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UNITED STATES | Maui, Hawaii Travel Guide
Friday, April 19, 2024
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Road to Hana
The Road to Hana
The Road to Hana is one of the most beautiful drives in the islands. It sets out from just outside Kahului and journeys some 55 miles southeast along the coast to the sleepy little town of Hana. The highway twists and turns madly much of the way – around 617 bends! – passing by lush, verdant valleys and scores of picturesque waterfalls, crossing 56 tiny bridges, mostly one-lane. And while it is possible to drive to Hana in less than two hours, this is one drive that should be enjoyed at a leisurely pace, for it offers some of the most breathtaking scenery at almost every turn of the highway, and also abundant opportunities for breaks at waterfalls and swimming holes.
Paia
Paia is situated at the northern terminus of the Hana Road, about 6 miles east of Kahului. Established as a sugar plantation camp at the turn-of-the-century, Paia is a small, quaint town, filled with an assortment of colorful little shops, boutiques, galleries and eateries, mostly dating from the late 1960s and early 1970s when it was inhabited primarily by hippies. The town is now also synonymous with windsurfing, with much of the activity centered at nearby Ho’okipa Beach, where you can watch world-class windsurfers perform 360-degree flips and other manouvers. Ho’okipa Beach Park is also the site of several national and international windsurfing competitions.
Ke’anae Peninsula
The Ke’anae Peninsula, about a third of the way down the Road to Hana, also holds some interest, particularly the Ke’anae Overlook that offers great views of the peninsula below, and also Ke’anae Arboretum which is filled with indigenous tropical plants and trees and also incorporates an authentic representation of a Hawaiian rainforest.
Hana
Hana, or “Heavenly Hana,” situated at the head of Hana Bay at the eastern end of the island, makes up the southern terminus of the Road to Hana. It is a surprising little town, rural, secluded, tranquil, unpretentious, and largely unchanged in more than a hundred years. It was originally established as a sugar plantation town in 1864, and attracted hundreds of Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese plantation workers, whose descendants – together with several full-blooded Hawaiians – continue to make up the major portion of the town’s resident population of around 1,000. There are a couple of beaches here, but the centerpiece of Hana remains Hotel Hana-Maui, which boasts among its celebrity guests the likes of the late Beatle George Harrison and author James Michener. Also, the grave of pioneer aviator Charles Lindbergh can be visited at nearby Kipahulu.
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