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Table of Contents

1. Background
2. Natural Features
3. Transportation
4. Accommodations
5. Lanai: Attractions
6. Lanai: Activities
7. Aloha Theater: Lanai
8. Check Your Understanding

 

Lanai (lah nah ee) is the smallest publicly accessible island in the Hawaiian chain. As of 2014, the island was 98 percent owned by Larry Ellison (CEO of Oracle), with the remaining 2 percent owned by the state of Hawaii. Ellison has announced plans to improve the island’s infrastructure, create an environmentally friendly agricultural industry, develop a massive desalination plant to bring fresh water to the island, and generally improve the welfare and employment of Lanai’s citizens.

The island has no traffic lights, large buses, crowded beaches, malls, or urban complexes. Of primary appeal to visitors are Lanai’s golf courses, the privacy afforded by its resorts, and the contrast of ecosystems between Koele and Manele. Of the millions of visitors to Hawaii each year, most never visit Lanai, and their absence is one of the island’s most appealing features. Lanai is 72 miles (115.8 km) from Honolulu, yet it seems far removed — endowed with all the comforts (in fact, cradled in luxury) and amenities of life and not bothered by its problems.

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Did You Know?

What is a lanai? A lanai is the Hawaiian word for patio or balcony. Most hotel lanais come equipped with chairs and a small table. If you see the word spelled with an uppercase L, it refers to the Hawaiian island. If the word is spelled with a lowercase l, it refers to the balcony or patio.

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Background

To Hawaiians the island was called Lanai o Kauluaau, which can be translated as “Day of the Conquest of Kauluaau,” referring to the legend of a prince who was banished to the island for misbehavior at home in Lahaina. Man-eating spirits haunted Lanai. Kauluaau chased them away and brought order and peace, thus regaining his father’s favor.

 

Native settlers set up fishing villages along the shore. Soon they started farming and planting taro on the island’s dry volcanic soil. Foreigners discovered Lanai in the late 1700s and 1800s. Kamehameha I added Lanai to his kingdom in 1810.

Throughout the early 1800s foreign influences grew and the native population was in decline. Large parcels of land fell to western ownership. In 1854, missionaries of the Mormon Church chose Lanai as their home. In the 1870s, Walter M. Gibson, head of the Mormon settlement, took control of the land for ranching. A resort now occupies the area that was once the center of ranch operations.

In 1922, James Dole bought the island for approximately $1.1 million. Under his leadership, Lanai became the world’s foremost grower and exporter of pineapples—a title the Pineapple Isle held for most of the 20th century. Foreign laborers arrived in 1924 to work the fields that filled the land.

When the pineapple industry started to decline in the 1980s, Lanai underwent another change, one that was in line with changes occurring on other Hawaiian islands. Shifting away from agriculture, Lanai began developing as a tourist destination. Dole’s pineapple plantation closed in 1993. Resorts, golf courses, and real estate development took over, and today Lanai is a luxury retreat for the sophisticated business and leisure traveler.

Natural Features

Lanai is somewhat comma-shaped with eighteen miles (29 km) in the longest direction. Lanai’s highest point is Mount Lanaihale at 3,366 feet (1,026 m), an inactive volcano near the island’s center. With forty-seven miles (75.6 km) of coastline, only the southern coast of Hulopoe Bay has an easily accessible beach.

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Did You Know?

The best way to explore the rugged interior of Lanai is by four-wheel-drive vehicle or mountain bike. Both are available for rent on the island. Guided jeep tours are also offered.

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Lanai is not the Hawaii’s most scenic island. Only the highest elevations get much moisture. Characterized by dry weather and sparse rainfall, the climate was ideal for pineapple cultivation.

On a clear day Mount Lanaihale offers sweeping views of neighbor islands. The ridge is lined with native plants and the Cook Island pines that were planted to add coolness and moisture to the island’s barren plains. The mountain descends in the west into the flatland of the Palawai Basin. Fallow pineapple fields line the basin.

Transportation

By Air

No airlines serve Lanai direct from the mainland. Instead, visitors must fly to Honolulu or Kahului in Maui to connect to a local carrier. Lanai Airport (LNY) is three miles (4.8 km) southwest of Lanai City, a thirty-minute flight from Honolulu. The airport has a single runway and primarily serves interisland and commuter/air taxi traffic with some unscheduled charter and general aviation activity. Improvements to the airport are continuing. Arriving passengers deplane by stairs to the tarmac.

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Did You Know?

Lanai’s resorts are perfect venues for weddings, honeymoons, and special occasions. Specially conceived wedding packages ease all worries. Location choices include: barefoot vows on the beach; sunsets and fireworks on a cliff above the Pacific; sophistication in the ballroom with ocean and sky as the bride’s something blue; or a luau reception in the gardens by shore.

The Terrace Restaurant at the Lodge at Koele features creative dishes sourced from the eleven climates zones of the Pacific Rim. Sample dishes include Wagyu skirt steak, Koele macaroni and cheese, grilled mahi mahi, and the catch of the day served with lomi lomi, ahi poke, poi, mango salsa, Molokai sweet potatoes and macadamia nuts.

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By Land

Lanai has no public transportation services. Rental cars are available at the airport. The resorts provide shuttle service. In Lanai City, there are no traffic lights, no malls, and the hotel contractor supplies guest transportation. Island visitors ride on small and large buses that go between the hotels and the ferry landing on Manele Bay. Bicycles and off-road vehicles are for rent. Many of the island’s landmarks are accessible only by dirt roads that require a four-wheel drive vehicle (4WD). Drivers and riders can expect to be covered with Lanai’s famous red dust after a day of off-road exploration.

By Sea

Passenger ferries connect Manele Harbor, Lanai, with Lahaina, Maui. The Lahaina-Lanai Ferry provides service five times a day. The trip takes roughly an hour and can involve rough water.

Accommodations

Accommodation choice is limited to three hotels. The island’s central region has a limited number of B&Bs and rental homes.

James Dole built the Hotel Lanai in Lanai City in 1923 as a lodge to house the executives of his pineapple plantation. The small hotel’s restaurant features American country cuisine. Accommodations are rustic. The hotel’s plantation-style rooms have Hawaiian quilt bedcovers, ceiling fans, and hardwood floors. The popular hotel must usually be booked far in advance.

Frequently listed among the world’s finest, Lanai’s two major resorts are managed by Four Seasons Hotels. The Lodge at Koele, in the cool uplands of Koele just outside Lanai City, is modeled after an English country manor. It has 102 rooms, fireplaces, spa services, golf, an executive putting course, horseback riding, archery and clay shooting, and some of Hawaii’s most sumptuous cuisine.

At sea level, the Four Seasons Resort Lanai in Manele Bay welcomes guests to its Mediterranean-Pacific splendor. It has 220 rooms and suites, restaurants, displays of art, a full service spa, tennis courts, and golf.

Lanai: Attractions

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• South Lana’i
• Central and West Lana’i
• North Lana’i

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The island is divided into south, central, and north regions, and only the southern part has easily accessible beaches. The island’s prime features are Hulopoe Bay on the south shore; Kaiolohia (Shipwreck Beach) in the northeast; Polihua Beach in the northwest; and Kaunolu, an ancient Hawaiian fishing village, on the southwest shore.

South Lanai

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Sunny South Lanai is home to Hulopoe and Manele bays, marine life conservation areas where dolphins can be spotted jumping from the sea.

• Hulopoe Bay—The island’s most welcoming beach and marine sanctuary is a cove of white sand shared by dolphins, fish, whales, and people. It is the destination for swimming, snorkeling, and tide pool exploration. Large tide pools carved out of volcanic rock are located on the eastern side of the bay. Most of the year, this bay fronting the Four Seasons at Manele Bay is the best spot for snorkeling and swimming. In the winter, swimmers should be aware of possible rough conditions.
• Puu Pehe (Sweetheart Rock)—A walk along the cliffs southeast of the tide pools ends with a view of the Lanai landmark. Legend tells of two lovers, a maiden from Lahaina and a warrior from Lanai. Whenever he saw her beauty, his eyes would mist with tears. He took her to Lanai and hid her in a sea cave at the base of Manele’s cliffs. One day while he was away the surge of storm waves filled the cave and drowned the maiden. Stricken with grief, the warrior jumped from the rock’s summit into the sea below.

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Did You Know?

Off Lanai’s southern coast, the scuba cathedrals are spectacular diving sites suitable for intermediate and advanced divers. The site is usually reached on a forty-five-minute boat ride from Lahaina Harbor on Maui.

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• Kaunolu—A fishing village at the southwest tip of the island where visitors can see the remains of King Kamehameha’s summer fishing retreat. The site is registered as a National Historic Landmark. The area, largely deserted today, underwent extensive archaeological research in the 1920s by the Bishop Museum’s anthropology department. The remains of stone terraces, a heiau, and petroglyphs maintain a haunting majesty.

Central and West Lanai

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Home to Lanai City, the open plains and Cook pine trees of Central and West Lanai offer a rustic feel. The higher elevations also make for cooler temperatures.

• Kanepuu (kah neh poo oo) Preserve—Hawaii’s Nature Conservancy, the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, and a Lanai volunteer group work to preserve the state’s largest remnant of olopua (native olive) and lama (native ebony), plus plant species found only in Hawaii, several of which are endangered. Visitors can follow a self-guided trail that winds throughout the dry land forest offering educational insight into Hawaii’s fragile ecosystems. Access to the preserve is also available through hikes led by the Nature Conservancy.
• Lanai City—The geographical and cultural center of the island, the town was built in the early 1900s as a plantation town for the pineapple industry. Located in Lanai’s central highlands, it is noticeably cooler than the island’s coastal areas. Shops, restaurants, and businesses are centered around Dole Park.
• Lanaihale—The island’s summit is the island’s coolest and greenest area. The Munro Trail leads to the top. The trail begins just past the stables of the Lodge at Koele. Named for George Munro, the New Zealand naturalist, the one-lane dirt road offers sweeping vistas among the majestic Cook pine trees introduced to the island by Munro. The Munro Trail can be biked, hiked, or driven (only in a 4WD vehicle). Conditions can be tricky after rain. The trek takes about two hours by car. The hiking route is difficult and recommended for experienced hikers only. The terrain ranges from razor-backed cliffs and deep, sudden gulches to precarious perches above panoramic vistas.
• Luahiwa Petroglyphs—The pictographic figures are etched on the faces of boulders on a slope overlooking the dry Palawai Basin. The drawings reflect a mixture of ancient and more recent styles.

North Lanai

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The island has thirty miles (48 km) of paved roads and 400 miles (643.6 km) of unpaved ones much of which is in North Lanai. Off road to Kaiolohia, also known as Shipwreck Beach, one can catch sight of a derelict ship stuck in the water. Visit the Kanepuu Preserve to see the Garden of the Gods, featuring a lunar landscape incongruous to Hawaii’s sand and surf. Finally, drive to secluded Polihua Beach to experience what true vacation solitude is all about.

• Kaiolohia Bay—The Hawaiian name for this beach on Lanai’s northeast coast means choppy or changing sea. The stretch of sand is called Shipwreck Beach because of the abandoned vessels visible on the reef. One was wrecked there while another was towed and left there after World War II. Shipwreck Beach is reached by 4WD or on foot after the paved road ends. The beach is good for beachcombing and fishing but not so good for swimming due to the reefs.

• Keahiakawelo (Garden of the Gods)— Sculpted over the course of hundreds of years by the forces of erosion, the rocks are some of Lanai’s most impressive natural attractions. Located on the north side of the island, approximately seven miles (11.2 km) from Lanai City, the rocks show their colors best at dusk when the setting sun casts an orange glow that illuminates the formations in brilliant reds and purples. According to lore, the windswept landscape is the result of a contest between two kahuna (priests) from Lanai and Molokai. Each was challenged to keep a fire burning on their island longer than the other. The Lanai kahuna used every piece of vegetation he could get to keep his fire burning, which is why this area is so barren today.
• Polihua Beach—The drive along the rutted road ends at this secluded white-sand beach, known for its nesting turtles. The shoreline is peppered with kiawe trees, and the sweep of sand is the island’s longest and widest. Molokai is visible in the distance, and the silence of this spot make it particularly appealing to the adventurous. Swimming is not recommended; there are no facilities, and it is tricky getting there, even with 4WD.

Lanai: Activities

 

• Art and Music—The Visiting Artist Program brings world-class artists in literature, music, and the performing and visual arts to both Koele and Manele in an ongoing program that appeals to both residents and guests.
• Golf—Lanai’s stylish resorts provide top quality golf. Each of the two resorts has a course. The Challenge at Manele borders the ocean and was designed by Jack Nicklaus. The Experience at Koele is an upland course designed by Greg Norman and Ted Robinson. The first bent-grass course in Hawaii and one of three in the state, the Experience differs markedly from the dry, oceanside Challenge at Manele.

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Did You Know?

When billionaire Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, was married to Melinda, he chose Lana‘i — specifically the 12th tee of the golf course at Manele, perched on a bluff 150 feet above the ocean — to mark the occasion, and he wore golf spikes with his tuxedo.

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• Hiking—Hikers are encouraged to inquire with the Nature Conservancy about tours into the Kanepuu Preserve. The Munro Trail is the island’s major hiking venue. Lanai’s guides practice the principles of “Leave No Trace” to ensure the preservation of the land for today’s keiki (children) and generations to come. Custom hikes for groups are available.
• Horseback riding—Scenic upcountry horseback riding through the areas surrounding Koele, up at the 1,600- to 2,000-foot altitude, is available.
• Sporting clays—Hawaii’s best sporting clay course is located north of Koele. The fourteen-station course challenges participants’ aim and shooting skills with state-of-the-art equipment set up in a magnificent, quiet, ironwood valley with views of Molokai and Maui. The facility offers skeet compact sporting (also known as five stand), wobble trap, and an archery course.
• Tennis—Manele Bay Hotel has top-notch tennis facilities.
• Water sports—Some of the clearest, richest waters are close to this island and renowned among snorkelers and scuba divers. Fishing tours, whale watching in the winter, and swimming at Hulopoe Bay make Lanai a favorite of oceangoing enthusiasts.

Aloha Theater: Lanai

Check Your Understanding

You do not need to answer these questions to take the Destination Specialist test. The questions are for you alone, intended to help you check your absorption of the material. The sample questions reinforce the key features of each area. They also serve as a review for the final test.

Use these exercises when reviewing. Your objective should be to “recall” as much material as you can, not merely recognize it. Try to answer multiple- choice questions before looking at the choices. See if you can remember facts about cities or places before looking at their matching descriptions. This will help you in the sales situation, because clients do not come in asking you to match sights to cities, but rather to have you match them to destinations.

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