Drive the Road to Hana

Before You Go

• Bring a light jacket or parka - the vegetation is so lush and the waterfalls so abundant because it rains a lot.


• If you are coming from the east (such as U.S. or Canada), plan your Hana coast day early in your vacation, when you are still waking up early in Hawaii because of the time change.


• Several travel books, tapes, and cd's provide details for this trip.

The book Maui Revealed has an excellent section on the road to Hana that helped me select the stops that matched what my family wanted to see and do.

Our hotel loaned us a Hana Coast CD that we played in the car.


• Get a good Hana coast map and familiarize yourself with the drive. Most Maui guide books include some version of a Hana highway map.

You can just print my free road to Hana map page.

I also like the obscure Franko's Maui maps that you can order before your trip for about $6 each. The maps are quirky and have a lot of Maui destinations described right on the map.


• Eat a good breakfast in your room. If you want to get up real early and eat breakfast on the way, see below.


• Leave by 7am (this takes some negotiating in our family).


• If you don't have a rental car, or decide not to drive the road to Hana, consider a road to Hana tour in a van. There are several tours which pick you up at your hotel around 7AM.

Driving the Road to Hana

• Hana Maui is a tiny town at the 'end of the road' with marginal food (note we are talking about the ROAD to Hana, not HANA!).

If you want to eat out for breakfast, try Charley's in the town of Pa'ia on the way to Hana.

You can also pick up a Hana brown bag lunch at several stores in Pa'ia.

Further along the road, the Pauwela Cafe in Haiku opens at 7AM for breakfast.


• Watch for the 'Mile Marker' signs on the side of the road to identify your locations and stops. Most references to help you identify your sighseeing stops will use these mile marker signs.


• Don't be discouraged and turn back if it is raining during the first part of your trip - most of the rain occurs early in the morning. If it's raining - drive! You will just get ahead of the other tourists, and have less crowds when the morning rains stop.


• Stay ahead of the Whizzers! The locals call Hana tourists whizzers because they whiz from stop to stop. By midmorning the road can become crowded with other sightseers. There are lots of stops for Hana waterfalls and vistas, which get more spectacular as you progress during the day. To keep ahead of the crowd, skip the average stops at the beginning of the trip.


• This short physical distance for this drive is deceiving because the average speed on this road is 15 miles per hour. Add more time for your many sightseeing stops. Enjoy the trip, but remember that you have to turn around and retrace ths same route on your return. And you don't want to negotiate the curves and cliffs driving home in the dark.

Road to Hana Bridge Closure

• You can once again drive to Oheo Gulch from Hana. The Paihi Bridge, between mile marker 44 and 45 on the Hana Highway, was closed to traffic due to damage from the October 2006 earthquake in the channel between east Maui and the Big Island.

A temporary bridge has been erected to provide access while a new bridge is being built.

• But the earthquake caused another problem - the road beyond Oheo Gulch is closed to traffic for a mile or so at mile marker 40 due to potential rock slides from cliffs beside the highway.

So for now, you have to turn around and finish your trip by retracing your path back along the road to Hana.

As a result, what we used to drive in a single day trip now requires a second day trip.

Now you drive 'counterclockwise' on Highway 37 to see the stunning ocean views and beaches on south Maui.

For that trip, see our page beyond the road to Hana along the backside of the Maui volcano Haleakala.

Drive the Road to Hana Video

The road to Hana video below includes footage of the many twists and turns while you drive the Hana coast. This birds eye perspective is provided by a local helicopter tour company.

Click on the PLAY button in the image below to view the video.

Road to Hana Pages