The Road to Hana

We had mixed advice about the Road to Hana. Some said do it. Other's said don't bother. Then I found out that the black sand beach I wanted to visit 38 years ago but couldn't because the hydrofoil wasn't running was on that road. Decision made. We were going!

I could see how it might be a bit scary for people who aren't accustomed to narrow roads (like me). But Mark is accustomed to those country roads they have in England - plenty of those are one lane with places to allow oncoming traffic to pass. (It's not about how fast you can go, it's how fast you can stop.) The Road to Hana is mostly two lanes with people having to yield and take turns at one lane bridges. (Granted, there are any number of people in the United States who don't have a clue what "yield" means. This makes for a more challenging drive.)

There are something like 14 waterfalls - you can get out and swim in some of them - if you can find a place to park. I was glad we had our own car. I didn't really want to swim but I did want to take photographs. Having our own car meant we could stop at as many or as few waterfalls as we wanted. The tour buses stopped at a few designated ones and the people in the bus had to view everything out of tinted windows. And they didn't go to the black sand beach. But we did.

Car rental in Hawaii is high. We paid more for one day than we pay for a week in the UK. But it was still cheaper than the Road to Hana bus tour for one person.

Great scenery at a bargain price.