10 Road to Hana Mistakes You Don’t Want to Risk

ROAD TO HANA COMPLETE GUIDE:

BEST MAUI ITINERARY ON THE PLANET:

BEST ROAD TO HANA GUIDED TOURS:

5 ROAD TO HANA ROUTES:

ROAD TO HANA ETIQUETTE:

HOW TO DO THE ROAD TO HANA IN ONE DAY:

WHERE TO STAY ON THE ROAD TO HANA:

MAUI WHERE TO STAY: HOTEL AND VACATION RENTAL REVIEWS

FREE Hawaii Cheat Sheets for each Hawaiian Island:

DISCOUNT RENTAL CARS: Local companies like Kihei Rent a Car and Kimo’s

Road to Hana, Maui Mistakes:
00:00 Intro
00:38 The wrong car
01:53 Leaving too late
02:25 Packing the day of
02:57 Not downloading our itinerary
03:25 Too many stops
03:50 Not knowing the etiquette
04:28 Trespassing
06:01 Ready for Rain
08:06 No Reservation
09:06 Attempting the Backside

Hawaii Vacation Guide Newsletter - bi-weekly for travel tips, discounts, facts, and more!

Discount Codes for Popular Tours (mainly Maui):

Click Subscribe for more of our adventures and tips on traveling to Hawaii (plus subscribing helps us out!).

#hawaii #roadtohana #maui

Credits:
Editing was done by the amazing Iliya Lipkovich, you can find him on Instagram @ilya_lipkovich
——————————————————
Disclaimer. Your use of the information provided in our Content, Itineraries, Site and Services is for your informational purposes only and is subject to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Your use of information described in, your participation in activities presented in, and/or your engagement of any Travel Service Providers presented in our Content, Itineraries, Site and/or Services may carry the risk of illness, bodily injury, disability, death, or property damage. You voluntarily and freely assume all risks and dangers that may occur pursuant to your access, use, purchase or participation in any information, activity, good or service described in our Content, Itineraries, Site and Services or provided by any Travel Service Providers.
——————————————————
——————————————————
OUR CAMERA GEAR (keep it simple for your vacation!):
Don’t lose your GoPro, invest in a floaty
—————————————————
POPULAR VIDEOS

[djpetenice]

My wife and I did the Road to Hana back in Sept 2023. Sadly all the road side places to stop were temporarily closed due to the downturn in tourism because of the fires. We really wanted to help with our dollars. Luckily Uncle Rogers World Famous Huli Huli Chicken tent was open! The people working at the black sand beach allowed us to stay as long as we want because not many people were there. Fun trip never the less. Your video showed a lot of familiar places we stopped along the way. The Road Hana APP came in handy too.

[johnlovrencec]

First time was ❤😮1980 ours trip to HANA MAUI LOVED THE WHOLE DAY TRIP Many waterfalls
One way bridges seven secr❤❤❤POOLS ALOHA MAUI.

[wnmech]

Every time we have done the road to Hana we have driven the complete circle and in my opinion the coast side road wasn’t that bad driving. You get a feeling of the whole island.

[WSAnderson]

This was one of my favorite things on Maui. Lessons learned :

1) Please PLEASE focus on what you are doing as the driver. Yes there are many amazing views but let your passengers get pictures and operate the GoPro.

2) Get comfortable with the corners of your rental car in a parking lot and in more comfortable areas. Do the road to Hana later in your trip. You need to have a good sense for how close you can get to the road edge and other cars. If you are one of those people who need 3 feet between you and a guardrail or jersey wall at home, maybe someone else can drive because you likely will have some places you can't get that much room.

3) There is one place in particular that going east you go downhill and curve right. Brown Cliff on the right side, guardrail on the left. It's like one and a half lane and an S curve. The road is questionable for two cars and you plain cannot see the other starting point. This is the only place on the road that you can really get stuck. If that happens, work with others to find a less narrow spot. You need to be able to reverse and carefully navigate. You may have to give or they do. It's NOT the place to lose your patience.

[chrisshanks]

Good job explaining proper etiquette. from someone that has lived in Hana for well over 30 years. and has driven the road for more than 4000 times.

[auntysandysbananabread]

Thank you stopping by our shop! We love all your tips for the road to Hana 😍 great job!

[Practcal]

You guys know to get my weekend started! Kihei Car rental, Love them! my favorite place to get a car on Maui.

[NYnative]

My advice from experience is that if you’re at all prone to car or motion sickness, take a Bonnine before you take off. Makes all the difference between a great time and a very bad time.

[ShepCmdrN]

My wife and I drove the Road to Hana yesterday (12/29/23) and can attest it can be a challenging drive, especially on the SE back half as Jordan mentioned 😬; absolutely gorgeous views though. Definitely stop by the Kipahulu District of Haleakala State Park for the Pipiwai trail if you’re up for it.

[mjodan]

My family and I did that back side drive from Haleakala to Ono Organic Farms to do their fruit tour. There are definitely dangerous, cliffside areas but the views were pretty amazing. I'd suggest that fruit tour as well if you guys haven't done it. They bring you around the farm in a golf cart for about an hour or 2 and you get to taste anything along the way. Advance reservations and a deposite are necessary. At the end of the tour they send you home with a box full of their delicious fruit. I would highly recommend doing the tour a day after getting to Maui because some of that fruit needs a few days to ripen but it's SO good!

[GoffwithaG]

We drove the road to Hana when we were on Maui. One thing I can say is that I wish we would have given ourselves more time. I made the reservation for the black sand beach around 11:45. We left our rental around 7am and just felt rushed. We missed so many chances for stops along the way because we didn’t have time and didn’t want to miss our reservation slot. Coming back, the sun was setting and I was nervous about driving the twists and turns at night.

[gilbertgarcia]

We traveled the Road to Hana in March 2024 it was an awesome trip it actually was our third trip to Maui and we loved it.

[rustyisrael]

We drove the backside, didn't have a problem and it was beautiful!

[jameswashnis]

very informative video thank you...i drove the hana road once it was pretty intense

[clearstream]

Watching your video brought back great memories! The Road to Hana was one of the highlights of our trip to Maui in July of 2021. Rental cars were hard to to get at the time and we ended up with a small sedan. It did fine. It was almost better than a Wrangler Unlimited as it was a bit smaller. There were a lot of people in convertible Mustangs too. We made it as far as the Kipalulu Vistor Center in Haleakalā National Park and turned around. Definitely make reservations for Waiʻānapanapa State Park!! We forgot and missed out on Black Sands Beach.

[bballerforever]

I’ve used Valley Isle Excursions!
4 years ago and it was a good decision.
I could take photos while riding in the shuttle vehicle and they stopped frequently also. I still remember the black sand beach with the cave, so cool!

They feed you breakfast at a local golf course and lunch at one of the stops, down home island food.

The one negative: Auntie Sandy’s was closed! But we got good banana bread from another stand.

[derbagger]

I had heard about the road to Hana, but I didn't fully understand how tight and windy it was. And we drove it in the rain, lol. Fortunately, I'm a road warrior. We did just a day trip to Maui, so it was the road, continued around the island, hiked up Pipiwai, circled around and drove up Haleakala and then went back to the airport. Mokulele Airlines flew us in from Waimea-Kohala to Kahului just after sunrise. Amazing!

[artist]

If your doing the RTH trip stay the night at Hana. Go to the Palapala Ho'omau Church where Charles Lindbergh and his wife are buried. There's a good chance you might meet his granddaughter Erin who lives next door and oversees the church and gives yoga classes and BTW her house was owned by one of the Beach Boys for awhile and was origionally her grandparents home.

[sratelle]

You should do a video of roads to avoid in Hawaii. When I was in Maui last year, my GPS routed me to take the Highway 340 loop back to Kaanapali. That road is terrifying and makes the road to Hana look like a cakewalk.

[kristinesharp]

Thanks for the information on the bamboo forest.