You also won’t be going a heck of a lot faster this way unless you live here – the reason traffic goes so slow is that everyone is doing a combination of gawking and navigating a very narrow, twisting, turning road. Virtually no one visiting is going to go much faster on this road with or without cars in front of them (and if you do, then you;ll still have cars in front of you…) Now locals are another story – and you should let them pass because they can definitely go way faster than you believe possible (and if you don’t you’ll often get to witness someone dangerously pass you around a blind turn!)

So, I do not usually suggest going that direction for any other reason, and especially if you plan on only doing one Road to Hana day. Much of the beauty will be missed doing it backwards, and if the sun goes down on your drive (good chance it will), there are many reasons why it would be preferable to have it go down on the backside. Some reasons include: you’ll get to see the sunset if you’re on the backside, after dark the lights along the coastline in South Maui are a nice view, the road opens up sooner returning on the back side as well. Also, the sightseeing on the backside is easier to sacrifice – if you have to miss something, seeing only part of the backside is usually much more acceptable than only part of the Road to Hana.

Oh, and the sun question: The Road to Hana side is largely under rainforest canopy; plus the geography is such that the only time the mountain will shade you from the sun is sunrise and sunset times, both of which most people would like to see if they’re out at those times – so going clockwise will put you on the correct side of the mountain for one (or both) of those events.

Have fun on Maui!

Lee