Road to Hana

A must for everyone visiting Maui.
Yes, indeed. You have to experience it at least once. But not a second time!!

'The destination is Hana: A quiet and picturesque town on the east side of Maui
Hana is located on the rugged east coast of Maui and is considered one of Hawaii's last unspoiled frontiers. The legendary Road to Hana is only 84 km from Kahului. However, the drive can take two to four hours due to the many narrow, one-lane bridges, hairpin curves, and incredible island views.

The Hana Highway (HI-360) has 620 curves and 59 bridges. The road takes you through lush rainforests, flowing waterfalls, diving pools, and dramatic coastal landscapes. There are many opportunities to stop and enjoy the views.'

That's what the travel guide says. So I knew there were a lot of curves. I didn't know that there was hardly a straight piece of road. One curve after another, I've never driven so many in my entire life!! And to top it off, it was up and down.

The Road to Hana means that the journey is the destination. There are many different points to stay, observe, marvel, and take it all in. So it took us 5 hours just for the way there.

Mile marker # 9
Ho'okipa Beach is a world-renowned Mecca for surfers and windsurfers, with breathtaking surf for tourists.
There are also turtles 🐢 of considerable size resting on the beach. In the afternoon, we counted 51 of them!

Mile marker # 2
Twin falls. We walked through the botany for a while and saw many different palm species, bamboo, and fruits on the trees. By chance, we found a chameleon 🙂
There are 2 waterfalls there, one above and one below. Very beautiful idyll. To our dismay, the mosquitoes were happy about our ignorance of having to walk a little further than expected. Autan was unused in the car 😅

Mile marker # 16
Ke'anae Arboretum. Also a kind of tropical forest, this time with Autan 🙂

Mile marker # 17
Halfway to Hana. You can buy banana bread and other small things there. Along the entire route, you could stop at small stands. However, the prices were always quite steep.

Mile marker # 19
Waikalua Falls, another one of the numerous waterfalls

Mile marker # 29
Nahiku Market Place
Where there are otherwise no houses or supermarkets, there is a place on the Road to Hana with a high-class souvenir shop and several different stalls that offered food and even complete dishes. Spare ribs were being grilled on a large grill. It smelled really delicious. However, the prices were like in a 5-star luxury restaurant. Apart from that, there was also nothing right for us.

Mile marker # 50
Our final stop, after being very disappointed by Hana. We were looking forward to being able to buy a little something to eat at the grocery store, but there wasn't one. I wonder where the locals shop. Probably we would have had to drive on to the next town.
So we drove to Hamoa beach
Well, I found our beaches here at home better. So back in the car.

In the end, we had to drive the 620 curves back again, as it is the only road that leads to Hana. The other way, along the south coast, is much longer with just as many curves.
So in the rain, we drove the entire route back and it took us almost 2 hours. More exhausting than an ironman 🙂.

Arriving in Kahului, we attacked McDonald's first and stuffed ourselves round 😁