[Island of] Lanai questions..

[Picker57]

We'll be on Maui at the end of November, then taking a few days on Lanai en route to Kauai. At this point the most logical inter-island transport appears to be flying, rather than the ferry with the associated parking / vandalism questions. Any thoughts / observations here? Also, any suggestions for 'don't miss' activities on Lanai?

Thanks for any & all suggestions.

----Zach Kaplan

 

[Werner]

Most of Lana'i was a pineapple plantation and is now overgrown scrubby pineapple fields. The area between the town and the ferry dock are the most attractive, the town has a nice "old Hawaii" feel to it. There are some long bumpy dirt roads to remote beaches and there is a 4WD road along the crater rim, but I suspect that most of the activities on Lana'i will be at your resort. Golf is a really big deal there. Most folks making day trips on the ferry are golfers. The snorkeling around the island is good since many trips starting on Maui go there so you may find a local snorkel trip at your resort.

 

[DeniseM]

Lanai is very quiet and very slow, it has an area of multi-million dollar homes, and a tiny town where the locals live, and two 5 Star Hotels, and an expensive golf course - but not a lot of tourist activities.

Here are two activities that we've enjoyed. The Trilogy Trip is our all-time favorite Hawaii Activity, but if you'll be staying on Lanai, the land tour makes more sense. Or, maybe you can incorporate the Trilogy Catamaran trip into your transportation - that would be excellent!

Lanai-

Trilogy has a fantastic all-day catamaran trip that includes 3 good meals, snorkeling, a tour of Lanai City, Beach Activities, etc. It's our all-time favorite Maui activity-
http://www.sailtrilogy.com/pages/lanai_sunset.php

This last trip, we did a private, 4WD island tour, and if you mostly want to see the island, it's excellent. We took the ferry over and we met at the dock by our guide. We even saw TWO monk seals together, lounging on the beach - very rare to see 2 together! After our guided tour we had lunch (on our own) at the Four Season's Hotel where we watched dolphins playing in the bay and then we walked a short distance down to the beach where we snorkeled. We had our choice of 3 after noon ferries to take back to Maui.
http://www.go-lanai.com/reservation...ge_size=1&current_page=1&actkey=596&catkey=29

 

[LisaRex]

You can see Lanai from Maui and it's about an hour boat ride. I would definitely take the ferry over flying, both because of the time/hassle involved with flying but also because of the expense. And the boat ride is beautiful to boot.

Not sure what you mean about vandalism/parking, but I don't see any need to take your car to Lanai. Alamo has a Lahaina Harbor drop off so when you arrive in Maui, you can pick up your car at the airport then drop it off at the harbor when you're ready to move on to Lanai. Just indicate this when you rent. Not sure of the other companies. Once you drop off your car, you can just walk onto the ferry with your luggage over to Lanai.

Once you're in Lanai, you can rent a jeep or whatever to drive around the island.

I recommend Manele Bay, which is where Trilogy takes its snorkeling passengers. The Four Seasons is on that beach and it's great for snorkeling and body surfing.

I also recommend taking a zodiak tour of the coast of Lanai. It's really a great way to enjoy the cliffs. And, of course if you're into scuba diving, some of the best spots in the world are right off Lanai -- Cathedral I and II.

 

[Picker57]

Wow - Thanks for all the great tips. Will definitely rethink the transport issue. The harbor drop-off will be a huge help. From the description it reminds me of Molokai when we were there almost 20 yrs ago (and whose great golf course was very inexpensive). This should be fun.

-Zach

 

[LisaRex]

Correction: Alamo doesn't have a Lahaina Harbor drop off. Rather you drop it off at the Kaanaapali Transportation Center (about 10 minutes away) and take a shuttle to the harbor. So it might actually be less of a hassle than if you returned the car in Lahaina proper.

Alamo's # is 808-661-7181. You might want to give them a call to see what the shuttle schedule is, etc.

Also, if you do use Alamo, rent via Costco if you have membership. They usually offer the lowest rates, plus you get one free additional driver, which is very helpful.

Here's a site which will help you with a car rental on Lanai, too.

http://www.infomaui.com/services/cars.html

 

[Picker57]

Thanks Lisa - I'm still recovering from sticker shock after checking the Hertz site for a convertible. Will definitely check out the other agencies. We've generally used Hertz (via AAA) in the past. Any pros/cons on other rental agencies?

-Zach

 

[DianneL]

Costco coupon

Don't know how it is for Hawaii, but I have an Alamo car reserved for our Canadian trip. I found the best rate through Costco using one of their discount coupons. Plus, you get to put a second driver on the rental contract without additional charge. The coupon must be presented when the car is picked up. The information also states you must present your Costco membership card. I haven't tried Priceline yet, but in the past have been able to get reasonable rates by bidding for a rental car. Good luck and have a great trip.

 

[LisaRex]

I prefer Hertz, but their rental rates on Maui are through the roof. I've always used National on Honolulu and Alamo on Maui. I've never had issues with either.

 

[Picker57]

We've always had good luck with Hertz, but it looks like Alamo is the best game in town pricewise...assuming their product and service is OK.

 

[taffy19]

We'll be on Maui at the end of November, then taking a few days on Lanai en route to Kauai. At this point the most logical inter-island transport appears to be flying, rather than the ferry with the associated parking / vandalism questions. Any thoughts / observations here? Also, any suggestions for 'don't miss' activities on Lanai?

Thanks for any & all suggestions.

----Zach Kaplan

We enjoyed staying on the Island of Molokai but you have to entertain yourself and there is beautiful hiking but very few restaurants or night life.

We also went a day to Lanai and enjoyed the boat ride (Trilogy tour) very much. We were a little disappointed in the snorkeling over there as I expected it to be better than in Maui but it wasn't, at least not that day. I have pictures of our boat trip to Lanai and of Molokai too.

PS. Zach, We flew and left our rented car in Maui at the airport and rented a car on Molokai but only a small inexpensive car. You need a Jeep to drive the dirt roads to do some of the hikes. A local took us up there and went hiking too.

 

[taffy19]

Lanai-

Trilogy has a fantastic all-day catamaran trip that includes 3 good meals, snorkeling, a tour of Lanai City, Beach Activities, etc. It's our all-time favorite Maui activity-
http://www.sailtrilogy.com/pages/lanai_sunset.php

This last trip, we did a private, 4WD island tour, and if you mostly want to see the island, it's excellent. We took the ferry over and we met at the dock by our guide. We even saw TWO monk seals together, lounging on the beach - very rare to see 2 together! After our guided tour we had lunch (on our own) at the Four Season's Hotel where we watched dolphins playing in the bay and then we walked a short distance down to the beach where we snorkeled. We had our choice of 3 after noon ferries to take back to Maui.
http://www.go-lanai.com/reservation...ge_size=1&current_page=1&actkey=596&catkey=29

Denise, we have seen two monk seals together too but in Kauai. They were there when we came by on our way up and again on our way back which was a good hour later. I have quite a few pictures on a CD somewhere as we were so thrilled to see them so close-up.

When you take the Trilogy tour, you also go on a bus and do an island tour. It is a wonderful trip on a big Catamaran with a fantastic crew but we never sailed. Do they really sail sometimes? That would be even better as sailing may be a new experience too and faster yet than motoring to or from Lanai.

Did they sail when you went?

 

[Picker57]

Jeez, I thought that was a picture of me after breakfast at the Hawaiian Style Cafe (Waimea, Big Island).
-------Zach

 

[LisaRex]

When we took the Trilogy tour, they put the sail up but never went completely on wind power as it would have taken us several hours to muster up enough wind to get us back to Maui.

Of course, with the price of fuel being what it is, I'm sure they make every effort to reduce the amount of time that engine is running. But Mother Nature wasn't very cooperative when we went in July.

 

[DeniseM]

Monk seals eat all night and sleep it off during the day, so it's the norm for a seal to snooze on the beach for as long as 8 hours.

Yes, when we did the Trilogy Trip, there was plenty of wind and it seems like we sailed most of the way back to Maui! It was so much fun!