For nearly 70 years, Lanai dubbed the "Pineapple Island," was operated as a pineapple plantation by Dole Company.
Today there are two exclusive, world-class hotels, the Lodge at Koele and the Manele Bay Hotel. In addition, the Experience at Koele and the Challenge at Manele provide visitors with award winning, world-class golf.
People: Lanai is known for is amiable residents who greet island visitors with old-fashioned Hawaiian aloha. Some 2,800 people call the island home, including older families of Hawaiian, Caucasian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Puerto Rican and Filipino ancestry.
Recreation: Golf, tennis, diving, snorkeling, sailing, fishing, hunting, ocean-rafting, kayaking, horseback riding, hiking, mountain biking, and exploring by four-wheel-drive vehicle are among the outdoor activities residents and visitors enjoy on Lanai.
Restaurants: Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served at the hotels, and all three share the homegrown bounty of lettuce, herbs and other produce from island gardens. The Lodge at Koele and the Manele Bay Hotel also offer room service and fine dining options. Lunch is offered at the clubhouse at the Experience at Koele and the Challenge at Manele. There are also two small cafés in Lanai City.
Transportation: Two airlines--Hawaiian Airlines and Island Air--currently serve Lanai with more than 100 scheduled flights weekly. Expeditions operates five round-trip ferries daily from Lahaina, Maui, Phone:(808) 661-3756. On the island, cars and four-wheel-drive vehicles are available for rental from Lanai City Service Dollar Rent A Car, Phone:(808) 565-7227.
Whale-watching: In season, November to April, whale-watching abounds in the winter breeding and calving grounds of the giant humpback whales in the waters surrounding Lana`i. The 40-ton mammals perform their bring ballet in great leaps and dives. Mother and calves are often spotted swimming together in preparation for the migration north to the humpback's summer home, Alaska.
Environment: This relatively undeveloped island features wide open spaces with only 30 miles of paved roads, one airport, and one plantation village boldly named Lanai City, where virtually the entire island population lives. The primary man-made impact is agricultural: rows of spiky green pineapple, hay fields, macadamia nut, papaya and banana trees, herb gardens, and penned cattle line the Palawai and other fertile cropland. Lanai's natural and cultural resources are fragile and vulnerable, and as the island opens itself to guests and more residents, protecting the resources is a major goal of the corporate owner and populace alike.
Topography: Only one fifth of the area of Lana`i was used for pineapple cultivation. Today there are less that 100 acres growing pineapple for consumption by island residents and hotel guests. The rest of Lana`i's ancient volcanic land mass is rolling tablelands and steep, eroded gorges. Red lava cliffs and mesquite bushes give way to giant stands of towering Cook pines and green mountains at higher elevations.
Wild Game: Axis deer, a prized game animal introduced before the turn of the century, now outnumbers Lana`i's inhabitants. There are also Mouflon sheep, and a plethora of game birds--pheasant, quail, chukar partridge and wild turkey. Hunting and resource management is under protection of the Lana`i Company and the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Preserves: In 1991, Dole Food Company, Inc., granted the Nature Conservancy a permanent conservation easement over the seven patches of 590 acres of native forest at Kanepu'u. The Nature Conservancy receives two thirds of its management funds through the Sate of Hawaii's Natural Area Partnership Program. The funds are used to protect and restore this rare forest.
Kanepu'u contains the largest remnants of olopua and lama (native Hawaiian olive and ebony) dry land forest left in Hawaii. This forest type once covered the lowlands of the largest Hawaiian islands. Kanepu'u is high in biological diversity hosting 48 species of plants unique to Hawaii, including endangered Hawaiian gardenia (na'u) and sandalwood ('ilihai) trees.
The waters of Manele Bay and Hulopo'e Bay are designated as marine preserves, and the snorkeling and diving spots are among the best in Hawaii.
