Friday, March 8, 2019

Luxury Road Trip to Hana , Waterfalls and Lunch


My family and I are simply big road trip enthusiasts. The chill vibe of riding with the windows open and good music playing along is one of the ways we can really bond with each other – away from the stresses of city life and isolating technology. Out there, we’re just one happy family.
We make it our life’s mission to travel to all famous road trip destinations out there and that wouldn’t be complete without experiencing the awesome terrain of world-famous HI-360 or Hana Highway – one of the most dwindling and gut-tugging highways in the history of highways. And, I’m not exaggerating. I purposefully created this blog just to tell you about our crazy (in a good way) adventure there. Better hang on to your seats because we’re taking you to Hana, Maui and it’s going to be one bumpy ride!

My dad is a really good driver but we didn’t take our chances. We think it’s not worth to sacrifice our safety for the sake of trying. So we booked for a tour with Stardust Hawaii instead (be sure to check them out). And boy did we not regret this decision. Why travel solo when you can get a jam-packed Hana, Maui tour on a Mercedes? It made me go okay. If I am to travel, traveling in-style is the best way to go!
When the tour started I was really confident that I could take on anything. I’ve been on several road trips in the years past so how bad can it be? Later on, HI-360 proved me wrong. We were doing all these hairpin turns that, although fun, was crazy scary. It seemed to go on forever. When I asked the guide, he said we’re going to have to go through 617 curves and 56 one-lane bridges. No wonder it got tagged as the Divorce Highway. Even though my head was becoming a little bit dizzy with all the lefts and rights, it was one experience I wouldn’t have any other way. Plus, the overlooking scenery of luscious greens and gorgeous mountaintops redeemed every inch of my wanderlust soul.


Our first stop was at Ho’okipa Beach Park. A famous surfing place, and boy, did we see a lot of surfers out there.  If you are lucky, you can spot turtles at the beach as they like to rest in the sun. 
Upon entering Hana, the Historic Church of St. Joseph in Kaupo greets you for a job well done. On the way there, we went to see waterfalls that really left us in awe. We got to take pretty cool pictures with it too. Then, we enjoyed a nice daytime stroll at Wainapanapa black sand State Park. 


The waters were as clear as the sky, surrounded by high greens that really make you appreciate the wonderful works of Mother Nature. I heard you can snorkel on this amazing black sand beach but our family saved it for next time. There’s just so much to see in a day’s time! Part of the tour was seeing Lava Tube caves – that was actually the first time in my life I got to see anything like it.

We stooped for Lunch in Hana town, our guide recommended a local restaurant called Hana Ranch and I ordered famous Loco Moco - also recommended by Tom - our guide. It was delicious. I love the texture when you mixing the yolk with rice and gravy, OMG I would go back for this dish.

My favorite part of all was taking a relaxing dip in the Pools of O’heo which is popularly known as the Seven Sacred Pools of O’heo. We had to travel a bit more to get to this place but it was time spent well. It looked like a waterfall with several pools tied together that exits to the ocean – truly a magnificent view!

We ended the trip with a visit at the Ulupalakua ranch which really gives off the countryside feels. The whole excitement really got us hungry so we stopped by at Hana Farms for some grub where I found my new all-time favorite: Banana Nut and Chocolate Chip Bread – definitely a must try!

The tour ended Our Hana trip ended quite too soon but that means we have all the more reason to go back. There’s still so much left to explore and local delicacies to eat (my personal favorite part of the trip). Hana is perfect for people with adventurous spirits - I know you are one too!

If you're interested to reserve your tour - and as I said before, this is the great one, you can use this link https://www.stardusthawaii.com/hawaii-tours/luxury-road-to-hana-waterfalls-lunch/

Have Fun and share with me some cool pictures. And did I mentioned I love Hibiscus?