Maui Day 2: Road to Hana + Charley Young Beach

We felt a little beached out after our marathon first day, so we decided on our second day to brave the road to Hana (or at least part of it).

But first my son and I hit up a nearby beach to see some see turtles. The two things I really want to do on this trip are swim with sea turtles (in their general vicinity) and swim in a waterfall. We didn’t see any sea turtles on our first day snorkeling, but it was exciting to see them on the beach!

The road to Hana is long and windy and it takes a while to actually arrive in Hana (2.5 hours!) We were told it might not actually be worth going all the way there, so we decided to just go half way. We stopped at a bay that locals love, and then hit up a hiking trail a friend recommended.

There were so many incredible views on the road – we pulled over a few times just to take photos.

On the way back home, we stopped for some amazing BBQ on the side of the road. The food here is so good.

At home we realized our friends had gone to a spot that was too far for our liking (after all that driving earlier), so we tried to think of something else to do. I have to admit, the adults just wanted to stay on the property and chill out (we were exhausted from all the driving), but we knew our son couldn’t handle that much down time. Finally, we found a beach that was only 30 minutes away, and we committed to that.

And Charley Young Beach ended up being just what we needed. The wind was wicked (locals say the last two days have been windier than anything they’ve seen in years – like tropical storm windy) but we had a ton of fun playing in the waves and exploring the lava rock formations. I even did some body boarding!

Before we left I wrote a thank you note in the sand, so I could take a picture and our friend could send it to his friend whose property we’re staying on. But right after I took the shot the waves came and washed away everything but the thank you. It felt really perfect, because I’m so grateful for this trip, so I took another picture.