Maui Beaches Near Hana

While in Maui in 1999, I found some nice beaches on the East side that offer an interesting alternative to the popular beaches on the tourist side of Maui. These isolated beaches are located near the village of Hana. I consider them isolated because getting to them involves a 52-mile drive down a winding road that takes 3-1/2 hours. But, its worth every mile...past lush tropical jungles, impressive waterfalls and fantastic vistas of the water below. If you stop to explore all the tempting places, the drive could take much longer. Near the end of the drive, there are several impressive beaches worth visiting. Here are my favorites:

Hamoa Beach is a black sand beach set in an idyllic half-moon bay. James Michener, famous for his epic book and movie, Hawaii, thought it was the perfect South Pacific beach, even though it was in the North Pacific. When I saw it for the first time, I found myself pulled into some kind of a contemplative trance, just staring out over the view. I finally shook this off and channeled my energy into hanging from a palm tree (see above).

This beach is maintained by the Hana-Maui Resort, but is open to all. The Resort maintains very nice restrooms and change rooms at this beach to use. Just don’t use their beach chairs.You’ve got to be paying $400 per night for that privilege. Get to Hamoa Beach by driving past the town of Hana about 2 miles and into the community of Hamoa. You’ll find the beach down a flight of stairs next to the road in the more developed part of town. Be careful where you park. I wasn’t and got a ticket.

A much more complete description of Hamoa Beach can be found at the following sites:
http://www.siamaffiliate.com/hamour.htm

http://www.hawaiiweb.com/maui/beaches/HamoaBeach.htm

The Waianapanapa State Park also has an impressive black sand beach called Honokalani Beach. It will be more crowded than Hamoa Beach due to its Park status. Here you'll see otherworldly rock shapes with blowholes and archways over the water...and some nice caves not far from the beach. To get away from the tourists, you can walk the trail through the lava bluffs along the water. After about a mile, you'll see very few people. Along the way I came across an ancient burial site and a cave of pink walls that led down to the water. http://www.hawaiiweb.com/maui/beaches/aianapanapaBlackSandBeach.htm

My favorite and most secluded beach is Kaihalulu Beach, or more commonly called Red Sand Beach. Reaching it involves a 15-minute hike past an old Japanese cemetery, then over a risky path along the bluff. The toughest part of the trail is covered with small lava rocks on which it’s easy to slip and fall the 25 feet to the beach. The path also is washed out at places, requiring you to hold on to the trees not to fall. This trail is really not for flip-flops. Usually there are just a few people here, mostly locals. You may also find some nude bathers there. The best time to go is either in the early morning or mid-to-late afternoon to avoid the direct sun. During mid-day, the sun makes for high temperatures and tends make the beach sand look more brown than red. Actually the sand is more like pebbles that get increasingly smaller as you get closer to the water. See more pictures of theRed Sand Beach at http://www.hawaiiweb.com/maui/beaches/KaihaluluRedSandBeach.htm.

What's also unique about this place is the protected pool formed by a row of jagged lava rocks about 100 feet out that makes for a calm pool perfect for snorkeling and swimming. The waves breaking on the rocks throw up a tremendous spray that makes it seem like you're surrounded by a storm. The Red Sand Beach is located next to the Hana-Maui Resort. Look for the trail on the South side of the Hana Community Center, where it meets the Hotel Hana property. There are many other sights to see around Hana. The followingwebsite has a good description of these: http://hana-maui.com/activities.html .

There are very few restaurants near Hana, except for one at the ultra-exclusive Hotel Hana-Maui. There is a grocery and general store in Hana named Hasegawa General Store. Its been around for close to 100 years and theres even been a song written about it (song lyrics link below). There you can buy groceries and make lunch for one of the beaches.

http://gmtplus9.blogspot.com/2005/09/hasegawa-general-store.html.