The Road to Hana

Roads winding around Honomanu Bay
 

The Road to Hana, otherwise known as Divorce Highway, is 52 miles of winding road and one way bridges.  They say it has 620 curves and 59 bridges, 46 of those are one lane. Because of the all the twists and turns and precautions, there can be a lot of angst and frustration in a couple's car if they choose to navigate the roads on their own.  Thankfully, we were forewarned of this and it was highly suggested to us to take a tour instead.  Three good reasons (for us at least) to take the tour... 1) we can both enjoy the beautiful scenery as we weave in and out of the hills and valleys along Maui's eastern coastline, 2) with the tour, they take us one complete circle around the volcano instead of having to turn around and do the whole winding turns and single-lane bridges again, and 3) prevents Linda for screaming in fear and trying to grab the steering wheel away from Matt because he'll probably take the corners a little too fast.  Yes, number 3 says it all... for both of our sanities!

Rainbow Eucalyptus Tree

So early Saturday morning, we got ready and sat in the lobby waiting for our tour bus to pick us up, Discover Hawaii Tours.  First off, I'd like to say there's multiple tour groups that do the Road to Hana, such as the Polynesian Adventure Tours.  But I like that our group was smaller.. probably because it's not as well advertised as Polynesian Adventures... or we were just lucky.  Everytime I saw the other tour group's bus drive by, it was packed with people.  Our little group this time was a total of 9 people.  Easy to manage and not too many opinions. 

Pouhokamoa Falls & Pool

Anyhow, we enjoyed the personality of our tour guide/driver, Dennis.  He was funny and personable, which made the long winding road a blast.  And yes, he was informative as well.Things to look forward to on the Road to Hana are lush green rainforests.  The southeastern side of Maui receive more rain than the rest of Maui.  The limited road space and single bridges help to maintain the quaint and quiet lifestyle of Hana and spotted villages along the way.  Hana is the way undeveloped Hawaii should be, where Hawaiian traditions are more integrated in theses villages and  have the opportunity to enjoy nature as we should.  However, you do have some summer homes of the rich and famous like Oprah, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson.

Wailua Falls (Maui)

Look forward to lush valley, black and red sand beaches, beautiful cliffs (some very scary too!) and majestic waterfalls along the road.

Seven Sacred Pools (Oheo Gulch)

Lilioki'ki Fruit

Every now and then we stopped of along the road to take in the scenery and take pictures... the Rainbow eucalyptus trees, wander around in state parks and of course some you can't miss waterfalls!  We also stopped off at a roadside store where we got to taste some fresh banana bread and Liliko'ko (passion fruit) fruit! yum yum!  We never felt rushed and I enjoyed Dennis's stories. Near the end... after all the twists and turns, we also stopped off at Tedeschi Winery for a wine tasting. Let me tell you, Pineapple wine is yummy delicious!
I highly recommend taking the tour (unless you plan on staying overnight in Hana).  Maybe one day we'll return and take on the road ourselves... there's so much to see.

Lava arch @ Waianapanapa State Park

Southwestern side of Haleakala

Antiques a Kaupo Store