ALOHA!
The Waianapanapa Coastal Trail is a hiking trail in Hana located off of the Hana Highway.
This is one of the best hikes on the Road to Hana!
Which also means it’s one of the best things to do in Hana!
It extends for a few miles, but you don’t need to do the whole trail in order to see the amazing views!
The Waianapanapa Coastal Trail is located in Waianapanapa State Park.
Waianapanapa State Park is among the most popular state parks on Maui.
It’s home to THE famous black sand beach of Maui.
And while the black sand beach is the main reason the people visit, there is some great Maui hiking that you can do alongside a visit to the beach!
The hiking trail that you can access from the black sand beach is the Waianapanapa Coastal Trail.
This is also called the Piilani Trail, and it’s also called the Ke Ala Loa O Maui Trail. This is all the same.
This is a grand coastal hike across Maui lava fields.
The hiking trail is nearly entirely along the coast line!
This means grand ocean views as you are hiking!
You will also see a number of unique rock formations along the way.
Side note!
Things to buy on Amazon for your adventures!
I am an Amazon Associate. I may earn a commission.
- Lightweight quick-dry hiking shorts (comfortable shorts that are good for movement!)
- for women: hiking shorts | for men: hiking shorts
- Lightweight quick-dry hiking pants
- for women: hiking pants | for men: hiking pants
- capris for women
- Some of the best outdoor travel brands:
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Looking at the black sand beach as the main area of the state park, the Waianapanapa Coastal Trail extends in both directions of the coastline.
There is the Waianapanapa Coastal Trail to the north towards the Hana Airport, and it also goes to the south towards Hana Bay.
Below will be focused on hiking the first part of the Waianapanapa Coastal Trail to the north.
It also goes to the south, and that is the side of the Waianapanapa State Park cabins.
Now that Hawaii state parks has the Waianapanapa State Park reservation system in which you must reserve a time slot for visiting, it makes knowing what you want to do once you’re there a bit more important!
As of spring 2021, the reservation is based on 2.5 to 3 hour time slots.
If you will be happy with making your trip to Waianapanapa State Park mostly about the black sand beach only, then you can be fine with just 2 hours no problem.
But if you have plans to hike even just a part of the Waianapanapa Coastal Trail that comes with grand ocean views, then that’s when the amount of time you have can start to matter more!
If you only want to do a part of the trail, it’s also possible that you’ll be more than fine with 2 hours. It can still be worthy to even hike just part of this trail, which you can do with 2 hours of time at Waianapanapa State Park.
Below will give you an idea of how long it takes to hike to certain points along the trail so you can judge the possible time it takes a little better!
The times listed are based on how long I personally took to get to each spot.
This of course means it might be different for you!
You might be quicker, or it might take you longer!
You may spend more time taking in the views in a certain spot, etc etc! I was generally going at a leisurely pace.
I also stopped often to take pictures.
The official hiking trail info for the Piilani Trail to Hana Airport
The Waianapanapa Coastal Trail’s official name is Ke Ala Loa O Maui Trail or Piilani Trail.
According to google translate, “Ke Ala Loa O Maui” means “the best road of Maui” in the Hawaiian language.
The trail sign you will see off to the left side of the black sand beach. 👇
Pictures below from hiking in Waianapanapa State Park!
🌋🌴
Top Maui tours
Read the reviews at partner website Viator!*
- Road to Hana small group adventure tour
- Turtle town snorkeling tour (with photo and video)
- Lahaina ATV adventure tour
- Horseback riding tour with Hawaiian cowboys
Things you might want to pack for your Maui vacation
Read the reviews on Amazon! I'm an Amazon Associate.*
- For women: Search for a rash guard for swimming and you won't have to worry as much about putting on sunscreen!
- Search for a rash guard for men
- Water shoes for snorkeling if you won't be wearing fins, or just generally for the beach!
- Cheapo waterproof phone case so you can capture pictures of colorful fishies swimming underwater!
- I always have a camera float attached to my phone case that I put around my wrist
- Snorkeling set: mask and fins
- Fins allow you to propel further faster (aka see more in less time and energy!)
- Go cheap if you accept that you need to come up for air frequently: regular swimming googles. They are not as fashionable but if you get swimming goggles, make them the clear kind so you won't be seeing dimmed colors of the colorful fishies!
- If you are able, I recommend trying out the mask at your local lake (in summer) or pool so you will be good to go in Hawaii when there's actually stuff to see!
- Travel-friendly turkish towel for the beach (lightweight compared to regular beach towels)
- For women: Teva walking sandals (one of the best sandal brands for the outdoors, perfect for lots of walking around outside - that's not a lava field!)
- For men: Teva sandals
- For women: Merrell hiking shoes (one of the best outdoor shoe brands, perfect for walking over rugged terrain like lava fields!)
- For men: Merrell hiking shoes
- Moisture-wicking tech t-shirt for women perfect for hiking and hot days when you'll be outside a lot sweating
- tech-t-shirt for men
- For more ideas, do a search for hiking clothes or swimming clothes!
*As a Viator partner and Amazon Associate, I may earn a commission.
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Hiking the Waianapanapa Coastal Trail to the north
Hiking to the north means that you will start at the black sand beach.
From the parking lot, you’ll follow the signs to the black sand beach.
Or first, you can walk the Pailoa Bay overlook trail to take in more ocean views! (Or save this for the end when you have a better judge of time.)
So heading towards the black sand beach, you’ll first come across the black sand beach overlook.
Take in the views of Pailoa Bay!
You’ll also be able to see the trail that you’ll be hiking.
👆 You will be hiking along the coastline there.
Then after you’ve taken in the views from above, you can take the stairs down to the black sand beach!
Once you get down to sea level, off to the right side of the beach as you are facing the ocean, there’s the black sand beach lava tube.
Take a walk through that!
Then you can get up close and personal with the black sand beach!
When you’re ready, you can walk all the way across the black sand beach to the left side.
You’ll see a trail. That’s the trail you want to take!
👆 The start of the trail from the black sand beach.
And from here, we’ll start the trail timings!
Starting point from the black sand beach will be 0 minutes.
The times noted below are how long it takes to hike there ONE WAY. (Or, around how long it took me to get there anyway.)
So you’ll want to double the time to account for the time it’ll take to get back.
Maybe you’ll be quicker on the way back since you won’t stop so often to take in the views.
Or maybe you’ll take longer on the way back because you’re more tired.
Hiking time: 0-5 minutes one way
Hiking time: 5-10 minutes one way
Hiking time: 10-15+ minutes
And then hiking further along in this section of Waianapanapa Coastal Trail is where you can find another black sand beach. Or maybe it’s a black rock beach. From far away it looks more like a black rock beach, but it also looks like there might be some black sand hiding beneath the rocks! Either way, another beach!
👆 It does look like there’s some sort sort of trail directly behind this beach if you want to go down to it.
And… back to the famous black sand beach!
And finally… TAKE CARE! Sea cliffs can be dangerous! All it takes is one mis-step for a great experience to turn BAD!
And that’s a bit of what you can see with 30-45 minutes of hiking the Waianapanapa Coastal Trail!
If you will be giving yourself 2+ hours in Waianapanapa State Park, you may be interested in hiking across lava fields all the way to the Hana Airport!
Hiking from the black sand beach to the Hana Airport along the Waianapanapa Coastal Trail took me around 1.5 hours one way. See pictures of hiking to Hana Airport!
More for your trip to Hana! Post-hike food in Hana?!
Or buy the famous Road to Hana banana bread on your way to Waianapanapa State Park!
Plus see the big list of stops on the Road to Hana!
Plus, if you are interested in the Waianapanapa Coastal Trail, you may also be interested in these top activities on Maui:
- Waihee Ridge Trail
- How to spend one day in the West Maui mountains
- Kapalua Coastal Trail
- Hoapili Trail (more Maui lava fields!)
- Pipiwai Trail
HAPPY HIKING IN WAIANAPANAPA STATE PARK!
👇 Explore the Road to Hana map on google maps!
See the list:
- Road to Hana stops (for views!)
- Things to do on Maui (for views!)
- Things to do in Haleakala National Park
- Things to do on Lanai
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Top things to pack for your Hawaii vacation!
The ultimate beach towel for travel?!
Turkish towels are considered to be more absorbent and lightweight than your average beach towel. Be sure to check out turkish towels like these!The cheapo way to waterproof your phone
You can take underwater pictures with a simple waterproof phone case like this. Touch screen may not work well underwater - try the volume button to snap the pic instead!Get your suitcase more organized!
Packing cubes can make it so you're spending less time on your vacation looking for things! They are basically a form of drawers in your suitcase. Take a look at these packing cubes.Wear less sunscreen by wearing a UPF swim shirt!
Wearing a swim shirt means less skin that's exposed to the sun which means less sunscreen you need to apply! See about wearing swim shirts with UV protection like these when you're snorkeling.More for your Maui packing list
- How a cheapo waterproof phone case works
- Why wear water shoes for the beach
- Why a personal swim buoy is an essential for snorkeling and swimming in the ocean
- Essentials to pack for Maui
- Best shoes for Maui