If I could give someone one piece of advice, it’s to please leave early! I know how hard it can be to get up early on vacation, but it’ll be worth it. I promise! Thankfully, we left right before dawn. Right as we were leaving some of the first stops, literally tour bus’s full of people were pulling in behind us. If you want peace and the ability to enjoy the places by yourself, LEAVE EARLY! The beginning of your trip will start in the town of Paia. I would suggest stopping and filling up for gas prior to leaving Paia. We did not spend any time in this city, but it looked like a good stop on the way back. I saw a lot of cute shops and restaurants here.
The second piece of advice I would give (I know I said one), is to dress appropriately! I choose to wear cute hiking gear, with a swimsuit underneath. Like an idiot, I forgot to wear something to protect me from rain! Even if it is not supposed to rain, bring some sort of water resistant jacket. Preferably one with a hood. The entire day you are going to be near the ocean, or a river, or a waterfall. Hell, it might even rain the whole time. Also I would try to have as little clothes as possible underneath the water resistant gear. Since it’s usually fairly hot out, underneath will start to get humid and uncomfortable. I noticed a lot of people wearing swimsuits or a spandex type workout gear. Then they would just throw their jackets on whenever it was needed. I would also pack a pair of sandals, for while you’re inside the car. Trust me your shoes are going to be COVERED in mud. I also wish I would have brought with a spare change of clothes. By the end, you’ll have been rained on, in the ocean, covered in black sand, red sand, and more than likely have slipped in the mud while hiking.
It was a last minute decision of mine to buy the Road to Hana Maui GyPSy Guide. But I am SO thankful that I did! I tried to pre-plan the trip as best as possible, in order to decide where and when to stop. I had different sheets printed out with pictures and the mile markers. Literally none of that was necessary and I didn’t even look at it while on the road. Even when you completely lose service (because you will at some point), the app still works! I loved that during and prior to the stops, they talked about the history of different places as well as the islands history overall. I also thought it was nice how when the guy was done talking our music would restart back up. It also follows you with a GPS, so they will always tell you where and when to turn! Look up some pictures of the places you want to stop, but let the app do all the work! No need to waste any time prior!
Twin Falls – Mile Marker 2- Personally this is one of those stops that you could skip, especially if you are rushed for time. Even the GyPSy app stated that we could skip it, or at least try and hit it on the way back. We had left very early so we decided to stop. We were in Maui right after the “rainy” season, so the falls were really strong. We weren’t able to continue the hike up to Caveman falls or take a dip because of the current. The “Twin Falls” were essentially one huge brown fall. Since it was the first waterfall on the stop, we took way too many pictures. Trust me, you will stop and see a lot prettier and bigger falls along the way. We got here too early, but the Twin Falls Farm stand has any little treats you may want.
Keanae Peninsula – Mile Marker 16.8- This area in particular has a lot of history behind it. On top of this gorgeous coastline, you have the chance to see some of the “old Hawaii”. Like I mentioned earlier, make sure you buy the GyPSy app. That way you can listen to his in depth stories about the area. If you have children in the car, this would be the perfect place to take a break for the day. You have the chance to stop and give them the opportunity to run around and burn some energy.
About half way through the drive, you will start to see a lot of different food stands and trucks. The banana bread is to die for! We arrived so early that it was still warm, and you can clearly tell how fresh it is! Make sure to pick up a fresh cup of coffee with it. Hawaii is the only place in The United States where coffee beans can be grown. So the coffee is usually significantly fresher! A lot of these stands and shops have little souvenirs and trinkets that you can purchase as well. I love supporting the local people, instead of the big chain stores.
Wainapapnapa State Park (Black Sand Beach) – Mile Marker 32- If for some reason there is only 3 places you can stop. Make sure this is one of them. This is a big stop for everyone though, and you can see this when you pull into the park. This is one of the few places that there is a substantial amount of parking. You are immediately drawn to the sand. Never have I seen such a dark shade of jet black sand before. The sand itself is fairly rough compared to normal sand. I would suggest wearing some sort of sandal in the sand itself. Occasionally you get some larger pieces of lava rock. You can’t tell in the picture, but I had just thrown my Birkenstocks up out of the frame of the photo.
Once you get down to the beach, if you immediately go to the right you will find a smallish hole. By small I mean roughly the size of a grown man. If you go through that hole, you will enter into a small cave. The cave is gorgeous, and leads right out to the ocean! You will feel like a mermaid sitting in there! There’s apparently another cave, but we did not see it. To the left of the main beach, is a significant amount of lava rock. These rocks are very rough, and have steep drop offs. If you are traveling with children, I’d advise keeping them away from this section.
Wailua Falls – Mile Marker 45- This waterfall is breathtaking, and literally right off the road. Across the street from the falls is just a couple parking spaces. I’ve read articles stating this is one of the top photographed waterfalls in the world. That fact is coming from other bloggers, but I can see exactly why they would say that! Again we came during a rainy time, and there was mist everywhere from the falls. So we couldn’t get any good pictures. I definitely suggest stopping though, even if its only for a couple minutes! It’s a nice break from the driving at that time.
Mile Marker 42- The Seven Sacred Pools (‘Ohe’o Gulch)- Is one of my favorite hikes that I’ve ever been on. It really is the cherry on top of an already wonderful Road to Hana Trip. The Pipiwai Trail is apart of The Seven Sacred Pools. Essentially once you get to the end of the hike, a bamboo forest begins. The trail is very clear cut, and not very difficult. A large majority of the this part of the trail is actually paved with wood. Once you get through the Bamboo the trail immediately begins to open up to the this beautiful lush canyon. Directly across from the trail is the 200 foot tall Mahahiku Falls. You can continue along the trail, until you are right up fairly close to Mahahiku.
Kaihalulu Red Sand Beach- I’ve never had to work so hard to get to a beach in my life. While the hike isn’t long, or particularly strenuous there is some hiking involved! So this beach will not come up on the GyPsy app, because “technically” it is not a part of the Road to Hana. I’ve actually seen a lot of debate over this particular beach. I guess there is A LOT of accidents that occur here. Personally it is extremely easy to see why, due to the steep drop off’s and wet environment. Personally I would not bring kids to this beach at all. I did see one child down here, when I was there. I would feel to anxious have a young child that close to a cliff.
If you do want to find the beach though, I can give you some tips. Once you search the beach, you will immediately realize that you cant drive directly to the beach. But search Kaihalulu and let it take you as close to the beach as people. Once you get there, you will realize that it took you to a primary school. There is limited parking spaces, so we had to park down the street a bit. Personally at this point, we had almost chickened out on going since it didn’t seem like we were in the right place. Then some people with towels walked by our car, so we decided to follow. We literally walked across the schools field, into a wooded area. Keep your eye out though. When we were here, there was bananas growing from some of the trees. This was the first time I had ever seen an actual banana plant, so it was intriguing. Sadly they weren’t ripe, otherwise we would have picked one. But banana’s aside, continue on the path down towards the ocean. This hill is fairly steep and primarily mud, so watch your step. Once you get down, go to your left. You are basically going to follow that path and continue around the cliff edge. Again, A LOT of accidents occur in this area. Please be careful. Once you come around the corner, the pathway completely opens up into a sea of red!
