Lana'i's beauty comes equipped with cautions

By ROBERT N. JENKINS

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 21, 2001

LANA'I, Hawaii -- First, pronounce it as do the islanders: Lah-nah-EE. If you call it Lah-NIGH, as some Floridians refer to their patios, everyone on the island will understand you -- and will identify you as a haole (HOW-lee), a sometimes-disparaging Hawaiian word for a non-native.

This is one of Hawaii's least-touristed places, though when I was there last March, I chanced to meet some Floridians enjoying their employer's annual reward program that sent hundreds of mainlanders to one of Lana'i's two posh resorts. The reward destination the year before: Orlando.

Interesting, because Lana'i is the anti-Orlando. Clearly, part of the island's lure is its undeveloped nature. Yet it holds out its ancient human and geologic sites with almost a challenge: Come enjoy this, if you can.

There is golf, there is horseback riding, there are snorkeling and scuba diving offshore. But there is also only one beach designated as safe for swimming, while the island map warns against swimming at five other spots around the 47-mile coastline. The archaeological sites are tough to reach; while there are about 30 miles of paved roads, many of the paths are graded dirt or sand.

However, there is NO chance of a traffic jam; there are no stoplights here.

No Sunday drive

A refurbished old church became the chapel on the grounds of the Lodge at Koele on the Island of Lana’i.

In addition to negotiating the hilltop Munro Trail, I made three other drives over potholed or sandy roads, often in four-wheel drive.

The Jeep rental company's helpful directions included warnings such as this, for the drive to Shipwreck Beach:

"At the end of the pavement you will find that deep and impassable sand will be at the 1.3-mile mark. There is a $200 penalty if you get your vehicle stuck here."

There was no such caution for the ride to the picturesque Garden of the Gods, an area of unusual rock formations. But as I headed down that road, I looked in the rear-view mirror and was happy that I was not in one of the two other Jeeps plowing through the huge storm of red dust I was kicking up.

That's why the Jeeps are air-conditioned: You wouldn't want to have the windows and top down in that stuff.

Nor was there any warning about the dreadful road down to the Kaunolu Archaeological Interpretive Park, at the island's southwestern tip. Not only was the dirt road steep, but it also was so washed out that I was afraid I would break an axle.

Downtown Lana’i City at lunchtime.

Perhaps a mile from the site, I parked the Jeep and started hoofing it down the hill. Sure enough, along the way I saw lug nuts, plastic body mouldings and a whole muffler.

Kaunolu is believed to have been occupied as far back as the 15th century and as recently as 1810. It was a cliffside fishing village and was favored by King Kamehameha I, in the late 1700s.

At the site I followed a detailed map from station to station but found little other than stones piled on stones amid the heavy undergrowth. There are some petroglyphs (carvings on rock), and the view from the cliffs down to the sea is awesome.

But a visitor has to use his imagination to see the house platform, ancient residential complex, fishing shrine and other priestly sites referred to on the site map.

Chickening out

Paradise for the plucky Lana'i is heaven -- if quiet, natural beauty, far from the madding crowd, is your ideal. But this rural Hawaiian island is a bit short on some of the amenities that soothe body and soul. Chances are, you didn't know this about Hawaii HONOLULU -- Hawaii has been an American state for more than 40 years, but there are several unusual aspects of the place that still surprise visitors to the Islands.

I gave up on trying to visit the ghost town of Keomuku Village, site of an 1890 sugar cane plantation. My map said it was 5.7 miles of four-wheel drive along graded dirt and sand paths, and I got progressively more concerned about getting bogged down as I drove.

Along the way, I did pass what might charitably be termed hippie compounds. A press release about the island refers to these places as "surfers' shacks." Another phrase that came to mind was scrapyards.

I didn't see any people in the fenced yards. The no-trespassing signs did not speak of paradise found.

In addition to Kaunolu, there are other archaeological sites to visit and beaches to plop on. For sweeping ocean views, ride out to the commercial harbor formerly used for pineapple shipping, where the seaside cliffs rise as much as 1,000 feet.

But whenever you head out to enjoy Lana'i's primitive riches, bring your own drinks, food and a chair or blanket, because there are no concession stands on the island.

If you go

GETTING THERE: Flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Honolulu take about six hours; the big dog among carriers to the islands is United Air Lines.

Lana'i is about 50 miles from Honolulu, and commuter airlines make the 25-minute flight from there about 100 times a week. Have a travel agent book such flights, because the inter-island ticket counters at the Honolulu airport can be mob scenes.

You can also catch a 45-minute ferry or buy a day trip aboard a boat from Maui. Jeeps are available through a Dollar Rent-a-Car franchise; there is a taxi service but no public buses.

STAYING THERE: At the Hunters' B&B, two of the three bedrooms have private bathrooms. The daily rate is $98.50, either single or double occupancy; a third person in the room is $25 more. Children are welcome. The B&B is not wheelchair accessible. The Hunters also rent two-, three- and four-bedroom homes.

For more information, go to their Web sites, at www.go-native.com/Inns/0117.html or www.10kvacationrentals.com/dreamscometrue/
pinkhouse/index.htm

The Hunters say the easiest way to contact them is by sending e-mail to hunters@aloha.net or by calling (800) 566-6961 or (808) 565-6961. Before calling, remember to allow for the five-hour time difference between the Tampa Bay area and Hawaii.

The two grand resorts on Lana'i are the Lodge at Koele, which is inland, and the seaside Manele Bay Hotel. Last year the Lodge was named by Travel & Leisure magazine as having the third-best service in the world, and in 1999 it was named by Conde Nast Traveler as the eighth-best resort in the world. Manele Bay was No. 4 on that Conde Nast readers' survey.

The hotels are owned by Castle & Cooke, a Honolulu-based company. Though spreading across landscaped grounds, each resort is relatively small -- the Lodge is 102 rooms, Manele Bay is 250 rooms -- which aids the emphasis on service. Pointing to the recent development of Lana'i for tourism, the Lodge was opened in 1990, Manele Bay in 1991.

Luxury comes at a price, of course. Each resort offers five basic room categories and some embellishments on them. Rooms at the Lodge run from $400 to $2,200 a night; at Manele, from $375 to $2,900. For a lush look-see, check out the Web site http://www.lanairesorts.com/flash.htm.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Call Destination Lana'i at (808) 565-7600 or the Hawaii Visitors Convention Bureau, (808) 923-1811. A helpful calendar of events on all the islands is at http://calendar.gohawaii.com/.

Beyond the Web sites, there are any number of recent guidebooks on Hawaii; cross-reference two or three of them before going.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright