Would love your recommendation for Hana! This will be our first time on Maui and booked snorkeling tour with Sail Trilogy - Discover Kaanapali. Will be sure to keep notes and report back after our vacation. Just booked our Walgreens ID Now test for Friday afternoon!
I’ve definitely got my thoughts on the road to Hana! First, if you’ve got folks who get carsick, I’d highly recommend taking whatever they normally take (Dramamine or whatever); I’d definitely have needed it if I had been in the back seat. I recommend the Shaka Guide or Gypsy app to help narrate along the way and help you not miss some of the pull-offs. Work of warning, though—my kids hated the music in between and wanted the radio LOL Heed the stop directions at the one-way bridges for sure!! Don’t leave anything in your car you can’t stand to lose. All we took was a cooler and a clear beach bag so anyone could see it just had sunscreen and crap in it. Whether because of that or just luck, nothing was bothered. (And I took a roll of paper “shop towels” to clean muddy feet if needeeAnd definitely leave as early as you can stand—the stops are tiny and get crowded.
I’m gonna attempt to go in order but forgive me if I mess some up! (Disclaimer: this is not a navigational aid!! LOL) In Paia, Ho’okipa lookout is THE place for kite surfers, but I recommend stopping on the way BACK instead, because (now I read…) that lots of turtles like to sun there in the afternoon. We stopped in the morning :/ Gorgeous views though.
Three Bears Falls is super popular to swim, but it was pretty wet when we went and the trail looked a little iffy for us. If you want a pic, stop at the first pull-off (in the curve), but the trailhead is at the next stop. Again, there are just a few spots at each place, so you’ll have to be patient and maybe stop on the way back. There aren’t many places to “turn around and see if anyone left.”
I just couldn’t justify paying for four of us to go to a botanical garden when I knew three of us (I.e. everybody but me!) would be complaining and rushing. So we stopped at Ke’anae Arboretum;it’s the only free place not in private property that I think you can easily see rainbow eucalyptus. Parking is just past it on the opposite side of the road and definitely take bug spray!! You can easily stroll through in 20 minutes or so; the fam tolerated that!
Kaumahina state wayside has some of the only really bathrooms along the way, but frankly we found them as nasty as most porta-potties. I highly recommend bringing some good hand wipes. There are some lovely views from there though.
You must stop for banana bread somewhere along the way; I think you get ticketed if you don’t LOL We stopped at Halfway to Hana because it’s right on the road. It was fine but not life-altering. Kids got shave ice too. We may try Aunty Sandys this time since it gets all the raves, but it’s a little off the road and frankly I never saw the turnoff.
But I do highly recommend Coconut Glens! He makes ice cream from coconut milk and it was delish; I had the lilikoi flavor. My son got a drinking coconut carved open with a machete (worth the cost just to see that!) and daughter got a thrill of chunking it out the roof of the jeep and off a cliff when he was finished. It’s the little things….
A word of wisdom/warning about food. Bring some. Seriously, I highly recommend heavy snacks and plenty of water. You’ll find 100 little food stands on TripAdvisor and such, but we went in June (2017, pre-covid) and a good many of them were either nowhere to be found or closed at the moment. We ate at Nahiku Marketplace and whatever we had was fine (I know I had tacos) but DH was pretty skeeved out by the nasty tables and bugs running around. YMMV, but I’d have something on hand just in case you don’t find anything you want when you want to eat.
We stopped at several other waterfalls and pull-outs and the views are just amazing. I’d say just don’t get too hung up on any certain spot in case you can’t park. You might have to skip it anytry on your way back.
But the reason I’m planning to stay two nights in Hana this trip…..first, the Seven Pools we’re closed due to a mudslide, and somehow I didn’t even know about the Pipiwai Trail, so need to see those. But the gorrrrrrgeous beaches……omg. Koki Beach is fabulous (bones of Pele), not for swimming, but definitely go see the red sand. Hamoa Beach literally looks like a travel ad for Hawaii; we didn’t have time for more than a peek, and next time I intend to park my butt there for a few hours! Gorgeous.
We also didn’t do any of the food trucks or restaurants IN Hana because we stopped on the way, and some of them sound really good. Looking forward to those.
And my favorite spot in all of Hawaii (with the possible exception of Kilauea, cuz LAVA…) was Wai’anapanapa state park!! By afternoon, it was kinda crowded and really HOT. I fully intend to spend two full mornings here. If you go, you have to make reservations online now, at least one day prior (and no more than 14 days). We totally missed the freshwater caves, too. It literally took my breath when I came to the first lookout and I MUST return
I hope that gives you a few things to think about and I’m happy to answer any specific questions if I can! It’s quite an adventure!!