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Guide to Hana
Black lava-rock formations meeting the sea on the Hana coast

Stop 10 · MM 32 · Rt 360

The black sand beach. Book it or miss it.

Waiʻanapanapa is the one stop you cannot wing — and the one most worth doing right.

Photo: Julie Ambler · Unsplash
Marker
MM 32 · Rt 360
Entry
RESERVATION REQUIRED (non-res)
Fees
$5/person + $10/vehicle
Window
3-hr slots · book 30 days out
Release
Midnight HST, daily

Listen to this guide

Book first. Everything else second.

Non-residents must reserve and prepay online before arriving — no walk-ups, no same-day slots, and yes, rangers check. Windows open 30 days ahead and release daily at midnight HST, and the mid-morning slots vanish first, because everyone’s itinerary (including ours) points them there after banana bread.

So set the alarm once: the night 30 days before your drive, book the window that fits your plan. Hawaiʻi residents with ID are exempt. Everyone else — this paragraph is the difference between black sand and a photo of a closed gate.

What you actually get

Paʻiloa Beach: jet-black sand made of lava the ocean has been grinding for centuries. Sea caves you can walk into. Blowholes that fire on the right swell. A coastal trail along cliffs that make every camera look talented, and freshwater caves whose legend — of a princess and her fate — deserves your quiet attention.

Your three hours go faster than you think. Beach first, caves second, trail with whatever remains — that order survives contact with reality.

The fine print worth knowing

Refunds are allowed up to 3 days before your entry date if plans shift. Camper-van camping is suspended through March 2027 while the park rebuilds its comfort station — tent campers and day-trippers, carry on. And swim with judgment: the shore break here is genuinely punchy, and the black sand hides how fast the bottom drops.

Keep planning

Written and shot on the route by Shane Perry, Maui resident.

Straight answers

Take this stop with you.

The Glovebox Copy has every stop, marker, and fee — printable, signal-proof, free.

Download the offline map
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