By Priscilla Lister
Lanai, the smallest of Hawaii's six main islands, seems to offer the best of two worlds: It has more "old Hawaii" than any of the other main Hawaiian islands, yet it also has two of the finest world-class resorts in the 50th state. Its geography ranges from volcanic red-rock desert terrain to verdant pine forests, all surrounded by the many blues of the Pacific Ocean.
It's possible to hike near its highest point, Lanai Hale, at about 3,300 feet for views of Molokai and Maui or to snorkel below the world's second-highest sea cliffs to see the most butterfly fish in all of Hawaii. Or to picnic on local favorites such as ahi poke or plate lunches or feast on five-course extravaganzas from famous chefs.
There are no stoplights on Lanai, no fast-food chains and relatively few people; its 3,000 residents live mainly in Lanai City, right in the middle of the 140-square-mile island.
Its future is somewhat in flux today, however, since Oracle CEO Larry Ellison bought 98 percent of Lanai in June 2012 from Castle and Cooke's David Murdock.
Ellison impressed the locals with the reopening of the community pool and construction of public ball fields, expansion of a local market and even talk of a tiny bowling alley coming back to Dole Park, the island's center. He also is expanding the airport to allow direct flights from the mainland, has plans for a desalination plant to increase fresh water to 10 million gallons a day from today's 2.5 million and has a third luxury hotel under consideration.
The Four Seasons at Manele Bay, the island's beachside resort, is currently being extensively remodeled, and the Four Seasons Lodge at Koele up in the hills will begin remodeling soon, but change doesn't come easily to the island's residents.
"Lanai is an example of how life should be," said Simon Tajiri, program manager at the Lanai Cultural and Heritage Center in town. "You know your neighbors. You're in touch with nature. There is so much history and culture, to concrete it would be terrible."
Pulama Lanai is the name of Ellison's company in charge of Lanai, and locals are happy that the COO is Kurt Matsumoto, a third-generation resident of Lanai and a longtime executive in the hospitality industry.
It's easy to understand why locals want to protect their island. From my base in the beautiful Lodge at Koele, I explored with some of them who revere the pace of this place. Stephen Becker, a co-owner with his wife, Lisa Grove, of Hike Lanai, guided me and my companions up the Kaiholena Ridge/Munro Trail, just above the lodge. We walked through native Hawaiian ferns and forests of Cook Island Pines to a scenic ridge where we could see colorful Lanai City on one side and then Molokai and Maui on the other.
The trail's namesake is George Munro, a New Zealand rancher hired by Lanai Co. in 1911 to manage its cattle operations. A true naturalist, Munro planted the Cook Island Pines because they attract more rain to this relatively dry island. The scenic Ho'okio Ridge, where a 1778 battle between Lanai warriors and others from the Big Island ended in the defeat of Lanai, remains a sacred place to its people. I learned about these special places and their histories at the Lanai Culture and Heritage Center, where extensive artifacts and oral histories keep the fascinating stories alive.
Another afternoon I went horseback riding at the lodge's stables with Shawn Buchanan, a real wrangler with Lanai Western Adventures. My quarter horse, Cowboy, guided me through forests of ironwood trees and strawberry guavas to vistas overlooking Lanai City as well as neighboring Molokai and Maui.
On a tour with Garrett Yoshikawa of Rabaca's Limousine Service we took a four-wheel-drive ride on some of Lanai's legendary dirt roads. Yoshikawa, a local native, explained how minerals made Keahiakawelo into the colorful otherworldly landscape it is.
"All the colors come out, especially at sunset," he told us.
This unusual landscape of red-rock volcanic basins and boulders was formerly known as Garden of the Gods, but Lanai wants to return the original Hawaiian names to these landmarks.
Yoshikawa also took us to Kaiolohia, formerly called Shipwreck Beach, where a concrete ship was purposely discarded here in 1950. The water was too shallow, however, so it didn't sink. Just behind the sand dunes here he showed us petroglyphs that date from the year 600.
On another afternoon we went snorkeling on the Trilogy Elua (Elua means two in Hawaiian), a trimaran operated by Maui's Trilogy Excursions, the oldest sailing and snorkeling provider there, operating since 1973. Captain Gabe Lucy and the rest of the Trilogy crew were delightful hosts and excellent helpers.
We motored from the Lanai dock to Kaunolu, a cove that was once the summer home of King Kamehameha. This is an area where the sea cliffs are the second-highest in the world — the highest being on neighboring Molokai — and where the most butterfly fish in Hawaii are just waiting to be viewed.
Also from the Trilogy it's possible to see the Kahekili Leap, named for an ancient warrior who showed his strength by leaping from this 70-foot-high cliff into the shallow ocean filled with rocks below. King Kamehameha was said to test his warriors here by making them jump.
We only had to test our willpower to resist so much fantastic food. Like locals, we loved the three flavors of raw ahi poke — plain, Maui onion and spicy — and the fabulous tunari — tuna salad on rice in tofu wrappers — at Lanai Ohana Poke Market, as well as the plate lunches and macaroni salad at the Blue Ginger and the pasta and pizza at Pele's Other Garden Bistro. We also raved about the meals we had at the restaurants at both the Lodge at Koele and Manele Bay, especially salivating over the crab cakes, lobster mashed potatoes and the steakhouse extravaganzas.
At the classic Hotel Lanai the Lanai City Grille has been conceived by Bev Gannon, a celebrity chef on Maui known for her Hali'imaile General Store. We loved her famous secret recipe for crab dip with tortilla chips, the tuna and crab sushi rolls and the miso-marinated seabass.
WHEN YOU GO
For general information: www.gohawaii.com/lanai and
www.visitlanaiblog.com
Fly into Honolulu and take Island Air (www.islandair.com) — also bought by Ellison — to Lanai. You can also take a 40-minute ferry from Maui's Lahaina to Lanai: www.go-lanai.com.
Four Seasons Lodge at Koele: www.fourseasons.com/koele, and at Manele Bay, www.fourseasons.com/manelebay.
Hotel Lanai, www.hotellanai.com
Lanai Culture and Heritage Center: www.lanaichc.org
Lanai Western Adventures: www.lanaigrandadventures.com
Rabaca's Limousine Service: 808-565-6670
Trilogy sailing and snorkeling tours: www.sailtrilogy.com
Priscilla Lister is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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