Questions about Maui and the Road to Hana
 

We are planning a trip to Maui next summer and if you've ever been there I need your help.
The plan is to stay the first 4 nights Lahaina, and the last 3 nights in Hana.

I've been told I need to drive Hana hwy due to it's extreme awesomeness.
I've also been told I should never drive the Hana hwy due to extreme car sickness.
Map Hana Hwy

I've also been told only the locals are allowed to take Piilani hwy south of Hana.
Map of Piilani hwy

Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry if this is in the wrong place. Mods, please feel free to move it.

do it all. go to black rock and swim with the giant sea turtles while you are in Lahaina its a really cool experience.

also i took the rental car all the way around :lol: pretty much if you do something to the rental you are fucked tho so that is at your own risk. i had to do it tho cause i rode a harley around the north side so i wanted to say i have been around the entire thing. Anyhow South of Hana is pretty epic. I really enjoyed. here is a vid i put together of my last trip there....
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=479P7b4bUHM&feature=plcp"]Black Rock Maui Fixed - YouTube[/ame]

Do the road to Hana. I went a few years ago. The best part of Maui is that awesome road. You may want to rent some kind of SUV though. I'm not sure a car would make it.


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Road to Hana is great as they all say, go early in the morning if possible. It kinda sucks when the road is flooded with other tourists. And when you go to Hana, continue south down the Piilani Highway....
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8011/7...4269008b_h.jpg

Piilani is an awesome drive, just for the experience. It's extremely narrow, and dirt in some sections. If you look on the edge of the cliff furthest away in the picture above, you can sort of see the road snaking up the cliff. It's fun, but a slow fun. Remember the road is basically single-lane for some sections so you HAVE TO go slow. As i said some sections are dirt, but trust me any car can make it. We did the trek in a Chevy Aveo! Once you wrap around to the south shore of the island, there's a stretch of freshly paved road that runs along the coast that is probably one of the most scenic drives in Hawaii. It's a shame most people don't see it. I don't know where you heard Piilani is for locals only, but it's a public road that's open to anyone. Rental car companies would rather you not drive it, but as long as you take it easy it's nothing.

And the road up to Haleakala is awesome as well, but as with Hana, there's a lot of tourist traffic. Remember for Haleakala the peak hours are sunrise and sunset, as everyone goes up for those times.

I was just there in April. If there's one tip, and one tip only, I'd tell you to stay longer than 7 days.

The Road to Hana wasn't that bad. The most dangerous part were the locals speeding down the middle of the road and around blind corners into your side of the road. I rented a Mustang convertible, and I didn't get car sick. My wife did feel a bit sick, but she said that having the top down made it a lot better. The Mustang also made the drive a lot more fun, and having the top down made taking pictures easier.

Black Rock and Kapalua Bay were two of our favorite snorkeling spots. Of the two, Kapalau Bay was the best. It was less crowded and the fish were more plentiful.

We skipped sunrise on Haleakala and instead went up for sunset and stayed for the view of the Milky Way.

I left puke on every turn of hana when I was 10... my family decided we needed to take a trip to hana...it still haunts me...

the rental car places give out a map that say you cant drive on it. i was told by locals you can its just that the car company's wont insure you and dont want their cars getting beat up cause the dirt sections

as you said tho... once it gets to that smooth sections where all the lava beds are its so rual and there is some pretty epic spots
http://i46.tinypic.com/2ziptt5.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/verors.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/6opdz7.jpg

ohh what i would do to have that road closed to public and a FRS :)

Thank you all for the insight and pictures! We decided last night to stay an extra day.
Here is the current plan.
After getting off the plane around noon we'll stay one night in Hauku.
Early the second day we'll head down the Hana Hwy, and stay in Hana for three nights.
Then it's down the Piilani Hwy, and on to Lahaina for four nights.

As Jidonsu suggested the plan is to get a Mustang Convertible which will likely cost less and be more comfortable than the Wrangler we had in Kauai a few years ago.

Boo!! You should get a Forester! :D

I did the Road to Hana this past June in a Forester, and continued all the way around and loved it. The back of Haleakala is amazing! I saw only a few local trucks and some rentals Jeeps/SUV's, but I did see one Mustang Convertible. We got a little nervous as the sun was setting, and we appeared to be the last tourists on the road, but everything was fine. Driving from West to East on Piilani would probably be a little more nerve racking since the ocean is on your right.

I highly recommend getting the book, or App, Maui Revealed. It had some spots on the highway that were not mentioned in the audio CD that I bought.

-Dennis

A Forester you say? Hmmm, that would likely be more comfortable, when the road turns to dirt. What company did you rent from?

We're an android user, and Maui Revealed is exclusive to iOS right now. I tweeted @ Ken of Crystal Springs Software hopefully they'll make an android version by the time we go.
Thanks for the suggestion!

dont get the mustang. the locals fuck with people who get mustangs. its the most common way for them to know you are a tourist. regardless they will know but i always try to minimize that and hang with locals at local bars rather then the full blown tourist spots as much as i can. met a few cool people and they said the mustang rentals are their number 1 targets.

Hertz. And I returned it good and muddy. :thumbup: Just get the paperback if you can't get another version.

-Dennis

I used to work for Ecolab in Hawaii and made that trip in a work van once. Not super fun, but still really awesome. Worth the extra day imo!