Maui: The Road to Hana- Pipiwai Trail and Waianapanapa State Park

Enjoying the view during breakfast

The second day we hit the road early and headed to the east side to travel the Road to Hana. The Road to Hana is a narrow, curvy road (over 600 turns) that hugs the coast line through the tropical jungle on the side of Haleakala that gets a ton of rainfall. The other side of the island is relatively dry in contrast and so it was crazy to see the two vastly different environments in such close proximity.

Our first stop was Aunt Sandy's for some famous banana bread.

The kids played some coconut soccer while we waited.

We passed many beautiful vistas and numerous waterfalls.

At the end of the road is the Haleakala National Park where we hiked the Pipiwai Trail. 

We came across this amazing tree that was endlessly entertaining.

Then the trail turned into a bamboo forest.

These cascading pools ran along side the bamboo.

As the wind blew, the bamboo would knock against itself making these cool sounds.

At the end of the trail was this super tall waterfall. You can see Patrick and Aislin at the bottom of the pic for reference.

We also hiked down to the ocean where there was a black sand beach.

On the road back, we stopped at this stand for some delicious chicken.

Another beautiful beach.

This chicken reminded me of Grandpa Barber's chicken cooked over a coal pit all day. So yummy!

The kids had fun on the swing.

The sand was red.

After lunch, our last stop was Waianapanapa State Park to swim at the black sand beach.

The beach was actually black lava rocks, that turned into lava pebbles, and then black sand as it got closer to the water.

It was a beautiful, little bay made from all different forms of lava.

As the sun was setting, we could see the silhouette of Haleakala in the distance over the bay. 

There was an awesome lava tunnel.

Maui 2024

 

We had such a wonderful time in Kauai, I was eager to visit the other Hawaiian islands. I started looking for plane ticket deals for Fall break so when a crazy good deal showed up one day ($230 per ticket), I grabbed them! And we were off!

We had a layover in Seattle and passed this amazing mountain on the way.

We arrived in Maui around 9pm which was after midnight for us, so we were ready for bed. But we woke up before the sunrise and got to see Maui for the first time with the sunrise out of the window of our condo. We stayed the first 3 days on the south side of the island so we could be close to all the highlights there before moving up to the north side.

We got some great recommendations from friends about all the best places to eat on the island so this was our first stop and it was delicious!

We headed straight up to hike the volcano, Haleakala. We drove to the top and enjoyed the views of the Big Island above the clouds.

On the other side of the summit was an amazing view of the isthmus of Maui.

On the edge of caldera.

There are plants that grow in the volcano that are not found anywhere else in the world.

We started our hike down Sliding Sands trail to the bottom of the caldera.

The different colors and texture of sand and rock made for a unique landscape.

Red, brown, yellow, grey, and black.

We hiked half way down, about 2 miles before we headed back up.

Pretty awesome to be inside a volcano!

We then headed to Kam III beach to relax and play for the rest of the day.

The volcanic rock made for dramatic beaches and excellent snorkeling.

This beach had perfect waves for boogie boarding.

And the girls liked playing in the waves.

The sand was perfect for building.

There was a beautiful park on the beach.

We stayed until the sun set, my favorite time at the beach.

Then we hit up the best shaved ice on the island.

The ice cream at the bottom was out of this world!

And we found where to buy the delicious ice cream. It's made locally in Maui. The coconut ice cream is the creamiest texture and so smooth. I'm not a big ice cream fan usually, but this is worth every calorie!