Road to Hana from Kahului: the 7 to 8 hour day trip

What the Road to Hana from Kahului day covers

The Hana Highway runs 64.4 miles along Hawaii Routes 36 and 360 between Kahului and Hana, and Hawaii's tourism authority puts Hana 52 miles out and the drive at two to four hours one way. The slowness comes from 620 curves and 59 bridges, 46 of them one lane wide, where oncoming traffic takes turns. This tour sets aside 7 to 8 hours for the round trip with stops, the shortest full-route day among the tours on this site.

Hawaii's official tourism page encourages visitors to see the road on a permitted guided tour rather than drive it. On this one the driver/guide takes the one-lane bridges and talks through the stops in English, and the vehicle is air-conditioned, which matters on a day that climbs, drops and sits in traffic at the narrow spots.

There is no hotel pickup. Guests staying on Maui meet at 7:20 a.m. at 1090 Ho'okele St, Kahului, by the picnic table near Starbucks. Cruise passengers meet at 8:30 a.m. in the parking lot next to Burger King, about a seven-minute walk out of the harbour area, and on Mondays that cruise meeting is 7:00 a.m. instead.

Rain is part of East Maui rather than bad luck: Hana averages 82.28 inches a year and no month gets less than 4 inches, with March the wettest at 9.52. Pack a rain layer, sturdy shoes for wet rock, and a swimsuit under your clothes with a towel if you want the pool at Puaa Kaa. Mean temperatures run from about 71.0 °F in February to 76.9 °F in August, so warm clothing is not the issue, dry clothing is.

From $200 per adult this is the lowest starting price here, and with no minimum a single traveller can book. Breakfast is spam musubi or yogurt, lunch is a 6-inch turkey, ham or roast beef sub or a veggie wrap without cheese, gluten-free and vegan, and chips and water come along all day. The rating stands at 4.7 ★ (159 reviews).

The day stop by stop

1. Supply stop before the highway
   A short stop at the start for anything you still need for the day: water, sunscreen, a towel, a rain layer.
2. Ho'okipa Beach Park
   Ho'okipa sits between high ground on either side and holds a steady break, so windsurfers and surfers are out almost every day of the week. Turtles haul out in one corner of the beach, out of sight of most people driving past.
3. Bamboo Forest
   A stand of bamboo right at the edge of the Hana Highway, seen from the roadside.
4. Paia town on the Hana Highway
   The route passes through Paia, just outside Kahului. The old plantation town is known as the windsurfing capital of the world and pulls windsurfers from everywhere.
5. Ke‘anae Point 30 min
   A Hawaiian village on a lava peninsula, with one of the first churches built in the islands still standing. Keanae is also known for the best-tasting poi made in Hawaii.
6. Wailua Valley State Wayside Park
   A 1.5-acre wayside with a legal parking stall and a view over Wailua town, the taro fields, Keanae Valley and the Koolau Gap. Nine waterfalls are visible in one frame when the cloud lifts.
7. Upper Waikani Falls
   A waterfall seen only on the way out to Hana, from the road itself.
8. Waikani Falls
   Lower Waikani is one of the taller falls along the Hana Highway.
9. Wai'anapanapa State Park 45 min
   Forty-five minutes at the black sand beach park outside Hana, with time for the freshwater caves and the legend behind them from the driver/guide. The park also holds sea stacks, blow holes, a natural stone arch and a hala forest, and it opens 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
10. Hana Bay
    Hana Bay, where Route 360 ends at Keawa Place and the curves finally stop.
11. Koki Beach
    A park just past Hana town, stopped at on request, for Hawaii's huli huli chicken.
12. Pua'a Ka'a State Wayside 30 min
    Two small waterfalls and pools on a 5.0-acre wayside, with half an hour for a dip. Wear your swimsuit under your clothes and carry a towel and dry clothes; the water is cold fresh water, and streams here rise fast, so skip the swim in heavy rain.
13. Hana Farms banana bread stop 30 min
    Hana Farms at 2910 Hana Highway, past mile marker 31, bakes banana bread each morning and the tour stops to try it. The stand opens Saturday to Thursday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

What is included

Meeting point and pickup

• Guests staying on Maui: 7:20 a.m. at 1090 Ho'okele St, Kahului, HI 96732, at the picnic table close to Starbucks. Some departures use 434 Kahiki St, Kahului, where you park next to the white bus facing the road.
• Cruise passengers, Sundays: 8:30 a.m. in the parking lot next to Burger King. From the ship it is about a seven-minute walk out to the main road, across the signal light, then right past O'Reilly's for roughly 100 yards.
• Cruise passengers, Mondays: 7:00 a.m. at the same Burger King parking lot. The walk to the meeting point takes up to 15 minutes, so this tour does not suit anyone who cannot manage it.
• Last-minute bookings may be moved to the 434 Kahiki St meeting point, and confirmation is not automatic; the operator makes contact either way.
• Ages: infant 0–2, child 3–11, adult 12+, senior 65+

Other Road to Hana tours from Kahului compared

All four of these start on the Kahului side of the island. This page's day trip is the cheapest entry at $200 and takes bookings for one person; the Deluxe Halfway to Hana tour at $359 runs halfway and back in a private vehicle, which works with small children or a tight schedule; the Heavenly Hana shore excursion runs 8.5 hours from $242 and is built around a ship's day in port; the Small-Group Adventure Tour from $210 is the most reviewed of the set at 4.8 ★ (3642 reviews) and includes pickup, with a 7 to 11 hour window.

Tour details from the operator's listing, checked 22 October 2026. Prices and times can change; the booking page has the current ones.

More ways to plan your visit

How long the drive to Hana really takes

Waianapanapa black sand beach and its reservations

What to pack for a day on the Hana Highway