Road To Hana

Today we drive the Road to Hana! When we first decided to visit Maui, the Road to Hana was at the top of our lists as something to do! Because you need a reservation to get into the state park, ours are for today at around noon. The thought process being that Cactoose and I are still on “west coast” time, getting up early wouldn’t be that difficult. The drive from our AirBnB to the park is about 2-3 hours.

We also downloaded an audio guide from Gypsy Guide to give us our own personalized tour along the way. It provides both navigation and a virtual tour guide for the stops along the drive. One of the things that can be problematic is cell coverage can be spotty, so having a fully downloaded guide can be super helpful. 

Along the way you get some glimpses of just how lovely the coastline of Maui is! However, the road itself is super windy and not for the faint of heart! It can get quite narrow at times, and sometimes requires alternating one lane traffic. So if you lack confidence in your driving skills, it may be best to have a strong driver take the wheel or join a tour! Lebron drove the outbound leg and I did the return. While the views as a passenger are great, I found driving the challenging road much more fun!

Keanae Arborteum

Our first stop (suggested by the Gypsy Guide) is the Keanae Arborteum. This is a small “park” that is home to all manner of plant life. I’m not a huge plant guy so while its nice to get out of the car and stretch your legs. The local flora and fauna doesn’t hold a lot of appeal for me. I think the one thing that is interesting are the large Rainbow Eucalyptus trees in the middle. The name “rainbow” comes from the multi coloured layers of bark on the tree trunk. So when you look at it, it looks a little like a rainbow coloured tree trunk!

Aunty Sandy’s

Our next stop is the Keʻanae Peninsula. This home to Aunty Sandy’s which is a small cafe that is famous for their banana bread. Obviously we had to stop and try their claim to fame. I can safely say that the banana bread is really good. I’m a bit of a banana bread snob myself. I don’t tend to like it with other things (like chocolate chip etc.) so this loaf being “pure” banana bread really appeals to my palette. What makes it even “sweeter” is that we were able to get our order before two busses full of tourists arrived. Nothing enhances flavour more than beating the tours!

Keanae Point

After we finish our bread, we drive a few more minutes and arrive at the end of the peninsula called Keanae Point. Here you’re able to jump out of the car and explore the rocky out crops of lava and crashing waves. We spend a little time here exploring the rocks, watching the crashing waves and enjoying the the views!

Wai’anapanapa State Park

We hop back into our cars and head straight for Wai’anapanapa State Park. We had a reservation time to make! After arriving on time, we park and start walking around the park. The park itself isn’t super big, and most of the things people want to see are within a short walking distance. While our group intended to explore this area a fair bit, the incoming clouds and rain made it difficult to stay outdoors for an extended period of time.

I think the most striking element of the park is the contrast of colours. On the one hand you have the black lava rock and on the other you have this vibrant green vegetation that grows on top of it. It is very picturesque and think it’s worth the drive and visit just to see this part of the Road to Hana.

Black Sand Beach

Another attraction within the park is the Black Sand Beach. It’s literally what it’s name describes and is a beach that is entirely black! While we didn’t bring gear to spend much time on the beach, we dipped our feet in the water and enjoyed the novelty of being on an abnormally coloured beach!

Lava Tube

Right next to the black sand beach is this small little lava tube. Essentially its like a cave that used to be a tunnel for lava flow but is now…. just a cave! We didn’t even know it was there and only stumbled upon it on our way back to the car. It is still kind of neat to think that in the past molten lava would be running through and emptying itself into the ocean. 

Heading Back

I’d like to say that the Road to Hana only gets better and better, but I think after our visit to the state park, nothing else really jumped out at us. We drove through Hana and stopped at a small food truck area for lunch. All of us ended up with Tacos which while tasty, wasn’t anything to write home about. We did stop at another (more traditional) beach. But since we weren’t intending for this to be a beach day we didn’t stay too long. 

I think that while the Road to Hana, is one of the big attractions in Maui, it left all of us a little underwhelmed. The sites are cool to see, but nothing truly knocked my socks off. I think for me personally the act of driving the challenging and winding road was the most fun part of the day for me. 

Paia Fish Market

After driving for a few hours to get back to “our side” of the Island, we stop in Lahaina to go to the Paia Fish Market. This is a cool place that lets you customize your meal the way you want. You can choose the type of fish, the method it is prepared and the sides to go with it. I opted for the snapper, sauteed with cajun rice. It was delicious! We spent some time here to enjoy our surroundings given the long time we spent in the car just earlier. 

Tamura’s Fine Wine

I’m not sure if its because we were feeling super ambitious or something, but right after eating at the fish market, we decide to hit up another food stop on our list: Tamura’s Fine Wine. A few people had told me that this place has some great Poke. Sadly, by the time we get there, they look to be getting ready to close, so the available selection is a bit limited. Nonetheless we pick up a bit for home and make our way back.

By the time we get back we realize that none of us are hungry so we sadly put it in the fridge to save for later! It’s been a bit of a weird and long day for us. We originally intended to be away from home driving the Road to Hanna all day. But after being underwhelmed and turning back we end up with a few extra hours to kill at the end. Somehow this results in us going on a bit of a food tour and still being pooped from the days activities. This works for us since we need to be up early again tomorrow as we are all taking surfing lessons!