Travelogue

Day 5 - The Drive to Hana

Twin Falls - Lower FallsTo truly experience Maui you have to drive the famous Road to Hana, a 64-mile scenic drive along a narrow, twisting road connecting the towns of Kahului and Hana.

There are over 600 curves, but that isn’t even the worst part. As you come around one of the curves, you are often confronted with a single-lane bridge (there are 46 of them), forcing a sort of game of chicken scenario where one driver relents (usually us) and backs up far enough to allow the other car to squeeze by.

Twin Falls - the Lower FallsSo why do people put themselves through this? Because it’s incredibly beautiful and I think people actually like the challenge of completing it without damaging their rental car.

But its stunning natural beauty comes with problems. The road has been marketed heavily since 1926 and now averages 400 to 600 people every day, causing traffic congestion, llegal parking, and trespassing.

The rough trail to Caveman FallsIf you drive straight through, it probably takes about 3 hours, but there are so many beautiful stops along the way that it is more of an all-day thing.

Many people do it as an out and back in one day, but we thought that would be a death march, so we booked a place to stay for two nights in Hana at the lovely Hana Kai Maui. That way we could take our time along the way.

Before getting to the start of the Hana Highway we stopped at Hana Picnic Lunch in the town of Paia to pick up sandwiches for the drive. While waiting, I took advantage of the unlimited free samples of their delicious gelato. The owner also gave us some free advice as to the best stops along the way.

Twin Falls - Caveman FallsTime to hit the road. The Hana Highway has mile markers along the way that can be used to track your progress and finds interesting stops along the way.

The mile markers restart at 0 when the highway changes from Route 60 to Route 360. It is past this point that the real twisties and narrow one-lane bridges begin. From 0 it’s about 34 miles (that feel like 100) to the town of Hana is about 34 miles from here where there was a lovely lanai overlooking Hana Bay awaiting us.

Twin Falls - Caveman FallsWe only got to Mile Marker 2 before making our first stop at Twin Falls. This is the first of many waterfalls along the way, so many people stop there. I think a lot of them are locals that come here to hang out for the day and swim in the pools below the falls.

We were lucky to find a parking spot because this is a very popular stop. After paying our $20 parking fee, the woman taking our money gave us a brief description as to how to get to the three waterfalls.

Stream crossing near Caveman FallsThe first one, Lower Falls, is pretty close to the parking area and easy to access. There were several people with chairs and coolers that looked like they were going to spend the day here. The falls, while small, are quite beautiful and there is a pool to swim in beneath it.

I’m not sure, but I think this is the one that gave Twin Falls its name, because at certain water levels there are two streams of water.

We continued on from there through a bamboo forest and came to a second waterfall, which I believe is Upper Falls.

Bamboo ForestAfter a quick peek at that one, we continued on through what seemed like a tropical jungle and crossed two streams before arriving at Caveman Falls, a hidden oasis tucked away in a jungle setting - and there actually was what looked like a cave behind the falls.

Not sure exactly how “hidden” it is anymore, as there were dozens of people there ahead of us.

On the way back, we stopped in a lovely garden area with bright green ruffled fan palms and Red Ti plants.

Fan Palms and Red Ti plant garden
Okay, it was time to make a little more progress as we had another 32 miles or so to go until we reached the Hana Kai Maui, our home for the night, and at this rate we wouldn’t get there until midnight. Besides any places we skipped today, we could see on the way back.

At Mile Marker 9.5 we stopped to hike the Waikamoi Ridge Trail, but no-see-ums biting every bit of our exposed skin coupled with missing the turn-off to the look-out made this less than a trip highlight.

We continued on past the Garden of Eden Arboretum at Mile Marker 10 with the plan of stopping here on our drive back in a few days.

Christmas at Aunty Sandy's Banana Bread StandJust after Mile Marker 16, we made the turnoff onto the Ke’anae Peninsula, a dramatic half-mile long massive finger of lava sticking out from the cliffs along the Hana Highway.

This lava is quite young geologically speaking. It was created a few centuries ago in a massive flow from Haleakala, where we had been hiking just a few days ago.

Besides its incredible natural beauty, what draws drivers along the Hana Highway to this peninsula is the famous Aunty Sandy’s banana bread stand.

The waves of Ke’anae PeninsulaThere really is an Aunty Sandy, and she has been making and selling hot, fresh baked banana bread 6 days a week since 1983. Aunty Sandy’s has even been featured on Gordon Ramsey’s ”Unchartered” television series.

Although we intended to save it for tomorrow’s breakfast, we could help pulling off pieces of it to enjoy while it was still hot. Delicious and definitely worth the stop.

We continued on to the Keanae Lookout at the tip of the peninsula where we were mesmerized by the huge waves crashing over the lava.

The Waves of Ke’anae PeninsulaSadly, this small village was almost completely destroyed by a tsunami’s 35-foot waves, generated by an 8.6 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Alaska, killing 20 children and four teachers. The only building left standing was the small church built in 1856.

Ocean waves are a beautiful, yet powerful and sometimes dangerous force.

Hana Sweet HanaWe were very excited about the place we would be staying out for the next two nights, so from the Ke'Anae Peninsula we drove straight through to the little town of Hana where we had a room overlooking Hana Bay waiting for us.

The Hana Kai Maui did not disappoint. We had Room #201, an upper floor corner unit with great views from our lovely spacious, covered lanai. Their was a well-stocked kitchen with a Koa wood bar with a pass-through window out to the lanai.

I never wanted to leave.

Day 6 - Pipiwai Trail and Red Sands Beach

Hana SunriseI awoke during what I thought was the middle of the night, because it was dark, but I looked at my phone and saw that it was 6:00 am.
Now I am not usually a morning get up for a sunrise person, but since sunrise wasn’t until 6:50, I got up quietly (Herb was still sleeping), and sat out on my lanai and waited for the sun to rise.

It was such a lovely experience that I vowed to do it again the next morning.

After breakfast on the lanai, Herb and I headed out to hike the Pipiwai Trail.

Still smiling after all the twistiesBefore leaving on this trip, I had researched best hikes on Maui, as we often base our travels around hiking. Pipiwai Trail came up high on the list. In fact, it was one of the reasons (although there were others) that we chose to stay for 2 nights in Hana rather than do the Road as an out-and-back in one day.

Makahiku FallsWe had heard that it’s a very popular hike, so we left early to ensure getting a parking spot. Hahaha. We were the first ones in the lot.
Of course getting there consisted of driving 12 more miles of narrow, twisty roads.

The Pipiwai trail is actually part of the Kipahulu District of Haleakala National Park. We had visited the Summit District a few days back where we had hiked the Sliding Sands trail down into the Haleakala Crater - a very different scenery and type of beauty that we would experience today.

Pipiwai Banyon TreeIt was pretty nice getting there early enough to have the entire trail to ourselves. In fact, we didn’t see any people at all until the turnaround point at the Waimoku Falls gate. The way back was a different story, as we passed a stream of people coming our way.

Starting at the coast, the trail heads inland. In just a half mile we came to the Overlook for 200-foot Makahiku Falls. The odd thing about this waterfall is that there is a pool both above it and below it.

Through the bamboo forestI later read that there is a spur trail shortly after the lookout that takes you to the top of Makahiku Falls where you were once allowed to swim in what was referred to as the Makahiku “infinity pool” because it gives the illusion of going on forever into the sky. Unfortunately, the pool is now permanently closed from swimming.

Soon after the overlook we came to a beautiful banyan tree, which is over 100 years old and spreads over a 60-foot diameter. It is just a tiny bit smaller than the famous banyan tree in Lahaina. I felt so small and insignificant standing beneath it.

Waimoku FallsBanyan trees are pretty amazing. Although this looks like a clump of trees, it is actually only one tree, which spreads by producing aerial roots that hang down and take root wherever they touch the ground. It was probably one of the most beautiful trees I have ever seen.

Continuing on, we entered a bamboo forest, which went on for about a half mile. It was magical. As we stood quietly amongst the bamboo, the breeze knocked the stalks together creating a sound similar to wind chimes. I took a video to capture their song.

Waimoku FallsWow! A few days we heard whales singing and now a bamboo forest.

After emerging from the bamboo forest, we climbed a few more sets of stone steps and crossed a few more bridges before coming to the end of the trail - a view of 400-foot tall Waimoku Falls cascading over a sheer lava wall. It is one of the tallest waterfalls in Maui.

Unfortunately, the trail all the way to the falls was closed, so this was as close as we could get.

There were some trees blocking our view, so we crossed over a stream to get just beyond them in order to have an unobstructed view.

One of the Seven Sacred PoolsFrom there we hiked back from whence we came - through the bamboo forest and past the banyan tree, stopping this time to climb up and sit on one of its branches.

Once back by the Visitor Center we continued onto the trail to the Pools of ‘Ohe’o (aka Seven Sacred Pools), which, unfortunately, are now closed to swimming.

Too bad, because these cascading waterfalls and pools were once one of Maui’s most popular attractions. All we were able to do was get a glance of the upper pool over a fence. Oh well.

Garlic Shrimp from Joel's Food TruckOnce back in Hana, we stopped at Joel’s food truck to get some lunch. Herb had a pork roast plate and I had the garlic shrimp. It was delicious.

Hana doesn’t have many sit down restaurants but they have about half a dozen food trucks to choose from.

We picked up some mahi mahi poke bowls to bring back for dinner on our lanai.

Red Sand BeachOur last event of the day was a hike down to Red Sand Beach (also known as Kaihalulu Beach), a beautiful and dramatic, hidden crescent-shaped beach cut into the side of Ka-uki Head, a cinder cone south of Hana Bay.

It is these rust-red lava cinder cliffs that supply the beach with its deep red-black sand.

With its deep red-black sand and black lava rock sea wall it is absolutely stunning. The ocean beyond the sea wall is a deep, almost surreal cobalt blue that relentlessly crashes against the seawall.

End of a good dayI was a little nervous about the hike down to the beach, as there have been several accidents and deaths resulting from people falling off the eroding cliff trail onto the rocks below.

However, it wasn’t as scary as they made it out to be.

My only regret is that we weren’t here when the beach was in the shade, as I’m sure its red color would have been more vibrant in the sun.

What a great day it had been!! And the evening wasn't so bad either

Day 7 - Waianapanapa State Park (Black Sands Beach), the Garden of Eden Botanical Garden, and back up the Road to Hana

Black Sand BeachOnce again, I awoke while it was still pitch black out, glanced at my phone to make sure it was after 6, and then headed out onto the lanai to watch another day begin. It was so so peaceful.

Today we would drive back along the Road to Hana (or in this case “The Road from Hana”) to the Wailea Beach Resort where we would spend the next 5 nights.

Waianapanapa BlowholeHowever, but first, there was one more thing we wanted to do before leaving Hana and that was a hike along Hana’s famous Black Sand Beach and the lava cliffs of Waianapanapa State Park.

Fortunately, I had learned that entering this park requires a reservation, so a few days ago we booked one for the 7:00 am - 10 am time slot. This would allow us to go there and come back in time to pack up and leave before check out.

Waianapanapa Park - Kipapa O Kihapiilani TrailOriginally, we expected it to just be a black sand beach, because that’s what the park was more frequently called. However, what we would learn this morning is that it was that and so much more.

The translation for Wai'anapanapa is "glistening water" or "water flashing rainbow hues", both of which accurately describe the powerful contrast between the glistening black pebbles, black lava fields, bright green naupaka, and the deep blue-greens of the ocean.

Waianapanapa Park - Kipapa O Kihapiilani TrailAs promised, the hike did begin by climbing down onto a beautiful black sand beach, which is the biggest draw for visitors to this park.

The name Black “Sand” beach is a bit of a misnomer as most of the beach is not sand but rather small black pebbles that glisten when wet.

Waianapanapa State Park - Kipapa O Kihapiilani TrailAlso, it is not the type of beach you swim at as there is a vicious undertow and powerful rips. In fact, the official name of the beach is Pa’iloa, which means ‘always splashing.” People have drowned here. Plus, jellyfish and Portuguese man o’ war often frequent this cove.

From the beach, there is a choice of two directions to go. South would go along the coast back towards the town of Hana, and north would go up along the lava cliffs to Pukaulua Point, and beyond. We chose to go north.

Lava and Napuaka PlantsAfter climbing up from the beach, it was only a short distance before we walked out onto a rocky lava outcropping and looked down at a massive blowhole in a V-shaped cove.

These “blowholes” form as sea caves grow towards the land (as they do here) and upwards creating a vertical shaft that goes up to the surface. When waves move into the sea cave with enough force the seawater gets compressed and releases through a port at the top of the blowhole, gushing out like a geyser. How high the spray goes depends on the geometry of the sea cave and the strength of the wave entering it.

Waianapanapa Park - Kipapa O Kihapiilani TrailThis one shot pretty high and we could actually feel its spray.

A lot of the best viewpoints, including this blowhole, off the main trail out onto rocky outcrops. Fortunately, we were using Gaia (a mapping app) to guide us along the trail. Scenic viewpoints were marked on the trail with a little binocular icon.

We might have missed this one if it wasn’t for that app, especially since the main trail is pretty much lava.

Along the Kipapa O Kihapiilani TrailThere were four of these binocular icons on the trail north of Black Sands Beach that we hopefully would have enough time to get to.

There were more than just ocean views along the trail. The contrast of bright green napauka plants growing amongst the stark black lava fields was stunning.

The trail continued on along rooty paths and lava fields, where it was often less of a trail and more of a clambering over lava.

Lava, lava, and more lavaThe portion of the trail from Black Sands Beach to Pukaulua Point, which we were traveling on, follows a portion of the ancient Hawaiian Kings Highway, which was once a vital footpath reserved exclusively for Hawaiian royalty.

This section of the Kings Highway is called the Kipapa O Kihapiilani Trail. We would be walking on another section of the Kings Highway later in our trip when we hiked the Hoapili Trail south of Wailea.

Ancient Hawaiian burial siteSo we were treading on sacred ground steeped in centuries-old legends and stories of the ancient Hawaiians that once called this area home.
There are over 34 ancient sites in this park, including cave shelters, house platforms, a pictograph, a heiau (temple), and several burial sites.

When we got to Pukaulua Point, we saw one of these burial sites. A simple white unmarked stone stood at the head of an area of medium-sized gray and black pebbles, surrounded by lava rocks and napauka plants.

Waianapanapa Park - Kipapa O Kihapiilani TrailWe still had time, so we continued on past Pukaulua Point, where the trail was more difficult to follow as we were really navigating our way across a vast lava field.

There was one more Gaia binocular icon we wanted to get to, and it did not disappoint - more lava rock outcrops looking over waves crashing over more lava rock.

Waianapanapa Park - Kipapa O Kihapiilani TrailAccording to the Gaia map, we could have continued on for about another half mile but there were no more binocular icons and the trail was labeled as a boulder field. If what we just hiked through was not considered a boulder field, I didn’t want to go on what they considered a boulder field.

Plus, we were running out of time. Our reservation was over at 10:00 and we had to go back and pack and check out of our room by 11:00.

Looking back to Black Sands Beach CoveSo, we retraced our steps as best we could back to Black Sands Beach where our hike began.

When we got back to the Beach we had a pleasant surprise - a monk seal lounging on the rocks.

This hike far exceeded expectations. Originally, I thought it was just going to be a beach, but it was so much more.

Monk Seal on Black Sand BeachWe got back to our room in time to pack up and barely get out of it by the 11:00 check out time. I was to leave this place as it was really such a peaceful, relaxing, and beautiful setting.

Then it was off to once again drive the twisty, narrow Hana Highway towards our next destination - the Wailea Beach Resort in southwest Maui. So we would be shifting from beautiful sunrises back to beautiful sunsets. Gee, life is tough.

Our first planned stop on the drive up was Aunty Sandy’s Banana Bread stand on the Ke’anae Peninsula to pick up another warm, delicious loaf of banana bread. I was practically salivating as we approached it, only to be disappointed by the sign saying “Closed Sundays.” What a blow.

Upper Puohokamoa Waterfall.Oh well. We forged on towards our next destination - the Garden of Eden Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at between Mile Markers 10 and 11.

The arboretum stretches across 26 acres and showcases over 700 species of tropical and subtropical plants, including rare orchids, ret Ti plants, rainbow eucalyptus, a 100-year-old mango tree and a bamboo forest.

There are three parking lots and about two miles of walking trails. We parked in the third lot and walked to the Waterfall Lookout for a view of Upper Puohokamoa Waterfall.

Keopuka Rock OverlookWhile once a popular place for swimming the landowners closed down access to it in 2007 for liability reasons. Now it can only be viewed from this lookout in the Garden of Eden.

So many of Maui’s pools and waterfalls have been closed down over the last decade because of accidents and drownings - the Olivine Pools, the Seven Sacred Pools, the Nakalele Blowhole, and Puohokamoa Waterfall. And these are just the ones I know of.

Rainbow EucalyptusFrom there we continued on to the Keopuka Rock Overlook where we looked out at the large rock just off the coastline that made the Garden of Eden famous. This is the rock that a helicopter passes over in the opening scene of “Jurassic Park” on its way to land on a tropical island that has been populated by dinosaurs created from prehistoric DNA.

No dinosaurs for us today, just beautiful tropical plants. My favorite was the rainbow eucalyptus tree, whose bark is so brightly colored that I couldn’t believe it was natural. But it was! It looked more like an abstract painting than a tree.

Bamboo huggerThe reason the bark looks the way it does is that as the tree sheds its bark, it reveals a neon green inner layer. Over time, as this layer is exposed to air, it ages into different colors—bright reds, oranges, blues, pinks and purples. The different colors appear as different layers fall off, while other exposed areas begin aging.

They are absolutely beautiful.

The Garden of Eden Arboretum was a very pleasant way to spend an hour or so, while taking a break from the somewhat stressful driving on the Hana Highway.

Our new home in WaileaThe Road to Hana and all the stops along the way was definitely worth it, but I am so glad we didn’t try to do it as an out-and-back in one day. We would have missed so much.

Plus, the Hana Kai Maui Resort, which we stayed at for two nights, was really special.

But now, we were headed to the Wailea Beach Resort for 5 nights, where we would have another lovely balcony overlooking the ocean, with a beautiful 50-meter infinity pool right below us.

This was definitely a much fancier place than we were used to, but we would do our best to cope.

Herb copingThe first indication that we were not your typical “resort” types was our dinner that night. We are much more used to sleeping in the back of our 4Runner out in the middle of a desert somewhere.

I had told Herb that since we were tired from our long day, I would rather just pick us something for dinner to eat on our balcony. So we stopped at Safeway and got some salads from the deli, including a beef and green beans dish, thinking we would have a microwave in our room.

Sunset from our balconyWhen it came time to eat, we discovered that we in fact did not have a microwave. Undaunted, Herb filled the bathroom sink with the hottest water he could and placed the beef and green beans container in it.

While we waited for it to warm up, we went out on the balcony and drank a glass of the complementary champagne that we found in the refrigerator.

Wailea Beach Resort infinity poolI can pretty much guarantee that we were the only ones in this entire resort sipping champagne and eating luke-warm beef and green beans on our balcony.

We would have to transition gradually, but we would get there.

Wow! What a beautiful sunset from our balcony. I definitely could do this!