Kahekili Highway

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Kapalua

   Kapalua is a low-key resort on the north-west tip of Maui, built on what was once a huge pineapple plantation, and it sits on a coast of bays, headlands and lava rock facing the island of Molokai across the channel. The plantation land is now golf courses and condominiums, with some pineapple fields still hanging on, but the setting is lovely, with the green West Maui Mountains rising behind and the sea bright blue in front. Honolua Bay, just along the coast, is a marine reserve known for snorkelling in summer and big surf in winter.

   Read the complete Kapalua write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kapalua is where the day begins. Next is Nakalele Blowhole.

2. 2. Nakalele Blowhole

   Maui's northwest coast looks at first like a place designed to scare people, and Nakalele is where that begins to make sense. The Kahekili Highway wraps around a rocky headland with the surf pounding the black lava below, and a short, rough walk across the rocks leads down to the blowhole, a hole in the lava shelf through which waves shoot a jet of water high into the air. In big surf the spout can rise many metres, with a roar and a boom that you feel in your chest. It is spectacular and genuinely dangerous: people have been swept off the rocks here, and the signs warning you to stay back are not suggestions.

   Read the complete Nakalele Blowhole write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Nakalele Blowhole comes up about 15 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kahakuloa.

3. 3. Kahakuloa

   Kahakuloa is a village that most people drive past in a minute and remember for years. It sits in a steep green valley on Maui's northwest coast, where the Kahekili Highway dips from the cliffs to a small bay, with a church and a handful of houses, taro patches along the stream, and a great domed headland, Kahakuloa Head, standing guard at the seaward end. The headland rises more than 600 feet from the water and is a famous landmark, a volcanic plug that glows a rich green in the morning sun.

   Read the complete Kahakuloa write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 24 km into the recorded legs you reach Kahakuloa. Next is Wailuku.

4. 4. Wailuku

   Wailuku is the county seat of Maui and one of the oldest towns on the island, a modest place of about fifteen thousand people on the slopes below the West Maui Mountains, where the valley of ʻĪao opens onto the central isthmus. It is often overlooked by visitors rushing between the airport and the beaches, which is a pity, because the town has an unpretentious charm, with historic buildings, small restaurants, antique shops and a slower rhythm than the resorts.

   Read the complete Wailuku write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Wailuku closes the day.