Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Road to Hana, Hawai'i

Ever since I found out about this road many years ago I knew that if I ever came to Maui, then I would have to drive it. It is one of the curviest roads in the world with over 600 curves in less than 50 miles. The actual twisty section is only about 34 miles with 59 bridges (46 of which are single lane), and around 34 waterfalls.

hana

you can read more information about the Hana Road HERE

It is the perfect road for a 2-wheeled vehicle but other than tourists who rent bikes while they are here on vacation I don't see many bikes, but there are lots of 49cc scooters . I mean why would you own a sport bike or a V-strom when there is only one main road which gets repetitive after a while.

From all the literature we have read the Road to Hana was described as an all day affair, taking at least 2-1/2 hours, or if there is lots of traffic . . . closer to 4 hours each way to drive the mere 50 miles. The road is narrow with narrow lanes and most of the 59 bridges are one-lane, having to yield to oncoming traffic at most curves. The posted speed often crawls to 10 or 15 mph. The road is not conducive to taking photos as there are few places to pull over and you can't stop in the middle of the road since there are too many curves.

8 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I remember driving that road in 1989 on my honeymoon. We drove it in a red Mustang convertible. I need to go back it's been far too long.

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  2. Ahhh... now dreaming of three weeks in Hawaii with a Vespa and no agenda.

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  3. I can see how that road would be fun on two wheels. Might be a little scary if a bug truck came around a corner in your lane though. Mind you they do that on two lane roads anyway.

    Beautiful views though.

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  4. +1 what David said. We were on the road quite early and traffic was limited to locals mostly who know the road and raced like the devil was following them.

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  5. Dar:

    I wished you had said so before, then we could all have gone together.

    David:

    I did suggest to someone ONCE about having a bloggers convention somewhere like Hawai'i, then we could all rent scooters and roam around the area.

    Trobairitz:

    many cars came over the line on the corners, we had to stay to the right at all times. We had to back up once . . .

    the weather was perfect, not too hot, nor too cold. In the summer the heat is a killer

    SonjaM:

    we also had local racing devils, but we let them all pass at the first opportunity. we were in NO rush at all and I wanted to enjoy the scenery and take video

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  6. Wow!! Going to Hawaii is already on my bucket list, but you've provided me with some great incentive to put this closer to the top. What an awesome road.

    I'm daydreaming also... sigh... ;\

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  7. Lady R:

    you would like Hawai'i, laid back, don't have to dress up, just casual attire and good, warm weather all the time.

    go there when the weather is bad where you are

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  8. Ok. Ok. So it's beautiful. But what did it smell like?

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