Field Report No. 05
Maui Hawaii, USA
Two Mauis in one trip — quiet Hana with the black-sand beach, then the Kā'anapali strip with Black Rock snorkeling. Road to Hana is a full day of waterfall stops.
Field Report
No. 05
Maui Hawaii, USA
Worth the flight.
- Coordinates
- 20.7984° N, 156.3319° W
- Traveled
- Late November
- Kid-readiness
- High, with logistics. Long Road to Hana drive days, snorkel only when it's glassy, but the waterfall walks are easy.
- Where we stayed
- Hana-Maui Resort for the quiet end and the black-sand beach (2 nights), then the Sheraton at Kā'anapali for the Black Rock and the pool stretch (4 nights).
- The non-negotiable
- The Pipiwai Trail to Waimoku Falls — through a giant banyan and a bamboo forest to a 400-foot waterfall. Covered by the park pass, no reservation.
- What we'd skip
- Rounding the tip at Black Rock with kids (the current grabs), and swimming the Seven Sacred Pools — view-only for safety.
- Best season
- Late November. South Maui (Maluaka, Ulua) stays calm in winter when the west side gets windy.
- Points & hacking
- Fly OGG (Kahului), rent a car. Drive the Hana Highway in daylight only, and download offline maps east of Paia.
20.7984° N, 156.3319° W
Maui is really two trips, and we’d do both again. Start quiet in Hana — the black-sand beach at Waiʻānapanapa (book the timed entry), the slow pace, the resort tucked at the end of the road. Then move to Kā’anapali for the back half: Black Rock snorkeling off the beach, a pool the girls won’t leave, and sunsets that earn the drive.
20.7984° N, 156.3319° WThe non-negotiable is the Pipiwai Trail — four miles round trip through a banyan the size of a building and a bamboo forest that clatters in the wind, out to a 400-foot waterfall. The Road to Hana itself is the other full day: Wailua, Twin Falls, Three Bears, the Garden of Eden. One gas station, in Paia — fuel up before you go.
Get the girls a lava flow served in a pineapple at least once.
It’s the kind of small thing they remember years later, long after the waterfalls blur together.
More places, scored the same way.
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