Lanai Questions
 

We're thinking about taking the ferry for a day trip to Lanai from Maui.

I'm wondering if we need to rent a car. Can one just walk to the big hotel to have a look around from the ferry landing?

Also, my main question is, do they rent bicycles there?

i would really discourage this for the following reasons:

1. there is very little to see on lanai. if you can arrange a day tour and have someone meet you with a vehicle at the ferry then fine, but it's a difficult island to get around, the only part worth strolling is the town that is a 15 minute or so drive from the ferry.

2. i have been traveling around the world for 20 years and the scariest transportation experience i have ever had (and this is counting all kinds of boats in developing countries and frightening tiny planes taped together with duct tape)was the ferry to lanai in fine weather with normal seas. i seriously thought we were going to tip over.

if i were ever to go to lanai again it would only be by plane.

kerikeri :)

Anyone with a different experience?

I think it's OK for a day trip. You must rent a car (VERY expensive) if you want to see anything. No bicycles that I saw. Be warned, once you get a good look at the Lodge at Koele, you might want to stay. The Manele Bay hotel is also just gorgeous, but other than the beach, just looking at the hotel would be boring.

The Manele Bay Resort (stayed there a few years ago) is a short walk from the ferry landing. The resort also sits on an truly gorgeous beach (Hulopoe) which is great for swimming and snorkeling. Not sure about bicycles for rent; didn't see any. If you truly want to see the island, you'll need a four wheel drive, which won't come cheap. With regard to the crossing, the waters can be rough but I've never heard of the U.S. Coast Guard inspected ferries ever coming close to capsizing.

Thanks. Keep 'em coming. I had been thinking from the maps there was a resort close to the ferry landing.

You can walk to the resort from where the ferry docks but I think you'd need a car too. Perhaps you could drive up to the lodge for lunch, it's gorgeous up there. My ferry experience was not scary at all though it's been a few years. We always sit outside with any smaller boat/ferry as a precaution anyways just in case it should tip over.

I'd do it.

Don't know if they rent bycicles, but unless you're Lance Armstrong condition, i wouldn't worry about that option. You can walk to the beach from the ferry, hang at the beach, do some killer snorkling, eplore tidepools and visit Sweetheart Rock. From the beach you walk up to Manele Bay Resort for lunch, or use their shuttle service out front which leaves on the halfhour to Lodge and Lanai City. Otherwise, google ecoadventure lanai for some ground support.

Oh and look at the forecast, one year on our way over the sea was calm and beautiful. The return was gale force winds. But it is still pretty quick trip regardless.

Look for my recent trip report if you'd like.
s

I did a day trip to Lanai arranged through one of the companies that goes there which turned out to be a great day. The boat left from the harbor in Lahaina on Maui and took us to Lanai where they had prearranged for us to rent a jeep for a couple of hours. We drove caravan style around the island stopping at a few interesting stops along the way then ended up going to a picnic location where they served us a surprisingly good bbq lunch. We then went back out on the boat to a snorkeling site just off Lanai which was fantastic. We took a smaller jet boat type boat for a side excursion (included in the price) and saw spinner dolphins which were fun. Then we got back on the big boat and went back to Maui. It was a great day and cost about $200 if I remember correctly. We didn't experience any problems with the water being rough. The time of year was late April.

The ocean was too rough for snorkeling below the Manele Bay Hotel, the day we did our day trip to Lanai, and we were so glad we had rented a 4WD jeep at Dollar rental as a back up plan to tour Lanai, as it is the only Hawaiian Island where it is legal to drive off road with a rental car. A shuttle van met us at the ferry dock and delivered us to Dollar rental which also was the only gas station on our visit. We drove our Jeep on past The Lodge, stopping for ((P)) at Garden of the Gods and then proceeded on to a picnic lunch at the beautiful, isolated Polihua beach. Lanai was truly an awesome off-roading experience.:S-

npurpleh2 - Do you recall the company that escorted you on the day trip to Lanai?

trg - The group we did the tour with was Trilogy. It was a special tour that they only offered one day a week at that time. It was in April 2004. Hopefully they still do it or a similar tour. I think I had to actually call and talk to someone to find out about it and it wasn't listed on their website. There were a limited number of spaces for it. Good luck.

adventurelanai.com