In preparing for our trip to Maui, we kept reading about “the road to Hana”… Never much about Hana, but always about the road that leads to this little, isolated, town on the East side of Maui.

We now know why and, no, we actually never made it to Hana. There is SO much to see and do along the road, that getting there is a full day’s drive, despite the fact it is only about 50 miles from the airport. The road is also amazingly narrow and windy, usually allowing speeds of only 20 miles/hour. This makes the (one way) trip about a 2 1/2 – 3 hour at the very least. Add several stops and a fair amount of traffic and it is easy to comprehend that getting all the way to Hana requires a significant investment of time. Going there and back all on the same day is pretty much impossible.

The road itself is quite spectacular and passes though the “jungle” side of the island. Extremely dense vegetation, rocky cliffs, waterfalls and lots of interesting stops, many of them have small stands with fresh fruit smoothies, freshly baked banana bread, coconut ice cream and many more Hawaiian delicacies. All to keep the traveller well nourished and snacked-up, until the next stop.

Right at the start of the road is the famous “Mama’s Fish House” restaurant. We did not stop (it was morning), but have heard lots praise about its fish menu. You pass some small villages before you get to “Twin Falls”, our first planned stop.

Twin Falls

As you would expect from the name, there are two waterfalls here. The first is just a brief walk from the carpark and is the fall that most people go to.

A lot fewer people make it to the second waterfall (which is way more beautiful). I suspect that the main reason is this “scary” sign that is posted at the beginning of the trail that leads there.   

Throwing all  caution into the wind, I set off expecting the worst! But it is a delightful hike and not too hard at all! This is what you find when you get there.

There were very few people there and I suspect the sign, at the beginning of the trail, was put there just to deter people in an attempt to minimize the environmental impact to this pristine location.

Needless to say, I had to get into the water and swim over to the falls. The water was surprisingly cold, but, as this was a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, I got in and swam up to the fall and treaded water for a little, while letting the water splash onto my hear. Quite the experience! 

Along the trail, you can observe several other beautiful aspects of this tropical paradise.

Moving further along the road to Hana, we kept passing these creeks and cascades. So much water, no wonder the vegetation is so lush and green! 

At some stage we decided to head back, it was mid-afternoon, we were still quite a ways from Hana, but still had to get back to the other side of the island to get home. So we turned around. The day turned out to be quite full and interesting, but actually reaching Hana itself will have to wait until another time. We will go better prepared book a place to stay a few nights in Hana.