Don’t feel bad if you aren’t familiar with Lanai. It’s a small island in Hawaii, just a short flight or ferry ride from Maui. Many people, even those who’ve been to Hawaii multiple times, haven’t been to or even heard of Lanai.
GETTING THERE:
There are 2 ways to get to Lanai – air or sea. There is a ferry service that runs several times a day from Lahaina, Maui. It takes about 45 minutes each way. If you suffer from motion sickness (like me) I suggest taking a non-drowsy Dramamine, or your normal motion sickness remedy. BUT there’s a good chance you’ll see dolphins playing in the wake and, during the winter months, whales, so it can be a nice experience.
The other option is to fly. Island air flies a 37 passenger prop plane to Lanai from Molokai and Honolulu. Mokulele flies a 9 passenger prop plane from Maui and Honolulu. Just like the ferry, if you suffer from motion sickness, take precautions. I am usually OK as long as I stay off the Tea Cups at Disneyland but felt pretty sick on the flight.
So, which option should you choose?
If you’re not staying on Maui after your stay on Lanai the ferry isn’t a good option. It leaves from Lahaina, which is about an hour from the airport so taxi fare between there and the airport is pretty expensive. Logistically, it’s just not an easy option.
Here’s what we did – we flew into Maui, had lunch at the airport and then flew right back out to Lanai. After a few days of fun on Lanai we took the ferry back to Maui, picked up our rental car near the ferry terminal and enjoyed the rest of the week on Maui.
WHERE TO STAY ON LANAI:
There are 2 luxury resorts on Lanai – The Lodge at Koele and Manele Bay. (both Four Seasons resorts) Both offer a lot in the way of activities. I’ll be posting a review of each resort in the next week or 2 so I’m not going to go into detail about the resorts here. (If you’d like to be notified as soon as the reviews of the resorts are up sign up for updates by clicking here.) I will say this – you could spend a week or more here, never leaving the resorts, and have a wonderful vacation. But I think you’d be missing out if you didn’t explore the island a bit.
WHAT TO DO ON LANAI:
There are only 30 miles of paved roads on the whole island and NO stoplights. Lanai City is more of a village with one grocery store (which isn’t open on Sundays), a gas station and a handful of restaurants. I’m not even sure if there’s a bar outside of the 2 resorts. Obviously, this isn’t the place to go if you’re looking for nightlife. But if what you need is some time to unwind, unplug and slow down, this is exactly where you should plan to go on your next vacation.
So, what is there to do? Explore!
The resorts offer a shuttle service that will take you into “town” and to the other resort. Just a few minutes walk from the town drop off point is a Dollar Rental Car office. They rent jeeps and minivans. I can’t imagine driving a minivan along these dirt roads so just stick with the Jeep. There’s also another car rental facility that rents Hummers. If you’ve always wanted to drive a Hummer this is a great opportunity to do that.
You’ll want to reserve your vehicle in advance. (we can help with that) On the big day, let the staff at the resort know you’re going exploring. They’ll provide you with towels, snorkel equipment (if you’re at Manele Bay) and bottled water. If you’d like to purchase a picnic lunch to take along I’m sure they could put one together for you, too.
At the Dollar rental office you’ll be given a map showing the dirt roads you’re allowed to drive on. Occasionally, due to heavy rains etc., a particular road will be off limits. Follow the rules! Even the allowed roads were a little scary at times and if you get stuck or damage your vehicle you’ll be responsible for costs incurred. Also understand that these jeeps are driven over rocky, dusty roads every day. They’re coated in red dust (inside and out) and are scratched up etc. Don’t expect a pristine new vehicle. But do expect a day of fun.
There are a lot of options and you could spend days exploring the island. Our time was limited so we had to narrow it down to two. The first place we went to was shipwreck beach. This is up on the north side of the island. The views along the way were breathtaking – getting there really was half the fun. You’ll reach the end of the road at a beach that will lead you the shipwreck – an old oil tanker that, instead of sinking where it was supposed to, washed up and parked itself just off the coast of Lanai. Fortunately for us there was a local family hanging out who pointed out some sea turtles feeding near the rocks just off the shore. We would never have known to look for them. They were just in front of the parking area so be sure to stop for a little bit before moving on to see if you can spot them.
After shipwreck beach we had two choices: Naha Fish Ponds or Garden of the Gods. This was a really difficult decision for us. We live in the Arizona desert so weren’t excited about seeing desolate landscapes. We also have Sedona just a short drive from home which is famous for it’s red rocks. But, EVERYONE said Garden of the Gods was NOT TO BE MISSED! And we didn’t have time for both. So, we opted for Garden of the Gods. I am so glad we did. It was breathtaking. There’s no way pictures can do it justice but, here are a few:
The road to Garden of the Gods ends at Polihua Beach, and on the map, the road near the beach is marked “bumpy”. I thought the other roads were pretty bumpy so couldn’t imagine how bumpy the road must be to require that label. Let me just say – I might not have been able to stay in the jeep if I hadn’t been wearing my seatbelt.
Other things to do:
Eat!
Now, this won’t be for everyone but my husband and I love eating what the locals eat. Often this means fried food at a little hole in the wall eatery. But for us, it’s another way to connect and experience more of the places we visit. There aren’t a whole lot of options on Lanai outside of the Four Seasons resorts but we managed to try two.
Blue Ginger Café and Canoes Lanai Restaurant – they’re right next to each other a very short walk from the shuttle drop off point. Just ask the shuttle driver which way to go.
My husband asked what the local favorite was and was told “Loco moco!” Traditionally loco moco is two hamburger patties, each topped with an egg (cooked to order) and covered in gravy. At Canoes you can get fried rice loco moco – this is a huge scoop of fried rice (with ham) topped with a hamburger patty, topped with an egg, covered in gravy. I didn’t partake but my husband did. 3 times. I had fried ono (fish), chicken katsu (breaded chicken with some sort of gravy on it) and teriyaki chicken. All were ono (delicious).
WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT LANAI:
- The Four Seasons resorts – The Lodge at Koele and Manele Bay
- Uncrowded, peaceful, relaxing
- Days and days worth of things to explore on and off the resorts
- With just over 3,000 residents (according to the 2010 census) you’ll often have a whole beach to yourself. Combine that with the way the staff at the resorts take care of you and you’re left feeling like the whole island is your private retreat.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:
- There is no night-life, no shopping centers and few dining options outside of the resorts.
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