Lanai

Lanai: The Pineapple Island

Text by Valerie Mellema

The tiny island of Lanai may not at first seem impressive, as it is the second smallest of the islands, but it does in fact have a great deal to offer travelers.

Currently the island serves a home to two luxury resorts owned by a famous chain of hotels. Prior to this time however the island was the sole property of the Dole Corporation and was covered with pineapple fields and little else. The local inhabitants were wakened every morning with a loud siren that indicated the work day was about to begin. The end of the work day was also signaled with the same siren. Beginning in 1922 the island was the world’s largest pineapple plantation, but by 1985 the Dole Food Company sold the island and pineapple production ended. Today the siren still sounds twice each day, though this is just an old habit of the long time residents, and many actually still use it as an alarm clock.

Though a very small island the geography allows for the two resorts to be incredibly distinct from one another – one is located in the misty mountains, surrounded by pine forests and dirt roadways, and the other sits at the edge of a perfect bay and offers champion golf and daily trips to nearby Maui via a ferry.

The soil of the island is a unique clay that is so potent in its chemical composition that it is used a dye for fabrics and clothing items sold to tourists.

A great deal of the island can only be seen by the use of a 4x4, and most visitors are easily able to rent an appropriate vehicle at the small airport. Lanai is home to some of the steepest sea cliffs in the Pacific Island, and Humpback whales can frequently be seen off shore. One end of the island is aptly called “Shipwreck Beach” for the large vessel seen offshore. This was not the result of a maritime disaster, but instead the site was used for military operations and practice for many years and has since been abandoned to the elements.

A very interesting, and frequently visited, feature of the island is Keahikawelo, or the “Garden of the Gods” – a wonderful geologic formation in the rocks of a high plateau on the island. The area is composed of the reddish orange clay soil and rock of the island, and is characterized by boulders of varying sizes, shapes and colors which are the result of thousands of years of erosion.