After the submarine ride, we sat down in Lahaina's Lahaina Banyan Court Park (also known as Lahaina Courthouse Square or Banyan Tree Park) to eat the lunch that we had packed. The massive banyan tree that is the focal point of this part provides appreciated shade and an aesthetically pleasing environment for enjoying lunch or a break from other activities. I was disappointed to see parents encouraging their children to climb and sit on this banyan tree despite signs stating that people should not climb it.

Lahaina is a popular tourist destination and I have read that its parking can be difficult. We had no issues finding a parking space because we were willing to use the paid parking, but we also arrived in the late morning. There did seem to be fewer spots available later in the afternoon and I can imagine it's more difficult to find spaces in more popular times than June.

A week in Maui is not nearly enough time to see everything in as much depth as it deserves. Although I enjoyed our brief visit to the town of Lahaina, I would have liked to have had more time to spend there than the few hours we had.