Hāna sits on the wet, windward side of Maui, where the trade winds wring rain from the slopes of Haleakalā and the whole coast runs deep green. South of town, in the Kīpahulu district of Haleakalā National Park, the ʻOheʻo Gulch pools step down to the sea, and the Pīpīwai Trail climbs through a bamboo forest to the tall Waimoku Falls. The name Hāna is often read as ʻrainy land,ʻ and the rain is the reason for the waterfalls, the taro, and the green.
That is the bargain Hāna offers. There are no big resorts, no traffic lights, barely a town center — just Hāna Bay beneath Kaʻuiki Head, a few churches and food trucks, the black-sand coast, and the waterfalls. People come the length of the highway for exactly this: a pocket of old Hawaiʻi the island never quite caught up to, where the reward for the long drive is the quiet at the end of it.
Why People Visit Hāna
People come the length of the highway for the quiet at the end of it: a pocket of old Hawaiʻi with black-sand beaches, waterfalls, and a slow, traditional pace. The drive is the point, and Hāna is the reward — so take it slowly, and travel with respect for a place that has kept old Hawaiʻi close.
