My latest visit to the Hawaiian Islands of Maui had me looking into the Road to Hana and it’s various attractions. I have always been interested in travelling the Road to Hana, but the experience had always eluded my fingertips. On this particular holiday, we’d make the time to travel the Road to Hana, calling in on the Black Sand Beach at Waiʻānapanapa State Park and the Ho’okipa Beach Park for sunset on the way back. We enjoyed a full day full of coastal highlights. This is how our first trip on the Road to Hana turned out.

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Maui’s Road to Hana and Visiting the Black Sand Beach at Waiʻānapanapa State Park, Hawaii, USA

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After several visits to the Hawaiian Island of Maui, we had yet to travel the famed “Road to Hana”. With a seven day stay, we opted to take one of our days to explore the Road to Hana

About the Road to Hana:

The Hana Highway, also known as the The Road to Hana, is a 64-mile / 103 km long stretch of Hawaii Routes 36 and 360 which connects Kahului to the town of Hana in east Maui.

Although Hana is only about 52 miles /84 km from Kahului, an uninterrupted car-trip takes about 2.5 hours to drive, since the highway is very winding, narrow, and passes over 59 bridges, of which 46 are only one lane wide.

There are approximately 620 curves along Route 360 from just east of Kahului to Hana, almost all of it through lush, tropical rainforest. Many of the concrete and steel bridges date back to 1910 and all but one are still in use.

While we didn’t use an app or a guided tour to chart our day, we ended up just going freestyle on our own schedule with out much schedule or objectives.

Starting Off on the Road to Hana:

We started off from the Sheraton Maui Resort and Spa in Kaanapali on the western side of Maui, Hawaii. After a morning breakfast, we travelled forty minutes through Kahului to start off on the road to Hana.

Navigating with Apple Car Play, the road started getting twisty. As expected, this led to some of the charm (or nightmare) that The Road to Hana was known for.

In practical terms, the drive was a pretty one through lush tropical rainforests. It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to travel through such interesting geography under sunny skies.

It wasn’t long before we came across our first view point. The Road to Hana doesn’t hug the coast line as much as I might have thought for an island highway. Despite this, we had some panoramic views that rolled down over coastline and tropical meadows down to the water.

We had a number of waterfalls along the way towards Hana. Some were tranquil, despite their side of highway locations.

Visiting the Black Sand Beach at Waiʻānapanapa State Park:

The Black Sand Beach at Waiʻānapanapa State Park is among the highlights of the attractions on the Road to Hana. There are a lot of visitors to the park, so the State of Hawaii has moved to an advance reservation system.

Booking about fourteen days in advance, we paid our entry fee of $20 USD for the car through the State of Hawaii website. We selected an entry time of 12:30 PM to 3 PM for our visit. It’s worth mentioning that the time range selected is both the “in” and “out” time for your. Regardless of the time you arrive, you’ll have to be out by the end of the time on your ticket.

After easily finding parking, we had a quick self catered picnic lunch before heading down to the Black Sand Beach. We had a descent on a terraced staircase towards the water.

We had absolutely spectacular views of the coast line as we made our way down to sea level. We had the first sight of the black sand beach at Waiʻānapanapa State Park.

I was happy to have brought my sandals with me. The Black Sand Beach was exceptionally rough and stony. It was a far cry from the fine sands over in Kaanapali Beach.

Ke Ala Loa O Maui Pillani Trail:

From the Black Sand Beach, we took the shore line trail along the Ke Ala Loa O Maui Pillani Trail. The short trail takes beach goer’s along the shore line towards a shore break.

After a short seven minute walk towards the end, we found ourselves at the end of the point.

The point at the end featured a small blow hole, which was always naturally entertaining.

We eventually wandered back to the Black Sand Beach as our departure time slot dripped away. The Waiʻānapanapa State Park was a nice spot to visit on the trip to Hana.

After arriving to Mission Concepción, I started to explore the grounds. I would end up discovering that, during my Sunday visit, the church ended up being closed for mass due to it being a full occupancy.

Ho’okipa Beach Park

On our return back, after dozens of twists and turns, we stopped in at Ho’okipa Beach Park for today’s sunset.

Ho’okipa Beach Park has a great north shore location. It’s usually filled with surfers. It’s a pretty special spot. We were able to find some parking, for a terrific sunset.

While it was a full day, it was a pretty interesting day with lots to see. I was happy that was finally able to see the Road to Hana. While there were some interesting sights, I’m not sure that I’d be in a rush to return.

My Thoughts on the Road to Hana:

The Road to Hana had eluded me on all my previous trips to Maui. While I was glad that I took it in, I’m not sure that I would be in a hurry to visit again.

Much of the nature of the journey can likely be experienced on other parts of the island. While we had a few great waterfalls and a terrific visit to the Black Sand Beach, the highlight of the day was actually sunset at Ho’okipa Beach Park.

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If you’ve visited the Road to Hana, what part of the trip was your favorite ?

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