Have fun, that is one of my favorite places to camp!

HERE is where I need your help and advice.

We are staying in Ka’anapali area. It takes 3 hours to get down to Hana no matter which way you go. Now add our kid’s bladders into the mix and the time becomes much longer. We really want to find a place to stay over night down in that area.
And of course,.. we have no/little money for another night stay since our hotel is already booked. So we are looking for options. We tried the cabins at the state park. Booked the week we are there.
So we thought,.. hmmm. what if we just rent a tent and sleep at the National forrest campground. The forest ranger I called said we would definitely want a tent because it rains to much.
We found 2 website that claim they will rent us a tent (campmaui.net) and (mauitravelservices4u.com) . Waiting to hear back from them.
Can we just throw a tent in the vehicle and then sleep on a blanket or two? We will be there the week of May 27 – will we need sleeping bags? Pretty sure there won’t be enough room for 5 sleeping bags plus food, plus water, plus plus plus. We will doing this as light as possible. NOTHING fancy. We are just trying to avoid 6+ extra hours of our vacation in the car.
So,.. are we nuts to consider this? Never having camped there – what do we REALLY need?
Are there options I haven’t considered?
We truly are looking for the cheapest way to do this since we are already paying for our hotel in ka’napali.
Thank you for ANY advice you can offer!
And THANK you again for such a great website!
k

1) Regardless of what anyone tells you, including the rental agencies…and if you are in a Jeep, you have NO EXCUSE!…the South end around out of the R2H was the best part of the trip. Better yet, we started with the South way around on Hiway 37, on the advice of a poolside stranger…and it was hands-down the best part of the trip. Don’t be fooled by the “unpaved road” and the rental agency threats that this is “no-mans land”…it was awesome! We not only witnessed what 98% of the R2H visitors miss, but we also went backwards despite so many saying not to…including the robotic lady at the “Road to Hana Guidebook” kiosk… and thus missed all the traffic and all the old-crags driving 6 miles an hour to Hana via 31 from Paia. No, it is not loaded with waterfalls, bamboo and jungle…but it is full of vistas, lava flow areas, a winery tasting room, history, and most important…it is an easy way of getting to O’heo. Can you say, “I am a sheep and I MUST follow this path to Hana as the guidebook instructs me”.
Even the commentary on our mediocre CD says,”I am not saying to go this way, but if you do, it is pretty cool”. OK, he doesn’t say it exactly like that, but you can tell he is keeping a secret.
2) A side-note comment here… irrelevant to Hana, but relevant to those looking to find the best of Maui…an even more amazing and daring and treacherous road trip…truly one of the most scenic and unknown Maui adventures, is Highway 30 from Kapalua to Kahakuloa. If anyone says that the R2H is a treacherous journey, then you know that their idea of “scary” is a trip to the grocery store. This stretch of West-side roadway is a marvel in itself. Lots of it is cliff-side, one-lane, hairpin craziness. It was so awesome…and our kids…previously mentioned as a handful on the R2H road-trip…loved this adventure! They were pinned to the windows and kept asking, “How did they build this road here?”…and I would respond,”I have no idea”. The wild chickens wandering about, the quaint residential areas, the honor-system roadside fruit stands, amazing vistas… most important, anyone looking to add to their bucket-list the freakiest roads in the world…OK, at least in the developed world…this road will not disappoint you. Forget the shirt that says, “I survived the Road to Hana”…there should be a shirt that says, “I survived Highway 30!”. Enough about that, but if anyone wants more input on 30, it is my favorite memory of Maui.
3) So many of the waterfalls were not accessible or were closed, or are on private property. Yes, I agree, in some ways, after a while it all looks approximately the same. And yes, the waterfalls are really cool, the scenic views, the flora, the colors…amazing. But if you have kids or a short attention span, you will get bored…UNLESS, you want to slow it down.
4) My biggest complaint is my number one suggestion. Slow down…go for a couple of days. Don’t make it a race to get it done because your kids are throwing up in the backseat….and they were. If you can, and you should… plan ahead, and chill out. Stop at every scenic turn out you can find. Eat at the roadside stops, visit with the locals, hike the hikes, mellow out and take it all in.
5) Go the back way, it’s worth it. Leave early, and go slow.
6) Black Beach. I recall someone on a website saying this was disappointing. Huh? The black beaches, caves, waves, and hiking at Waianapanapa is unforgettable and you shouldn’t miss it!
7) O’heo Gulch Pools (aka Seven Sacred Pools)…do it…and do the hike up to the 400 foot falls, it’s worth the 4 mile round trip hike. Remember I mentioned that this was our “first Hana destination”…not the last…do it the back way and you won’t regret it.
Twin Falls…a favorite stop. We decided to make this part of a separate day along with Baldwin Beach and “baby beach”. We took the hike and swam in the pools, jumped from the falls and really enjoyed the beautiful land there, courtesy of the local residents. This stop is only notable on the road as a road-side “bus” fruit stand and parking lot. There is no mention or signage what-so-ever of “Twin Falls”. I am not sure what that name even refers to…but it was a lot of fun…easily hike-able and lots of pools and streams and a little mini-cliff jumping, paths along various fruit and flowering trees and such. A great time! TIP…There are no signs or arrows or anything on the paths. We just followed the main “road/path”, and then followed our instinct, but mostly were cued by people returning down the path. At one point up the road, you will reach a fork and you will go left. It will take you to the first waterfall and pool. Be prepared to wade through a couple feet of water to get to this pool and waterfall, but once you do, you will not regret it. Once you are there. as you are leaving, DO NOT turn around and go back. Follow the hillside up to the left (as you are leaving…it’s obvious, there is no way out to the right…if you are looking at the falls, then it is to your right)…climb the hill with the rope hand-rails and follow the vague but somewhat obvious path up and around to a continuing series of pools and waterfalls that go in a loop, up and around and will eventually lead you back along a man-made irrigation channel worth seeing, that leads you back to the road you started on, back to the parking lot. One reason I liked Twin Falls is because it seemed less affected by the rain, whereas most other falls and pools on this trip were VERY affected by the rain…off-limits, violent and surging (part of what makes waterfalls cool), but you can’t swim in tem like we did at Twin Falls.
End the day at the Paia Fish Market for grub…the Ahi -Shashimi and fish tacos were great!
9) Anyone that tells you to skip this trip is a wimp or is too addicted to the concrete jungle to ever appreciate how magnificently beautiful and pristine Maui is.
10) See #4…Unless you make this a mellow and slow and enjoyable trip for the kids, then consider the age of the kids and enlighten them in advance that it will ne a long day of winding, twisting, car sickness.

Don’t dwell on the last one, it is just stuck in my head because it ruined the trip for me, and i wish we could have “slowed down and taken in the nature that is NOT actually on the paved R2H.