Your Guide
Meet your guide
Nalani Kahananui
Born and raised in Hana. She's driven the road 2,000 times. She knows every gate, every garden, every family.
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Nalani Kahananui
Born and raised in Hana. Her grandmother's land borders the highway. She's driven this road more than 2,000 times and knows every gate, every garden, every family that lives behind the hedgerows. Works part-time teaching Hana district history at the community school.
The Road to Hana is famous for its waterfalls and turns. What the guidebooks don't tell you is that the truly unforgettable stops are invisible from the highway — they're accessed through relationships, through knowing who to ask, through having grown up here. Nalani's grandmother's land is off the highway. She knows which bamboo forest has a swimming hole you reach by crossing a private garden gate. She knows the tiny church at Ke'anae where Portuguese immigrants built the altar in 1860. She knows the black sand beach that appears for only two hours around low tide. She is the road.
What Your Day Looks Like
A sample itinerary
Early morning (6am)
Depart from your hotel in a private vehicle. Nalani stops at a gas station in Paia where her cousin works — the actual local breakfast, not the resort version. Banana bread still warm from the oven from the Halfway to Hana stand, bought before the tour buses arrive. She talks about the land as the road begins to climb.
Morning to midday (7am–1pm)
The hidden stops, in order: the Ke'anae peninsula, where Native Hawaiians maintained taro paddies through the plantation era; the bamboo forest swimming hole (garden gate access — private, quiet, cold, perfect); the 1860 church at Ke'anae that nobody stops at; the Pahoa fruit stand that has operated since 1949 under the same family. Lunch at a roadside clearing Nalani's family uses for picnics — prepared by her aunt in Hana, delivered to the spot.
Afternoon to sunset (2–6pm)
The black sand beach near Wai'anapanapa — but timed to low tide when the full expanse is exposed and the sea arch is accessible by foot. The 'Ohe'o Gulch pools, hiked without the crowd because you've arrived before 3pm. The return, slower, through Upcountry — Kula lavender farm as the light goes gold, then Makawao for shave ice and the drive back through the cloud forest.
What's Included
Everything is handled
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Private vehicle with Nalani throughout (10 hours)
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All food and entry fees covered
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Private garden access for bamboo forest swimming hole
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Packed lunch from Nalani's family (prepared in Hana)
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Snorkel gear for Wai'anapanapa (if conditions permit)
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Photography guidance — Nalani knows exact light windows and angles
Best For
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Anyone who has done Road to Hana before and wants the version behind the scenes
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Photographers and cultural storytelling enthusiasts
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Couples wanting a full immersive day
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Adventurous families (kids 10+)