Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [350]
POPULATION: 3200
AREA: 140.5 SQ MILES
NICKNAME: PINEAPPLE ISLE/PRIVATE ISLE
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LANA’i Itineraries
In Two Days
Start your first day swimming and snorkeling at Hulopo’e Beach (Click here) or diving at nearby Manele Bay (Click here). In the afternoon take a stroll around Lana’i City (Click here) and watch the sun set over the majestic Norfolk Island pines at Dole Park (Click here). On the second day rent a mountain bike or put on your hiking boots and head up the Munro Trail (Click here) for a sweeping view of everything Lana’i has to offer.
In Four Days
Get a Jeep and do a little beachcombing along Shipwreck Beach (Click here) and then explore the road to Naha (Click here). That night, enjoy a superb meal at Lana’i City Grille (Click here). On day four choose from one of the old-time eateries (Click here) on Dole Park before a day exploring the Garden of the Gods (Click here), the Luahiwa Petroglyphs (Click here) and the ancient village of Kaunolu (Click here).
For Day-Trippers
Take the early morning ferry (Click here) from Lahaina and keep an eye out for schools of dolphins as the boat approaches Manele Bay (Click here). Catch the shuttle into town and pour your own coffee for breakfast at Blue Ginger Café (Click here). Stroll the shops and superb museum of Lana’i City (Click here). In the afternoon, snorkel at Hulopo’e Beach (Click here) before heading back to Maui on the sunset ferry.
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HISTORY
Evil spirits were thought to be the only inhabitants of Lana‘i prior to about 1400. Then a chief’s son from Maui is credited with chasing off the evil-doers and making things safe for others from his home island. Little recorded history exists but there are traces of a thriving fishing culture along the coasts, especially to the north and east. Raiding parties from other islands were a frequent terror.
Colonialism largely bypassed Lana’i, although diseases brought by the odd missionary decimated the population from several thousand to 200 by the 1850s. Sporadic efforts were made at ranching and sugar growing by outsiders. Everything changed permanently when George Gay began buying up the place in 1902. Within a few years he owned 98% of the island (a holding that has remained almost unbroken through various owners to this day). In 1922, Lana’i passed into the hands of Jim Dole, who fatefully started a pineapple plantation that was soon the world’s largest.
Under Dole (and later its corporate successor Castle & Cooke), Lana’i was not just a company town but a company island. Early managers were de facto dictators, who were known for spying on residents from their hillside mansion and ordering guards to discipline any deemed to be slackers.
In the 1980s Castle & Cooke and its hard-driving main shareholder David Murdoch made plans to shift Lana’i from pineapples to tourists. The final harvest of the former occurred in 1992, the first resorts for the latter opened in 1990.
CLIMATE
At an elevation of 1620ft Lana’i City enjoys a mild climate with average temperatures of 66°F in winter and 73°F in summer. Bring a jacket if you’re coming in winter, when nighttime temperatures might dip to around 55°F. Rainfall, which is heaviest in winter, averages around 40in annually in Lana’i City and 15in along the coast. When it’s overcast in Lana’i City, chances are that Hulopo’e Beach will be sunny and in the low 80s.
ACTIVITIES
Lana’i has no national, state or county parks, but its finest beach, Hulopo’e Beach, is run by the Lana’i Company as a free public park.
Almost all organized activities on the island are coordinated through the resorts. These include tennis, horseback riding, golf and scuba diving. Adventure Lana’i Ecocentre (565-7373; www.adventurelanai.com) offers a range of land and water activities, gear rental and will meet the Maui ferry.
At Sea
Snorkeling and swimming are fantastic at Hulopo’e Beach (Click here), and if you manage to get there in the morning you can often watch dolphins frolicking just offshore. Shipwreck Beach (Click here) is a more