Hawaiian Islands Travel Series: Northeast Maui: Waimoku Falls and Ohe'o Gulch (Seven Sacred Pools)

Final Day 8: Waimoku Falls and Ohe'o Gulch

A FEW BRAVE SOULS will endeavor to travel the entire Hana Highway, and eventually run full circle. However, after taking it up to Haleakalā and back, it was safe to say we were done. The Hana Highway’s tense turns and one lanes will eventually fray your nerves after a while. As such, we did make one last trip out past Hana to Waimoku Falls, the stunning 400 foot waterfall that is one of the taller ones in Hawaii accessible by foot.

Make sure to save your receipt if you recently visited Haleakalā when gaining entry to this state park. Also, go early! We had one up on other tourists since we stayed nearby in Waiʻānapanapa. By the time we finished the hike around noon, the parking lot was full.

Many guidebooks had recommended Ohe’o Gulch, also known as the Seven Sacred Pools, that Waimea Falls eventually filters into. However, these unfortunately were not as impressive. The water was murky, and there were hoards of people lazing about in them. 

However, Pipiwai Trail, a four mile round trip leading up to Waimoku Falls, is an incredible journey in itself!

The trail opened up less than 1o minutes in to the majestic Makahiku Falls. Mist floated about it, egrets soared gracefully past iridescent rainbows, and a vast valley of lush, green foliage carpeted the earth. We stopped and gawked for a while. Next we arrived at this gigantic banyan tree, an old grandmother tree that was a playground unto itself.

 

The trail was full of more surprises.  After we switch-backed over several bridges and spotted tinier waterfalls, the trail abruptly plunged into a mysterious bamboo forest. The wind rustled through, making a haunting, rattling song, and I half-expected to see people dancing around like something out of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The trail changed to a boardwalk at this point to avoid all of the mud. It was very pleasant and cool.

Lastly, we made it to the foot of the waterfall itself. We were visiting in summer, so Waimoku Falls wasn’t running at its highest. In the spring, people can rarely get close to the falls because there is so much run-off. However, we were able to get up close to marvel and earn incredibly sore necks staring up. I cannot say enough good things about this hike; just be careful and wary of your surroundings when visiting the falls. Falling boulders and cliff side avalanches can happen.

We were ready to drive a little bit further. Thus our journey along the Hana Highway ended here, at a beautiful shady church overlooking the deep blue of the sea. This is where famous aviator Charles Lindbergh is buried. We took our time at Ho'omau Church, sat, breathed, and enjoyed the wondrous majesty that is Maui.*

*Do you have any recommendations when visiting Maui? Share a comment below!

Read more in the Hawaiian Travel Series:
(0) Intro: Welcome to Maui
(1) Day 1: Northwest Maui: Lahaina

(2) Day 2: Kihei and Makena

(3)Day 3: Central Maui: Paia and Makawao

(4) Day 4: The Hana Highway 
(5) Day 5: Wai'anapanapa State Park
(6) Day 6: Haleakala National Park 
(7) Day 7: NorthernMaui: Hana and the Red Sand Beach

Disclaimer: the above is presented as fiction, not fact. *Names have been changed for the sake of privacy.

Hawaiian Islands Travel Series: Northern Maui: Hana and the Red Sand Beach

Day 7: Hana and the Red Sand Beach

TUCKED AWAY in the corner of Northern Maui is the small town of Hana. Drivers rejoice; there is a gas station here but gas was $5.00 - $6.00/gallon, and there were two grocery stores, but milk was $10.19/gallon. 

 

A gas station in Hana

We stayed nearby in the cabins at Waiʻānapanapa State Park and drove into town to pick up a few supplies—not milk. Due to the prices, buy as much as you can in Kahului at Costco or Walmart before heading over to this side. There aren't too many grocery stores in Hana, but we stopped at Hasegawa General Store. Hasegawa’s has been around since 1910 and has the most character. There was a fun “ice cream” machine that offered tasty frozen treats, and the store’s interior was decorated with all sorts of interesting knickknacks. We bought some beef to throw on the grill, but unfortunately the packaging did leak— I’m sure it was just our bad luck, but look carefully. We did most of our shopping there. Hasegawa’s is located at 5165 Hana Hwy.

For a town so small, there was a lot going on. One street was roped off for the filming of a German documentary. This was a problem, because down that street was where the beautiful red sand beach was. It’s a difficult beach to get to, because it is quite secluded amongst the ironwoods. We parked farther away down from Hauoli Road and then successfully dodged the security guards watching the film set to find the Sea Ranch Cottages. You can find a great map on Hawaii Guide’s website located here.

A chain link fence separated the cottages for rent from the trail leading down to the hidden Red Sand Beach. You have to look carefully for the entrance to the trail along this fence, or come during a time when the beach is accessible from the cottages’ entrance; the Red Sand Beach starts right below them.

 We made our way down along the chain link fence and touched down on a rust-colored beach with rocks and driftwood just a couple hundred feet down. This was the first thing we saw:

 

And sure enough:

Stay at a distance whenever viewing monk seals. They look like nothing could make them move from their sunbathing, but get too close, and you’ll see the red in their eyes and jump at their bark. How do we know? Because we got to witness this tourist stunt: 

  

That seal whipped about fast. It barked once, and the lady jumped to her feet. It barked again with an accompanying lunge, and the lady fell over. Seriously, that thing had a set of lungs. Luckily, she was able to get far enough away. But that seal’s eyes were red, like zombie-crazed red. Thankfully, none of the other tourist groups attempted a buddy-buddy photo shoot with the grumpy monk seal.

We didn’t have time to investigate the trail that ran down alongside the Red Sand Beach. We did, however, have time to snorkel briefly at Hamoa Beach. The snorkeling was cloudy that day, but we did catch fish darting here and there, particularly by the rocky coves. There wasn’t much coral growing in the vast majority of the bay, which was filled with white sand. The moon came out, and we relaxed back on yet another beautiful beach on Maui.

The sights at Hamoa Beach

Upcoming Final Day 8: Northeast Maui: Waimoku Falls and Ohe'o Gulch (Seven Sacred Pools)

Read more in the Hawaiian Travel Series:
(0) Intro: Welcome to Maui
(1) Day 1: Northwest Maui: Lahaina

(2) Day 2: Kihei and Makena

(3)Day 3: Central Maui: Paia and Makawao

(4) Day 4: The Hana Highway 
(5) Day 5: Wai'anapanapa State Park
(6) Day 6: Haleakala National Park

Disclaimer: the above is presented as fiction, not fact. *Names have been changed for the sake of privacy.