Maui, HI: Hana Highway and the Sacred Pools (Day 3 - Pt1)

We knew we wanted to explore the road to Hana - it's supposed to be one of the most scenic drives in the world, BUT take a look online and you'll find many describe it as being dangerous, tiring, and not recommended for those who aren't used to island/mountain driving.  The Road to Hana follows the coastline, has about 600 turns, and 54 bridges.  If that doesn't sound too bad, but most of the turns are blind, the roads are narrow, many sections are 1 lane (including bridges), there are no barriers on many of the cliffs, there's traffic and the views of the ocean, mountains, and waterfalls are very distracting - not to mention the weather is unpredictable and can change within minutes from rain to sunshine.

We looked at our options to compare the cost difference if we were to do a tour (on a tour bus) or to drive this ourselves.  At around US$120 per person a tour would cost close to US$500 (there's a charge for kids too) and most companies will provide food and refreshments.  Pickup locations are all in the Kahului area which is the main tourist/hotel area (closest to the bigger airport) and 30-45 minutes away from Ka'anapali where we were staying.  So, parking needed to be a consideration as well as the stops on the tour.  Tours will typically take you all the way around the east side of the island which you won't be able to do with most rental cars, since rental contracts typically prohibit going past the Oheo Gulch (also known as the Seven Sacred Pools on CR31) if coming from the north side.  A few locals told us that although these contracts exist, the road is paved and everyone drives all the way around - I prefer not voiding the rental agreement.

We ultimately decided to drive ourselves in the SUV, so that we could pick the spots where we wanted to stop and because there wasn't anything past the Oheo Gulch that we really wanted to see.  Our plan was to drive to the Oheo Gulch and make stops along the way back.  This would help us make a quick exit to the hotel during sunset since we didn't want to drive this route once it got dark.  The other benefit is that we would be way ahead of the crowd and would then miss them on the way back.  Wear hiking shoes, bring extra clothes, pack food and water, and go with a full tank of gas for the trip, as this ends up being a very remote location.

We tried to stick to our plan which would take a little over 3 hours to reach the end, but couldn't help ourselves and just had to stop at some of the scenic points.  There are many areas where there's a little bit more space to pull over your vehicle and take some great pics, and these can also be used to let the locals pass, at amazingly more than double the speed limit.

Along the Hana Highway

Here's a short video (about 5 min) with clips from our drive - it might give you motion sickness from the jerky camera footage.  It gives you an idea of the road, if you want to try it.

Once we past Hana the road signs weren't the best and we thought that we might be on the wrong road.  There wasn't as much traffic any more and the road was quite a bit rougher and reduced to one lane - whenever another vehicle approached, we both drove very slowly and partially on the grass/rock shoulder, making sure we didn't roll into the ditch.  We decided to keep going for the sake of adventure, but it turned out that we were on the right track, evidenced by our approach to the Seven Pools.  As you drive towards the turn for the park entrance, you have to honk as you come down the hill because there is zero visibility in both directions.  If you've driven in the country and are a confident driver, you can do this yourself and save some money over going with a tour company.  There are some uncertain turns, since you can't tell if anything (big or small) is coming around the bend, but drive defensively and you should be fine.  Overall, I think the scariness factor of this drive has been over exaggerated by the online community - just drive defensively, however, if you aren't a confident driver, then don't attempt it.

We entered into Haleakala National Park at the Kapahulu area, near mile marker 42 and paid the US$10 entrance fee which was valid for 7 days and would allow us to also enter the park from the other side to go to the summit of Haleakala.  Once parked, we took a quick look in the visitor centre to check the hiking conditions and then proceeded to do the shorter hike around the pools before we had lunch.  For all the parks you go to, you should stop at the visitor centre to check conditions - weather is unpredictable and rain can cause flash flooding in the area.

 This hike was a 1/2 mile loop and very easy.  Evan (our 3 year old) hiked this no problem and we even ventured to the water flows and the pool.  Although we didn't have any issues or accidents, the lava rock is very slippery when it's wet, because its composition has a high proportion of glass.  The heavy rains which occur on this side of Haleakala are caused by the condensation of clouds in the cold air against the mountainside, and carved the pools, channels and waterfalls visible today.  

The cascading waterfalls/pools flow into the ocean which is very neat to see.  Rainfall averages more than 300 inches per year and is one of the wettest places on earth.  A fun fact is that less than 10 miles away in the rain shadow of the mountain, the average rainfall is less than 30 inches per year.  It is also a unique ecosystem for rare species of snails (Hihiwai), shrimp (Opai), and a migratory fish (Oopu).  We finished this trail in about an hour, which includes all our stopping, exploring, and pictures.

Stay tuned for part 2: the Pipiwai Trail and driving the road back