March 10, 2026
“The Road to Hana” is one of those adventures that is on a top 10 list, uses capital letters, and even has its own T-shirts. Last time we visited Maui we only swam in the first set of waterfalls at Twin Falls because our friends said they were not going to do that again.
What they were talking about are the 620 curves, one lane road and bridges, steep cliffs and a literal jungle that you go through to get there. And you have to come back the same way. The main stretch from Paia to Hana is only 45 miles, but you have to budget at least 3 or 4 hours one-way because of the slow traffic and all of the stops.
We had planned it for our last full day in Maui because that is when we could finally get reservations for the famous black sand beaches of Wai’anapanapa State Park. What we didn’t plan for was the weather. As we started to plan for this grand adventure we started to hear about the Kona Storm (also capitalized – not a good sign) that was coming. It was going to create flash floods, landslides, and rain for days. Warning alerts were going out not to travel, stock up on food and just hunker down. The big question is when was the storm going to hit. The day of our trip OR the next day when we leave the island.
We consulted news sources, weather reports, and social media. We made for Plan B – a nice relaxing day at the beach is always an option. We waited till the early morning we planned to leave to make the final decision. With all this input we decided to go.
We were on the road at 6:30 am with enough food, water and supplies to last for days – can’t be too prepared. Siri was behind the wheel as we started into the one lane forever curvy sections. This section of Maui was so different from other parts we had seen. It was lush and green trees and vines growing everywhere, waterfalls at each canyon we passed through and so many stops you could be on this road for days just taking in the breathtaking scenery. At time I wondered who decided to pave this path through the dense jungle.
Fortunately we had downloaded a virtual tour guide, The Shaka Guide, which was fabulous. It helped curate the stops, gave suggestions and ‘best of’ ideas, a little history and had nice Hawaiian music to keep us company all day. We stopped at the rainbow eucalyptus trees and only one waterfall before making it to the black sand beach – which is quite spectacular. It is a more recent lava flow which created this unique site of deep black round rocks that then turn into this fine black sand which is pounded by the surf.
After walking through a lava tube cave and over the barren lava trails, I decided to join in the fun of also being pummeled by this surf. When a full-size wave hits it can knock you over, spin you around, and have you smacked down against the black sand. Then you get up and do it again. Of course everyone is doing this from young kids to full size adults. After several of these broad sides, we called it quits and headed along our way.
Hana town is a sleepy small community that seems to be at the end of the world. Historically, this is where King Kamehameha landed his armies to take over the island and later was the site of at least six large sugar plantations. But now it is less than a thousand people getting by with road side fruit stands, a few entrepreneurial stores and restuarants and one fancy resort and spa. We stopped at a family farm for a passion fruit smoothie and talked to the locals. This small family farm has expanded from livestock to organic produce to now citrus groves and the roaadside smoothie and shaved ice stop. They are a proud Hana family and all kids and grandkids play a part in making it work.
We decide to not continue on and so turnaround and head back to beat the impending storm and nightfall. We take a more leisurely pace returning, stopping for vegan passion fruit ice cream (are you seeing a theme here?), checking out the famous Jurrasic Park rock with incredible waves crashing against jungle cliffs, swimming in a waterfall, checking out the turtles and over 50 surfers at Ho’okipa park, and finally walking through the cute tourist town of Paia.
We make it back to our condo just in time for sunset. We fortunately missed the storm (the rains finally did start around midnight) and got to experience an adventurous ride through the jungle to the eastern tip of Maui.
I would highly recommend it and we mght even do it again with an overnight stay in Hana to give more time to explore.
And maybe I can get my t-shirt too.
Siri and David Adventures 