An interesting thing about the road to Hana is that most of the things along the way aren't actually "official." They're scenic spots on private property, made public by the owners. Much to my surprise, the Hana Lava Tube was such a place -- basically, a man with several acres of land which just happened to include part of a subterranean lava cave. He'd built steps and hand rails inside the cave, personally turning his unusual backyard into a full-fledged tourist attraction.
Back on the Big Island, we'd walked through a short lava tube at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Things I'd read online about the Hana Lava Tube led me to expect a bit more here. Still, I was unprepared for just how massive this place was. After a short flight of stairs, no more than 20 feet underground, a long tunnel began. Within a minute or two, the path had curved enough that the high-powered flashlights we'd been given were a necessity. Without them, the tube was absolutely pitch black; you couldn't even see your own fingers wiggling in front of your face.
Though the cave was dark, it was also spacious. The ceilings were high and the path was wide. And long. It kept going and going and going, through all sorts of interesting features, from gutters and bubbles permanently etched in the floor...
...to odd, stumpy stalactites that looked like melting chocolate...
...to a single opening to the surface, far back in the cave.
And by skipping a few earlier stops on the road to Hana, we'd arrived just when the Lava Tube opened for the day. We were the first people there, and had the place all to ourselves until we started back to the entrance. It was everything we could have hoped for, and far more impressive than what we'd seen in the actual National Park days earlier.
Back in the car, we continued on down the road, actually arriving in Hana for the next stop on our list, the Kaihalulu Red Sand Beach. Back on the Big Island, we'd seen the unusual Black Sand Beach, and now we were looking to continue our "collection." But the Red Sand Beach would be a bit more unusual for a few reasons.
For one thing, though it (like all Hawaii beaches) was public property, it wasn't really easy to access. It was in a hidden cove, with a short but slightly challenging hike to get there. (By that, I mean if you go, don't wear flip-flops. Thankfully, we didn't.) Only the unofficial guides will direct travelers to the beach, as getting to the trail requires a quick trek across private property. (Not that anyone seemed to mind.)
Even the hike itself just getting to the beach was well worth the time.
As for the beach itself, it was as beautiful as promised. But I have only two pictures of the place, taken from the trail above as we descended into the secluded area.
The reason I don't have more pictures is because of the other quirk of this beach: it's clothing optional. The majority of the people there weren't availing themselves of this, but there were at least three men and one woman who went nude. It sparked a funny conversation between us about how many people would have to be naked before we'd do it ourselves, but nothing beyond the talk.
We spent more than an hour at the beach, soaking up sun, swimming in the water, and climbing a bit on the rocks protecting the little cove from the ocean. We considered swimming beyond those rocks, but the current that picked up as soon as we came near the opening quickly convinced us to go back. One of the naked guys was undeterred by the current, swimming out into the open sea as we watched... and vanishing. Seriously, he hadn't come back by the time we left around 15 minutes later, and we saw no sign of him on our hike out. I hope you made it back okay, Anonymous Naked Guy.
But the "road to Hana" didn't actually end in Hana for us. Not quite. A few miles beyond the town was a second entrance to Haleakala National Park (the same park where we'd watched the sunrise). Entirely different sights were to be seen in this part of the park, and we still needed to check them off our list.
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