How to Get There

1. Fly direct out of Honolulu (HNL) to Lanai City Airport (LNY)  for under $100 one way (prices variable) on Hawaiian Airlines
2. Take Expeditions Maui ferry out of Lahaina, Maui to Mokulele Harbor that lasts an hour for $30 per person (adult)/$20 for children one way

Where to Eat

There are limited places to eat on Lana’i, but if you want to avoid what the locals refer to as the “$28 burger” from the Four Seasons or the extremely expensive golf course prices, I recommend heading over to Lana’i City. We ate at the Blue Ginger, at the time of this post is the #1 restaurant (it is also a bakery) on Trip Advisor.

1. Go four wheel driving at Garden of the Gods (Keahiakawelo) – The name stems from the Hawaiian legend that the rocks come from the gods’ gardens dropped from the sky, and that is why some rocks are in perfect alignment. The geological explanation is that years of erosion created the buttes and rocks left, although the perfect order of the rocks is probably explained by human intervention at some point.  For modern day humans stacking of rocks here is forbidden so please respect the culture and leave the stones unturned.

2. Picnic at Shipwreck Beach- Shipwreck Beach is on the North side of Lana’i, and a great place to picnic, fish, and beachcomb. The name is due to the strong currents and reefs in the Kalohi channel between Lana’i and Moloka’i islands that have caused numerous ships to wreck. The resident ship is the Liberty, although other ships have wrecked with gold, silver, and other treasures. Because of the current if you attempt to swim you may end up on Moloka’i (if you’re lucky) so it’s NOT recommended. There are also petroglyphs about 100 yards from the parking area.

Photos courtesy of www.aloha-hawaii.com

3. Explore Lanai City

There are several mom and pop shops surrounding Dole Park in the city center. We saw a bank, theater, gallery, coffee shop, and several restaurants, a church, school, historic jail, and of course a poke market. At the park and the main road there is the Hotel Lana’i and the Lana’i Cultural Center which is a free (donation run) museum with some fascinating history of Lana’i.

4. Go to a “Fifth Friday” Town Party – Fifth Friday parties are thrown by the Lana’i Chamber of Commerce for family fun, live music, food and drinks, and getting to know local businesses on-you guessed it- the fifth friday of the months that have them. As of the publication of this article the next “Fifth Friday” is on December 30th and takes place in Dole Park. For more information see Fifth Friday Lāna’i

5. Play with cats at Lana’i Cat Sanctuary 

We visited the 508 furry felines at the Cat Sanctuary that started at a stable at Kualoa Ranch (where husband and I got married!) and was moved and expanded to the 25,000 sq ft kitty paradise we witnessed. From the “Catfurteria” to the “Kittengarten” all the cats looked happy- even feral cats that were the newest residents hiding in the rafters peered out to treats as they hissed! The rest of the cats either were sleeping, chilling, or played with us. The sanctuary runs on personal and state donations (they also have pet adoptions to the mainland!)  and in the interests of the cats as well as four different kinds of native birds that have been prey of the feral cats: ‘Ua’u, ‘Ua’u Kani, Ae’o, and ‘Alae Ke’oke’o.

5. Learn some Lana’i History- The Lana’i Cultural Center is a free (donations accepted) little museum of the history of the island. Packed with information about Lana’i’s geological beginnings, sugar farming, Dole plantation (and the inhabitants) up to today the museum has a wealth of information.  Keomuku is a ghost town courtesy of the former Maunalei Sugar Company that built a plantation, imported workers from Japan, and built a little community that lasted a few years before resources were depleted. All that can be found of the settlement from 1898 is the Malamalama Church.

6.View All Islands in One Day- What you’ll need is either a 4 wheel drive vehicle, or a car to get you to the trailhead for this 5.5 mile (one way) Munro Trail hike on the peak of Lana’ihale. This is the only point on the entire Hawaiian islands where it’s possible to see the rest of the islands. To do so make sure the conditions are clear and head out as early in the morning as possible for viewing. For more information about the hike see this Munro Trail Hike Guide. Picture courtesy of realhawaiivacations.com

8. Snorkel or Scuba in the practically undisturbed waters

Tired of the typical over touristed spots where its hard to find fish and sea life due to too many people? Lana’i has snorkeling for all levels and all prices. Hulopoe Bay areas (near the rocks) can have great visibility and when we were there we were the only ones in the water for a time! The water is very calm and we didn’t see any boats disturbing our good time. There was a decent variety of sea life, but to see more I’d recommend going with a charter to Cathedrals. A premier diving site, Cathedrals has white tip reef sharks, turtles, butterfly fish, sometimes spinner dolphins, and everything in between.

9. Golf, golf, and more golf

I’m not a golfer but it would be wrong to ignore the sport that drew so many people to the island that we saw on our boat ride over. Lanai boasts two amazing golf courses. To find them just look for one of the Four Seasons, as both are walking distance from either of the two Four Seasons on the island (coincidence?). Koele Golf Course is a 18 hole championship course designed by Greg Norman and Ted Robinson, and the view while you’re putt-putting your golf ball around can’t be beat.  At the time of this article (November 16) it was closed for enhancements. The Manele Golf Course, designed by legend Jack Nicklaus is supposed to be one of the best golf courses in the Hawai’i, and is one of the few courses built over lava.