Day 05 Maui - Road to Hana

July 27, 2022

The early bird catches the worm....or?

We are slowly getting over the jet lag, as getting up in the morning is becoming increasingly difficult. Today, for the last time for now, we have to get up at 5 am: "Get out of bed!"

At 5:30 am, we are ready to go and drive - once again in the dark - towards the airport. Today, we want to drive the Road to Hana. Until today, it is unclear whether we can go around the island via the Piilani Hwy or if we have to drive the entire winding road back. Our friends have already done the tour and said that the Piilani Hwy was not a problem. And we only have a Nissan Altima.

A few months ago, there were apparently severe weather conditions that destroyed part of the Piilani Hwy. However, these have recently been "repaired" and theoretically it should work. But we will decide that spontaneously today.

After about 15 minutes of driving, my husband asks if I packed everything. I think for a moment - I think so.

Also, all the reservations!? Do we have any today?

Panic! I quickly look for the Haleakala admission ticket, we need it today. Okay, we have it. But - damn - where is the reservation for the Waiʻānapanapa State Park? Oh no, I forgot it in the condo 😱🙈

Usually, we have everything digitally on our phones, but since I activated my new phone right before the vacation, unfortunately not all of the email history made it to my phone. Damn - so turn around!

The fun now costs us almost 45 minutes. Sob - that wasn't planned...

We reach the Road to Hana Marker "0" only around 7 am. We are also progressing very slowly in the following kilometers. There is so much to admire. These plants and trees are incredible, and there is a waterfall at every corner.

The first stop are the Twin Falls, which we almost pass by because the parking lot is so unexpectedly hidden. We had already heard that you have to pay $10 for parking. We don't like that. When we see that it is indeed true, we continue driving. There are still plenty of other waterfalls today!

At around mile 9, we find a beautiful waterfall - with a Tarzan rope 🤩

It must be amazing to swim here! But unfortunately, we don't have time for that now. Well, maybe another time - we still have a few days here.

After a quick photo stop at the Kaumahina State Wayside Park Lookout (mile 12), we stop at the Ke'anae Arboretum (mile 16), which is completely free unlike the "Garden of Eden Arboretum". We manage to find the last parking spot - phew - lucky!

Here, the cool Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees and lots of beautiful flowers are growing. Unfortunately, we forgot to spray ourselves with mosquito repellent. The bugs come out of nowhere and attack us, so we involuntarily shorten our stay. My daughter and I count about 30 mosquito bites on our legs 😱🙈

And they itch like hell!!!

We stop at the Wailua Valley State Wayside Lookout, where you have a beautiful view of the tall waterfalls in the interior. We continue on the beautiful winding road past the Upper Waikani Falls (mile 19.3) to the Pua'a Ka'a Falls (mile 22.4) in the Pua'a Ka'a State Park (mile 22.5), where we stop briefly and take photos. The Pua'a Ka'a Falls are a bit crowded, the parking lot is full, several small tourist buses have stopped, and tourists are flocking to the falls. It would be nice to swim in the falls, but it's really crowded here. Besides, time is running out. Unfortunately, I booked the earlier time slot in the Waiʻānapanapa State Park from 10-12:30 pm, and it's already 10:45 am when we reach the Hana Lava Tube (mile 31.3).

In hindsight, it would have been smarter to go to the Waiʻānapanapa State Park first and then back to the Lava Tube - but we didn't realize that at the time.

The Lava Tube costs an additional $15 per person - but it's worth it! We already know about lava tubes and lava tunnels from our trip to the Azores, but this tube is crazy because it is NOT illuminated or equipped with any artificial light sources. We are given a flashlight each and are allowed to explore the tube on our own. It is one of the largest lava tubes in the world, with temperatures around 22 degrees Celsius all year round. How pleasant 🤭

We descend through a kind of hatch and some stairs into the tube. Since there are hardly any other tourists here right now, it becomes pitch dark after a few meters. Amazing! There are signs everywhere, and there is a handrail to hold on to at stumbling points, but other than that, you walk on the lava floor everywhere. We are totally excited and have a lot of fun with our flashlights in the tube.

Since we are under time pressure, we spend about 30 minutes in the tube, then use the toilets with funny signs, and reach the Waiʻānapanapa State Park around 11:45 am. Even at the entrance, there is a notice that you don't have to drive here WITHOUT a reservation. Well, luckily we have it! And we have the document with us... 🤭

We grab our swimwear and hurry down to Black Sands Beach. While the rest of the family has fun jumping in the waves, I take some pictures in the area. Time passes way too quickly. Now I regret very much that we did the Lava Tube first. It would have been better the other way around, as we would have had more time at both attractions.

But well, it can't be changed anymore. We briefly consider what would happen if we exceed the departure time of our reservation at 12:30 pm - how they could check that - but remember that we were directed to a special parking lot that corresponds exactly to our reservation time. It would surely be noticed if only our car was still there... Reluctantly, we leave the beach and reach our car around 12:45 pm. The parking lot is almost empty, and we don't get friendly looks from the parking attendants. We quickly pack our things into the car and leave the park.

We would like to have a nice picnic somewhere on a beach, so we look for the nearest beach, Hana Bay Beach Park. But we don't like it there at all, so we continue towards Red Sand Beach, which we give up on the way because we would have to walk/climb to the beach, and we are hungry and thirsty!

We choose the next beach, Koki State Park. Oh, it's great!!!

We park right at the beach and grab our beach equipment, find a nice shady spot under the trees, and have lunch. The beach is a dream! Hardly any visitors, many waves rolling evenly onto the beach, enticing many bodyboarders into the water. Great, we also have 2 boards with us! After lunch, I walk along the beach with my daughter while the boys have already plunged into the waves with their boards.

A dog owner throws sticks into the waves for his dog, and we watch as he jumps into the waves and even dives to bring his stick back to the beach. So funny.

Later, I also dare to go into the waves with the board. The beach slopes very slowly, so even meters away from the beach, the water only reaches up to the hips. Perfect!

Of course, there are signs everywhere about dangerous currents, etc., but that seems to be the standard beach equipment here in Hawaii. I'm a real scaredy cat, but now in summer, there really is no noticeable current here.

We could easily spend a few more hours here, but we still have a few kilometers ahead of us, so we continue at 3 pm. We stop at the Wailua Falls, which are really huge, and my husband simply MUST jump in here and get his "photo" under the waterfall. Okay, then we'll wait for a moment. 😇

We ignore the "Venus Pool" and reach the southern part of Haleakala National Park at 4 pm, where our admission from yesterday is still valid. Here, the Pipiwai Trail to the waterfall starts, but we decide to skip it. Since it's already so late, we opt for the shorter "Kuloa Point Trail" loop. It's really nice and offers great views of the Ohe'o Gulch Pools, but swimming is no longer allowed there.

5 pm - now the question arises: Piilani Hwy, yes or no!?

We haven't seen a single sign along the way that the road is NOT passable or that you can only drive it with a 4WD as claimed in various forums. So let's go, if our friends managed it with the same car, we can do it too!

We drive more calmly, as Nissans and Ford Mustang convertibles are also sharing the road with us 😂

Unbelievably - 3 Mustang convertibles on the road! Well then!

Except for a few parts where the road is unpaved and it gets a bit narrower, the Piilani Hwy is by no means critical. We are used to much worse roads in Australia! Harmless!!!

We pass new provisional bridges and see the traces of the last flash flood that washed away entire sections of the road. Amazing... Now in summer, it all looks so harmless...

We also leave the "Charles Lindbergh gravesite" behind us and continue along the coast. When we go inland again, we have to stop several times because of goats and cows on the road.

At the Ulupalakua Scenic Overlook, we stop and wait for the sunset. The drive back afterwards is quite long, as we have to drive almost back to the airport and don't really save any distance or route by circumnavigating the island. Nevertheless, I always find it more exciting when you don't have to drive the same route back.

Totally exhausted but happy, we reach our condo around 8 pm in the evening. Tomorrow we will take a day off! 😇🤭