The black sand beach at mile 32
Yes. Every non-resident needs both an entry reservation and a parking reservation, booked in advance. You cannot buy either at the gate, and same-day reservations are not sold at the park.
Reservations open 30 days before your date and are released one day at a time at midnight Hawaiʻi time. If you are arriving on a cruise ship, that single rule is the one that catches people out — and it is why we handle it for our guests.
Waiʻānapanapa State Park has required advance reservations from non-residents since 19 April 2021. Hawaiʻi residents enter free with ID. For everyone else:
You booked your sailing eight months ago. Your ship calls at Kahului on one fixed date, and you cannot move it. But you are not allowed to reserve the park until 30 days before that date — and the slots for a given day are released at midnight Hawaiʻi time, which for most of North America is the middle of the previous evening.
So the sequence most people assume — plan the trip, book the park — runs backwards. By the time a passenger thinks about it, the slot that fits their port window may be gone, and there is no second chance, because their ship sails that night.
This is the single most common way an independently planned Hana day falls apart. Not the driving. Not the weather. A parking reservation released a month out at midnight.
Our guests do not deal with any of it. Park reservations are included in the tour price and arranged on your behalf, along with every other park and site fee on the route. You tell us your ship and your date; we handle the calendar.
That is not a sales line so much as a practical one — the operator is watching the release window because they do it every week, and you are watching it once.
Entirely reasonable, and we would rather you had a good day than a booked one. Reserve through the state's official system, set a calendar alarm for exactly 30 days before your port date, and book the earliest slot that fits your ship's window — not the prettiest one. Arrive at the start of your slot rather than the end.
And be honest with yourself about the drive back. The road is slower in the dark and after rain, and your ship will not wait.
A real person on Maui answers, usually within a couple of hours, and will tell you straight whether the day works — including when it doesn’t.
More straight answers: Can you do Hana from a cruise ship? · Will I miss my ship? · How long does it take? · Waiʻānapanapa reservations · Splitting the cost
A real person on Maui answers — not a call centre. Texting reaches us fastest.
(808) 856-6318Tap to text · or call the same number