My brother and I have spent the last two days hiking, eating, swimming in secret swimming holes, and trying to soak in as much as humanly possible here in this magical place.

It’s been an incredible couple of days, and we’re both a bit gutted to leave later today. Luckily, I still have one more night in Maui, and tonight we’re doing dinner at a farm-to-table Hawaiian restaurant called Ka’ana Kitchen, so we have that to look forward to.

I’ll admit, I was a bit nervous about doing the road to Hāna. Was the drive really worth it? Would I get car-sick? Was the juice worth the proverbial squeeze?

We planned to leave our hotel in Wailea just after sunrise on Tuesday, but we were delayed and left a little later than expected. It didn’t matter. The Road to Hāna doesn’t just reward precision; it also rewards patience. And honestly, the slower pace seemed to pay off in spades.

We didn’t make it to everything on our wish list, but we did a lot of high points. We hiked down to all three waterfalls at Twin Falls, the name of which is a bit of a misnomer, as there are actually three waterfalls, not two, and took a cold plunge that woke us up better than any mac nut coffee ever could.

We took a detour to Ke‘anae Peninsula, grabbed banana bread at the Halfway to Hāna poing (100% worth the hype), and pulled over for huli huli chicken, aka Jesus chicken, cooked on the side of the road.

We even managed to snag a last-minute reservation at Waiʻānapanapa State Park (it’s a timed entry and must be booked in advance), where we wandered the coastal hiking trails and ogled influencers in full force, battling high surf along the black-sand beach to get that perfect shot. Mad respect honestly.

The deeper we got into the drive, the more obvious it became that this road is very special.

For the unitinated, the Road to Hāna is a serpentine stretch of road carved along the northeastern edge of Maui.

It’s 64.4 miles long and comprises 620 turns, 59 one-lane bridges, and a constant back-and-forth of “hey, did you see that!” to “holy shit, that was insane!” It’s part rainforest, part coastal cliff, part waterfall scavenger hunt. There’s something to see nearly everywhere you turn, a place to stop nearly every mile, from fruit stands and hiking trails to scenic overlooks, small family-owned farms, and random roadside stops.

Everyone says the magic of Hāna isn’t the destination; it’s the journey. And while I get that, I think Hāna itself gets underestimated. The destination is absolutely worth it. It’s quiet in a way most places aren’t anymore. No chain restaurants. No beach clubs or bars. No nightlife at all, actually.

Even our room at Hāna-Maui Resort doesn’t have a TV. There is a general store, a handful of local farm stands and food trucks, and long stretches of volcanic coastline where the waves drown out everything else. Even the air feels different here; it’s perfumed with plumeria and jasmine. This place gets under your skin in the best way.

We only have a few hours left before we start our journey back to the other side of the island. There’s going to be a road to Hāna story in the very near future, so stay tuned.

Until then, I’m sending you a little Maui magic and a reminder to take a deep breath somewhere today, even if it’s not on a hair-raising 620-turn road carved into the cliffs of Hawai‘i, you deserve it!

Mahalo, and see you Tuesday 🤙

—Michelle