This is really a great self driving tour. However, highly recommend downloading the Shaka Guide as it will point out stuff you dont read about and also adds some cool Hawaiian music to enjoy the over 600 turns with. Be sure to leave real early and make time to get back. There are no lights on the roads. Be sure to book time for the Black Sand Beach near Hana, requires a park pass for entry. Get that before you go.

A very curvy road for comfortable drivers. This 34-mile road has about 600 turns and it is a two-way road. Be careful and mindful when driving. Locals use this road for their daily commute and you may see them driving faster than you, pull over and let them pass. We started from the airport, which was a 30-minute drive to Mile Marker 0, once we got to Hana which we were not that impressed with what it had to offer the drive straight back on the road took 2 hours. There are restrooms available along the drive, and the halfway to hana stop along with other stops beyond the halfway spot had food carts available. We pulled off at stopped at Coconut Glens for coconut ice cream and a coconut and we happy we did. If you have several days in Maui and aren’t restricted to driving this road on a specific day, try to do it on a day when cruise boats are not docked in port, less crowds and people on the roads. There is minimal cellular service on this road. We predownloaded the Shaka app tour for $20 which was a live saver. It pointed out all the mile markers, gave some history to each stop and facts. Best part is we didn’t need cell service as it tracked us via GPS which was great because we had no cell service the whole day!

Thanks to the Italian time zone we woke up very early and this was good for having this experience because we found few cars going in the same direction as us because when you cross paths to go in opposite directions it is really an inconvenience as the road is full of curves and small bridges but very narrow so it is considered to be in a single lane for 70% of the journey. Among the many stops, I do not recommend the twin falls as there is only the first one which is small and the other one above was non-existent and there is a fee for parking there. For the rest it's worth it. Fantastic landscape that runs along the island and often you have the coast on one side and the waterfalls on the other.

Driving on the Road to Hana is not for the faint hearted and requires confident driving skills and 100% concentration but I found it to be excellent fun and quite an adventure. The highlights along the drive include Waiʻānapanapa State Park with its Black Sand Beach, Wailua Falls, hiking the Pipiwai trail to Waimoku Falls, and the coastal views at Ke'anae Point. I was able to make the entire drive to and from the Kīpahulu Visitor Center where the Pipiwai Trailhead can be accessed and the ʻOheʻo Gulch can be found from Kaanapali Beach but it required 12 hours. The key was leaving Ka'anapali Beach just before 6am. I was on the Road to Hana not long after sunrise at 650am. I made it back around 6pm. I had the road to myself for the first 2 hours which made the twisting and turning drive manageable. I made a few quick stops at an observation point above Honomanu Bay, at the Upper Waikani Falls and at Hanawi Falls for photos but otherwise kept driving all the way to Wailua Falls stopping only to grab a quick bite and coffee at the Nahiku Marketplace near Hana. It was not busy at Wailua Falls when I arrived at 9am. Easy parking and I climbed down to the pool at the base of the falls for some great photos. I then continued to the Kīpahulu Visitor Center which has plenty of parking. I hiked the short ʻOheʻo Gulch (Seven Sacred Pools) Trail and then spent 2 hours hiking on the scenic Pipiwai Trail to Waimoku Falls which was amazing. I had reserved a timed arrival at Waiʻānapanapa State Park to experience the Black Sand Beach for 1230p-3pm. I had to arrive by 1pm at the latest for entry but had no problem doing this even with a couple brief stops at Hamoa Beach and Koki Beach for photos. I spent 90 minutes at Waiʻānapanapa State Park. The Black Sand Beach was stunning, but I mostly enjoyed hiking along the coastal trail north of the beach offering spectacular views all along the way. Making my way back, stops included the Hana Lava Tube and Ke'anar Arboretum both of which were worthwhile. I also enjoyed stopping at Ke'anae Point for spectacular coastal views with the waves crashing against the rocky shoreline. At this point it was 430pm and time to head back to Ka'anapali Beach which took about 90 minutes and involved dealing with much more traffic than the morning drive. It is very worthwhile to download the Guide Along (formerly known as the GyPSy Guide) Audio Tour. This provided lots of useful information and made the drive more entertaining. Again, this was a great experience, but I wouldn't want to do it like that again. I was also driving this solo. I wouldn't have enjoyed being in the passenger seat for this long of a drive. The best strategy is to break it into 2 days with an overnight stay in Hana.

My wife and I took the "Hana Bound" tour as part of our vacation to Hawaii to celebrate our 40th anniversary. The tour operator was Holo Holo tours and our fantastic guide was Yvonne. We met her in Kahului and she did all the driving. I highly recommend a guided tour for this activity as the drive is challenging (600 curves and dozens of 1-lane bridges) and, just as important, the local knowledge of a native Hawaiian who has driven out and back to Hana thousands of times was invaluable and really added to our enjoyment. Highlights included stopping at the "Half Way to Hana" banana bread stand (Yvonne treated), the black sand beach at Waianapanapa State Park, farm to table pizza at Hana Farm restaurant (Yvonne treated again), swimming in a refreshing waterfall fed pool, the beautiful Keanae peninsula, and stopping to visit with and feed various animal friends of Yvonne's. We had a wonderful day and can't thank Yvonne enough for showing us this beautiful region of Maui.

What a day on the island of Maui - more specifically on “the road to Hana”🌞🌊🌳 The Road to Hana is one of the world’s most scenic drives and a popular sightseeing activity to see Maui’s spectacular waterfalls, black sand beaches, bamboo forests, lava rock formations and amazing ocean views as we wound our way through more than 620 curves and over 59 bridges, and back again 🫣🫨🏝️what a trip and amazing experience 😎 Recommend you to get the app called “Gypsy Guide” - worth all the money - you will get your own private guide👏🏼

Driving the road to Hana is not for the faint of heart (620 curves, 32 one-lane bridges). Or the impatient (it can be slow going with average speeds under 30 mph and traffic both ways). But if you prepare for both of those inevitabilities, the drive and many stops along the way can be very enjoyable. I highly recommend using the Chaka Guides app and their "Classic Road to Hana" module ($) that provide excellent turn-by-turn navigation, information on over 100 possible sightseeing stops along the way, a history overview and classic Hawaiian music along the way. Must sees: Wai'anapanapa State Park (black sand beach), Garden of Eden Botanical Garden, Lava Tube, Waikamoi Nature Trail, Twin Falls Hike (swimable falls)

We just visited Hawaii for 12 days and while in Maui we signed up for the Road to Hana Tour through our tour company. We were fortunate enough to be assigned to Roberts Hawaii, but more specifically to Bjorn’s bus. He made our day so special. Not only did he provide us with incredible information on the flora, the landscape, the local customs, and abundant history, but he also used props and hand outs that he continually provided along the way that were engaging, fun, and enlightening. I teased that surely he had a “Mary Poppins” bag because I have no idea where he kept all these treasures. Further, he made thoughtful stops along the way not just at the touristy “must-dos” that all the bloggers say to do, but where we would get the best vantage points, fewer crowds, etc. And, he also went above and beyond to make sure we tried some local delicacies like guava and banana bread as well as offering to take pictures stirred at every stop. If all of Roberts Hawaii’s drivers are as top-notch as Bjorn, then I would not hesitate to use them again.

We chose to drive ourselves instead of going with a tour group, etc. The drive wasn't bad, having experience with single lane bridges and driving up mountains. The one downside was wanting to stop, as the driver, to actually see all of the incredible views but my passenger took many videos that I was able to view later. Otherwise, there were plenty of areas to pull over and stop as often as we wanted to take in all of the beauty along the highway, which we did when time permitted. As far as must see stops, we purchased a self driving tour, that we were able to download for offline use, that instructed us as to where all of the "must see" spots along the highway were. Definitely look into these before you go because I know the Wai'anapanapa State Park requires you to purchase a time slotted reservation ticket and they do not have any cell service in the area to purchase the ticket near at or near the park. Also, screenshot the ticket when you do purchase! TIP: We started the drive late and ran into a road closure not long after we reached the end of the road to Hana and had to turn around and do the drive all over again to get back to our condo. I mention this because we were not aware of the road closure and I want to advise future travelers to start the drive early and end it by 4pm so that if you do have to turn around like us, you're not caught in complete darkness as we were. As beautiful as the waterfalls and everything was during the day, single lane bridges and roads become quite scary when your only light source are your high beams. Also, if you plan on visiting Haleakala National Park at sunrise during your Maui visit, do the Road to Hana the day before and just car camp somewhere near the Park since it is a stop at the end of the Road to Hana. Hope this helps.

Wow! We downloaded the Shaka tour for The Road to Hana and it was fantastic. I would recommend putting it on two people’s phones, because even though we kept it plugged in the whole time, the phone died. We started out early, early, which I recommend. Not a ton of traffic at 6 in the morning. The road is very curvy and you go 10-15 miles an hour for most of it, because of the narrow, winding way. There are multiple times that it is only one lane, so please be courteous to other drivers and definitely let the locals pass busy pulling off onto a turn out. I loved all of the waterfalls that you get to see from the road!! We saw a few rainbows too. We drove it on a Sunday and not many of the food places were open (understandably), so I recommend bringing a cooler with snacks, drinks and a lunch. My absolute favorite place was the black sand beach area. So strikingly beautiful. A fantastic day spent exploring Maui.