Haleakalā Sunrise

My wife and I will be in Maui on the POA in June and we will be renting a car through DHCR on day one to site see and on day 2 we want to make the trek to see the Haleakalā Sunrise. Everything I am reading says that the trek takes 2.5 hours and that sunrise is around 530 but to get there before 430am.

Our thought is to enjoy day one site seeing and a nice lunch somewhere then a beach. Returning to the ship around 5pm for dinner and a short nap then leave around midnight to get the car and start the drive up the volcano. The park opens at 3am so if we are on the way by 1am we should be good.

The problem is, what do I do with the car. Lots of other posts made it clear that there is zero parking at the port and the only real option is to park at the airport. I don't see this as an option with our plans.

Have others made this trek and if so what was your plan and did it work out for you?

Another thought is to go out to dinner somewhere and find a place to park on the path to Haleakala for a few hours then wake up by 2am and finish the drive to the park and the top.

Thoughts?

Haleakalā Sunrise

https://www.gohawaii.com/maui/guidebook/topics/haleakala-sunrise/

Are you aware that reservations are now required for early visits?

Chuck

Make A Reservation

Beginning February 1, 2017, the National Park Service requires a reservation for visitors in personal and rental vehicles to enter the Summit District from 3:00 am to 7:00 am to view the sunrise. The one-day $1.50 sunrise reservation is only available at recreation.gov and can be made up to 60 days in advance. The park entrance fee is separate and payable on the day of visit.

Yes. It is included in the link I provided.

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Do consider parking at the airport. The following is quoted from the NCL Message Board today:

"Last May in Maui after driving the road to Hana we parked at the airport and used the shuttle back to the pier around 8PM. We then used a 24 hour taxi service to pick us up at the nearby strip mall in the wee hours to take us back to the airport and drive up Haleakala to see the sunrise! I believe we found the shuttle hours on discount Hawaii car rentals web site and found the 24 hour taxi service through google."