Maui Must-Do: Highlights of One of the Most Dangerous (and Beautiful!) Drives in the World
Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.
Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.
The Road to Hana is a stunning drive along the north and east coasts of Maui. It’s ~50 miles long and takes ~2.5 hours to drive.
But because there are so many things to do along the way, it will take you much longer. After swimming at a few beaches, exploring caves, and stopping for food, my drive to the town of Hana and back took ~8 hours.
Even if you rarely leave your car, you’ll have a good time on the Road to Hana. Breathtaking cliffs and waterfalls are RIGHT beside the road.
If you easily become carsick, this probably isn’t the adventure for you. The drive is VERY curvy. It’s the Kim Kardashian of roads. It reminded me of an exaggerated version of the roads in Western Ireland.
The Road to Hana has tons of stops along the way. But I’ll just touch on the ones I enjoyed the most.
Review of The Road to Hana
The Road to Hana is said to be one of the most dangerous roads in the world. It has 600+ curves, and many of them are hairpin. Plus, there are 59 bridges, the majority of which are only wide enough for 1 car at a time.
You’re meant to treat the bridges similar to a 4 way stop in that whichever car reaches the bridge first has the right of way. This can cause some major backups. But you’re there to enjoy the journey itself, so the traffic does little harm.
There’s nothing to worry about, as long as you’re paying attention. The problem is that everything around you is so beautiful!! Take your eyes off the road for a few seconds, and you might find yourself free falling.
It doesn’t help that the locals ride your tail if you’re going too slow. It’s best to pull over if you look in your mirror and see a line of cars behind you.
What You Need Before Embarking
First, the basics. You should bring both flip flops and hiking boots. You’ll be body surfing in an alcove minutes after scaling volcanic cliffs. Just wear your swimsuit the whole way.
Before going on this trip, one Million Mile Secrets reader suggested that I download the Road to Hana GyPSy Guide on my phone. It costs $5.99, which is $5 more than I’m usually willing to pay for an app. But I decided to go for it, and it was SO helpful!
The app tracks your location and notifies you when you’re about to pass an attraction. It also gives historical facts during your drive, and alerts you for things like exceptionally sharp turns. My Road to Hana experience was much improved with the Road to Hana GyPSy Guide.
1. Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees
I have not in my life seen such beautiful trees as the rainbow eucalyptus along the Road to Hana. They’re ~6 miles from the beginning of the road, and they are vibrant. You can find these trees in some US states, like California and Louisiana, but this was my first experience with them.
The streaks of color were so unreal that I stopped again on my way back.
2. Bamboo Forest and Waterfalls
Across the street from the rainbow eucalyptus is a bamboo forest. It’s concealed by thick bushes along the shoulder of the road. But if you walk along the bushes, you’ll find a hole leading into a bamboo wonderland.
The forest is pretty, but you’ll need to keep your eyes on the ground so you don’t trip. The paths can be very rugged, and even have crevices that could do you some real damage!
Much of the bamboo forest is pathed, but not all of it. You’ll probably spot the Na’ili’ili-haele stream along the way, as well as ponds and waterfalls for swimming.
3. Honomanu Bay
This is the first available black sand beach. The access road is a little rough, and it’s not a good idea to drive down to the shore, although it’s totally possible.
I had never seen black sand until now, and it was very novel. Noticeably coarser than any sand I had walked on before.
This was my favorite black sand beach along the road. There’s a prettier one farther along, but it’s packed with tourists. And its gruff sand is painful to walk on.
4. Wai’anapanapa State Park
Wai’anapanapa State Park is the biggest bang for your stop along the route. There’s tons to do, from hiking to swimming to spelunking.
Most of the caves were blocked off during my visit. But there’s a neat little cave on the right side of Pailoa Bay to the left of the entrance.
The biggest draw of this stop is probably the glimmering black sand cove.
The waters are pretty rough here, and so is the sand. It was crazy hot and felt like walking on gravel. But very pretty to look at!
There is a hiking trail to the left of the beach, which takes you along the ocean for some stellar coastal views. The volcanic rock clashes with the greenery in a pretty spectacular way.
I walked for ~20 minutes before I decided to turn around. I did NOT have hiking shoes, and I was destroying my flip flops.
5. Hamoa Beach
This is one_beautiful_beach, and the best along the Road to Hana for swimming, in my opinion. It’s also apparently a pretty excellent snorkeling spot.
The beach gets a lot of foot traffic, but that comes with benefits like dedicated showers. And there are pretty Plumeria flowers all over the ground from the surrounding trees.
6. Vendors Along the Way
I stopped 4 times along the Road to Hana for things to eat. Perhaps the magic of the road beguiled my taste buds, but everything was SO GOOD man!
I stopped once for banana bread at Aunty Sandy’s, some food stand (the name of which escapes me) for some kind of power shake, and a pickup truck for coconut water.
There were 2 restaurants I wanted to try but ended up skipping. One is called Mama’s Fish House. It’s very highly rated, and very expensive. I’d have felt too awkward eating at such a fancy restaurant alone, though.
On the drive back, I pulled over at a stand called Huelo Lookout.
One of my friends had recently been to Maui and recommended it. It’s a juice stand that sells lots of smoothies and a few food options, too. I had a crepe filled with honey, banana, and pineapple.
Bottom Line
The Road to Hana is a great experience. But it is KEY to understand that the town of Hana is not exciting at all. There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
I knew this, and still felt cheated when I arrived in Hana. This activity is completely entirely about the drive itself, and the fun stops along the way.
Hana Highway is one of the most dangerous roads in the world. Probably because it’s a combination of hundreds of hairpin turns and a gorgeous backdrop. If you want to take pictures, pull over first!
Let me know if you have any tips for travelers planning the Road to Hana!
If you want more reviews like this, sign up for our email newsletter!
Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)
Join the Discussion!