Driving the Road to Hana

The Hana highway is roughly 64.4 miles on a very windy paved road with most cars going around 30 miles per hour if there isn't traffic. There are more than 25+ stops along the Road to Hana and each stop has limited parking. Most people do the Road to Hana in one day, but it could also be done in multiple days to see and do more along the Road to Hana. If you decide to do the Road to Hana in one day here are some tips to help you!

1. Start early! Depending on where you are staying on Maui, it will be a drive just to get to the start of the Road to Hana. I recommend starting around 6 to 7 am to make the most of your day and make it back to your hotel before dark. The Road to Hana is not one you want to drive in the dark.

2. Download an offline map. The cell service is limited to none on the Road to Hana so you will want to download an offline map to be able to see the stops you want to visit and navigate you to each stop. Without an offline map, there aren't a lot of signs telling you where each overlook, beach, or waterfall is so you will miss a lot of them.

3. Have a plan of which stops you want to go to and what order you will do them. If you have a plan, it's much easier to just add the next stop into your map and cross them off one by one.

4. Make reservations ahead of time. Check if the waterfall and beach need reservations in advance. I recommend getting reservations for the Black sand beach and Twin Falls in advance as those will sell out.

5. Double check if restaurants are open. A lot of the restaurants on the Road to Hana are small businesses and run by locals. They do not have a 9-5 schedule of when they open and close. They will close random days of the week or only be open at certain times. We had wanted to go to a restaurant and it was only open Thursday to Sunday and we were there on a Tuesday.

6. Avoid the weekends. Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days to do the Road to Hana and parking can be a nightmare. Sunday and Monday are when the cruise ships are in Maui and doing tours on the Road to Hana. If you can, go during a weekday, but not Monday.

7. Be prepared for traffic and waiting for parking spots to see a waterfall or go to a beach. The raods are narrow, there isn't a lot of parking, it's inevitably going to be a long day, but it is a bucket list destination so take your time and enjoy being in Maui!