exploring
Planning Your Trip
Free & Affordable Things To Do
OGG, the airport
Iao Valley, the spiritual center
Wailuku, old Maui
Kahului, the shopping center
Paia, windsurfing capitol
Hana, the last Hawaiian place

Lahaina, sin city 1860
Maalaea, ocean center
Kihei, condos, malls, beaches
Wailea, big hotels
Haleakala Crater
Upcountry. cowboys, shopping

Hana, the last Hawaiian place

If you yearn to get away from it all, plan a full day's trip along the Road to Hana, the last Hawaiian place. Here are a few of the magnificent views, rain forests and waterfalls you'll experience.

Twin Falls

Stop and enjoy a walk and a cool dip at Twin Falls by the Hoolawa Bridge. There are several pools with waterfalls, if you walk back through the cow pasture. And, you'll get a close up view of the ditch system that brings water to the sugar cane fields and the rest of us. Nice place to cool off on the ride back.

Road to Hana

You'll cross 56 bridges and go around 617 hairpin turns on the Road to Hana. That's part of the fun and why it takes three hours to get there. The good news is that each bridge comes with a stream, pool and, maybe, a waterfall plus parking so you can get out and let the sound of water run through your mind.

Painted Eucalyptus

After you begin to see the bamboo forests, watch closely on the left for a grove of these wonderful Painted Eucalyptus.   Kristie thought it was worth a stop for a shot.

Hanomanu Bay

Stop and smell the ginger at Hanomanu Bay. This is a favorite local spot for fishing or surfing. You can wade along the black sand beach and up the estuary, look at the bamboo grove and get acquainted with many tropical plants and trees of the rain forest.

Keanae Peninsula

See taro before it becomes poi at the Keanae Peninsula. The view over the taro paddies from the overlook is spectacular. Taro root is cooked and mashed into a pinkish brown paste. Takes getting used to (unless you were into the library stuff in grade school) but it is full of minerals and healthy. The little church was built of coral and lava rock in 1860. Drive down, if you want a feel of the old Hawaii.

Keanae Arboretum

Strange tropical plants grow at Keanae Arboretum. This is the blossom of the tulip tree which you'll see growing along the sides of the valleys.      Walk through and look at trees that never grew in Brooklyn, all labeled for your edification.

Hana Ditches

Watch the water in the Hana Ditches on its way to the sugar cane. These ditches were built by hand over 100 years ago by Chinese immigrant labor. They collect water from the valleys all along the Hana coast and carry it to central Maui. By now you know why Maui is called the Valley Isle or used to be before the Visitor's Bureau decided it was the Magic Isle. Maui is a great ecological experiment, beginning with the first Polynesians who brought taro, pigs chickens and dogs.

Puaa Kaa Wayside Park

Take a break at Puaa Kaa State Wayside Park. You'll be ready by then and this is a good spot for a picnic. Two waterfalls and pools just a short walk from the highway. Lots of ginger and heliconia to look at. Mongoose also hang out here. You may have already seen them streaking across the road. Some bright soul imported them to kill the rats that the sailors brought here on their boats. They killed the ground rats and all the ground birds but left the tree rats.

Wainapanapa State Park

Walk on a black sand beach at Wainapanapa State Park. You can camp here or rent a cottage, if you plan ahead. Try the trail to the Wainapanapa Caves where legend says Princess Popoalaea hid from her cruel husband but was discovered and killed. Several times a year the waters turn red in her memory, or it could be the tiny red shrimp that live there. Watch out for menehunes, the Hawaiian equivalent of the Irish leprechaun or wee folk.

Fagan's Cross

Paul Fagan, owner of the San Francisco Seals baseball team bought the old inn here in 1946 and turned it into the Hotel Hana Maui. It was Maui's first resort. Climb the hill above town to visit the Cross erected by the townsfolk in his memory and maybe meet his ghost

Hana Bay

Hana Beach Park is the local hangout and safest swimming spot in town. Stop at Tutu's and try her haupia (coconut custard ice cream. Picnic and public facilities.

Hana Cultural Center

On the grounds of the old courthouse, the Center has over 200 members who collect and display photographs, shells, quilts and other artifacts. There are over 4,000 items in the archives. Free. (808) 248-8622. • Hana Cultural Center

Hotel Hana Maui

For a quiet, secluded, soothing, place the Hotel Hana Maui has won a lot of awards for Most Romantic Resort in the World, Top 10 Resorts in the US, Top Ten Tropical Resorts and Best Small Hotel. There are 93 large, luxurious rooms and suites in one story cottages spread out over a tropical garden. The cottages are like elegant Hawaiian beach homes with hardwood floors, baths opening into gardens, lots of rattan and bamboo, four poster beds, huge decks and Jacuzzis. Plantation House, formerly the managers, is used for weddings and meetings. Good food in the Dining Room and a fine luau on Tuesdays. (808) 248-8211
• Hotel Hana Maui

Hana Coast Gallery

Here on the grounds on the Hotel Hana Maui is an extraordinary concentration of culture and art tended by our friend Patrick Robinson. The Gallery is a regional showcase of original art and handwork. You'll find paintings, original prints (16th to 20th century), sculpture, fiber, glass, Hawaiian featherwork and turned wood bowls, museum-quality furniture handcrafted from rare Hawaiian woods. You'll also find that Patrick and his staff are expert guides.
• Hana Coast Gallery

Hasegawa Store

Pick up your "I Survived the Road to Hana" T shirt at Hasegawas. This store has everything and more...stuff you didn't know exist but couldn't live without (if you lived in Hana). This is the second incarnation of Hasegawas. Fire burned the first one down a few years ago. But the stock is still awesome.

Red Sand Beach

Around the other side of Kauiki Hill that guards Hana Bay, you'll find Kaihalulu Beach. As soon as you see it you'll know why it's better known as Red Sand Beach. Ask where to find the trail that leads here.

Hamoa Beach

Just beyond Hasegawa's, you'll find the Hana Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. We usually stop to admire the old building and the huge orange angel trumpet tree along the side. <<<<<<<<<< flowers like these

Hana Waterfalls

Drive ten bumpy miles past fields of grazing Maui beef on a narrow, twisty road. Then you'll go through a series of narrow canyons split by Hana Waterfalls. This is a really jungly ride with occasional startling glimpses out over the ocean. On a clear day, you can see the top of Mauna Kea on the Big Island wreathed with cloud.

Oheo Pools

No more the Seven Sacred Pools. Never were. Just a hotel publicity scam 50 years ago. There are actually over two dozen pools along this gulch that you can wade or paddle in. You can also camp for free at the Oheo Pools campground.

Lindbergh Grave

Note: Enjoy the scenery and visit the grave of Charles Lindbergh at Palapala Hoomau Church about two miles further on. Local note: Sam Pryor, once President of PanAm, had a collection of monkeys for pets which are said to be buried in the graves behind Lindbergh's.

Hana Pools

Swim under a waterfall at a secluded tropical pool. Tim thought this place was special even if the water rushing down from high mountain rains is a little nippy. The trail is overgrown but leads along the stream and a cascade of taro paddy ruins the ancient Hawaiians built. Hard to find but worth it.

Kaupo Store

If you made it this far down one rough road, the Kaupo Store is your last chance (only chance) to get a great hamburger on the Road from Hana. If it is open, you can see some odd antiques and get a cold drink.

Auntie Jane's

Just beyond the Kaupo Store used to be Auntie Jane's Fine Foods. You could stop and talk story while you eat the best hamburger on this side of the island. Sadly, Auntie is no more.

Hui Aloha Church

St. Joseph's Church

This has got to be the most beautiful site for a church anywhere. Built in 1859 and carefully restored. We've often seen people down there but never found the road that leads down.

St. Joseph's Church built in 1862 used to serve a large Hawaiian population. The walls of the old church stand near the new building. Not many people live around here, mostly cattle behind those lava rock walls you see everywhere. Stilla beautiful spot.