10+ things to do in Lanai Hawaii without a car (or with a rental!) 🌴 Quiet Maui one day trip to Lanai!

ALOHA!

Lanai is often called Hawaii’s luxury island.

With exclusive resorts, quiet beaches, and dramatic landscapes, it’s perfect for travelers seeking both relaxation and adventure.

But Lanai isn’t just for high-end travelers. You don’t have to be staying at a luxury resort to enjoy it. This small island is also perfect for a day trip from Maui or a short multi-day stay.

Even without a car, you can enjoy Lanai’s top attractions, from pristine beaches to scenic hikes.

During my one month in Hawaii when I flew into Maui, I ended up going to Lanai twice. While it’s not a place to go for a jam-packed day, it’s a perfect place to go if you want one or 2 activities a day. I didn’t rent a car, and I relied on walking and the shuttle.

“It’s always quiet on Lanai.” This is an actual quote from a Lanai resident!

Here’s a guide to the best things to do in Lanai!

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1. Hulopoe Bay Beach

Hulopoe Bay is Lanai’s main beach and a marine life conservation district, making it one of the best snorkeling spots in Maui County.

The beach is wide, well-maintained with beach facilities like bathrooms and plenty of picnic tables. It’s perfect for a quiet day outdoors. You might even spot spinner dolphins offshore.

If you’re staying at the Four Seasons Resort Lanai, Hulopoe Bay will be your main beach. Even if not staying there, the bay is easily accessible on foot from Manele Harbor.

👆 Oceanfront resort in Hawaii: Four Seasons Lanai. In this picture, Hulopoe Beach is off to the right. This is as seen on the Fishermans Trail, coming up later on the list!

2. Puupehe trail to see sweetheart rock

The Sweetheart Rock Trail (aka Puupehe Trail) starts from Hulopoe Bay and leads to the famous coastal landmark of Sweetheart Rock.

Along the way, you’ll get sweeping views of Shark’s Bay and the surrounding coastline.

Go for a sunrise hike and you can catch one of Lanai’s best sunrise spots here.

This trail also provides access to the Hulopoe Bay tide pools, a natural feature where you can walk along the lava rocks and explore shallow pools. You might be able to spot some little fishies swimming around in there!

Depending on ocean conditions, you may even be able to walk the tide pools all the way to Shark’s Bay Beach.

See more about the Sweetheart Rock overlook trail and the Hulopoe tide pools.

3. Shipwreck Beach

This is one of the popular spots to drive to on Lanai. You can also make it into a hike by walking on the same road that cars drive on.

You’ll be able to get the shuttle to where the paved road ends, and then from there it will be around 2 miles until the point that you will come across the Shipwreck Beach sign. From there, you can keep walking further along the beach as far as you want. (There’s miles of coastline!)

Most people simply get a little bit closer look at the shipwreck and then leave. 

See more about Shipwreck Beach.

4. Poaiwa petroglyphs

Looking for the Poaiwa petroglyphs is something to do during your visit to Shipwreck Beach.

You can also find a trail to see petroglyphs nearby, and you can go on a search for petroglyphs. Follow the stacked stones to stay on the trail (and to find the petroglyphs).

You can consider this a coastal hike too! You’ll be climbing up a hill to get to the petroglyphs, and you’ll be able to get views of the ocean while on the trail!

See more about the Poaiwa Petroglyphs.

5. Sharks Bay

So Sharks Bay is your adventure beach on Lanai. And by that I mean, it’s the beach that requires an adventure to get to!

So you can see Shark’s Bay from above when you’re walking on the sweetheart rock trail.

But you can also head down to the beach here too. The “easy” way would be the Hulopoe tide pool trail mentioned above. Even that is an adventurous way.

There is also a more direct way, that can be considered to be on the difficult side. There’s a “path” that you can take that is pretty much nearly vertical along the cliff that you can take from the Puupehe Trail that will get you straight to the beach without having to loop around.

Also, be on the lookout for Hawaiian monk seals on the beach! One time I was here, there was a seal visiting! (Also have a look at where to see seals on Maui.)

6. Garden of the Gods

The Garden of the Gods may not be considered do-able without a car for most people, but if you think of this as a solid (and long) day hike, you can go here without a car on your own! 

This is another one of the popular spots that people drive to. It’s a drive on a dirt road. 

It’ll be like a 12-13 mile hike. Once again, if you’re without a car, you can get a shuttle to the point where the paved road ends.

If you’ll be renting a 4wd, you can go to Garden of the Gods, and then drive further to the remote beach of Polihua Beach. This isn’t a beach for swimming (rough ocean), but it will likely be like having your own private beach.

See more about the Garden of the Gods.

7. Fishermans Trail

This is another hiking trail that starts from Hulopoe Beach. This one starts on the other side of the bay from the sweetheart rock trail. (So the Fisherman’s Trail runs along the coastal side of the Four Seasons.)

This coastal trail will give you grand ocean views the entire time. Make it as long or as short as you’d like!

See more about the Fishermans Trail.

8. Koloiki Ridge Trail

The Koloiki Ridge Trail is the longer hiking to do on Lanai. It will likely be a 2-3 hour hike.

This is a hike that will give you views of the neighbor islands of Maui and Molokai!

You can get the shuttle to the Four Seasons Sensei wellness resort which is near Lanai City. The trail starts near the resort. This will likely be a 2-3 hour hike.

See more about the Koloiki Ridge Trail.

9. Lanai City

There’s really not so much to do in Lanai City. And “city” isn’t really a city at all. It’s more like a small town. As they say, there are no traffic lights on Lanai.

But it can be nice to walk along the streets of quiet Lanai passing by residential neighborhoods. 

If you’re looking for a quiet picnic spot, the Dole Park is basically right in the middle of town. You can stop by the grocery store in Lanai City called Richard’s Market for some picnic items and then have lunch in the park! Or, you can stop at the Blue Ginger Cafe and order takeout to do the same. 

10. Lanai cat sanctuary

There’s a cat sanctuary on Lanai, and this is somewhere people who go to Lanai like to go to! It’s kind of near the airport.

11. Manele Harbor General Store

Arriving to Lanai by ferry means that you’ll start your time on Lanai at Manele Harbor. This small harbor has a general store where you can pick up snacks, microwavable meals, and drinks. The harbor is also a great place for some Lanai-specific souvenir shopping, like t-shirts or local crafts.

The only place you’ll really see TONS of people (if you call it that) might be at the Manele Harbor ferry port when there’s an arrival or departure of the Maui ferry!

Aside from this, people are generally dispersed, and you likely won’t really notice a ton of people!

Probably the biggest “crowd” you’ll see on Lanai is at Manele Harbor.

Can you stay on the island of Lanai?

Lanai is a luxury vacation destination and the accommodation options are really limited.

You can stay on the island of Lanai at one of the 2 luxury resorts or 1 “standard” hotel.

The cheapest hotel on Lanai costs like $400 a night.

And then there are maybe a couple of bed and breakfasts, vacation rentals, and airbnbs, which would cost likely at minimum $200 a night. 

So having these accommodation options really limits the amount of people who stay on Lanai as a tourist.

And this can make it a different kind of Hawaiian island experience compared to the other main Hawaiian islands of Maui, Oahu, the Big Island, and Kauai. 

But the limited accommodation options doesn’t mean you have to miss out on a visit to this quiet Hawaiian island just because you won’t be staying overnight on Lanai!

Day trip to Lanai

Lanai is pretty easily accessible. 

If you’re staying on Maui, there’s a ferry to Lanai that you can take to make it a day trip to Lanai.

With the Lahaina Harbor destroyed, the ferry to Lanai now leaves from Maalaea Harbor.

Is a day trip to Lanai worth it?!

I think a day trip to Lanai is not JUST about Lanai. But it is also about the journey… getting there! As in, it’s also about the boat ride to Lanai!

I mean, why wouldn’t you want to sail out on the water in Hawaii?!

You may have a chance to see a rainbow form over the ocean… and if it’s whale season, you may have a chance to spot some whales off in the distance too! (The channel between Maui and Lanai is considered to be among the best spots, if not THE best, for whale watching in Hawaii.)

Personally, I think it could make for a perfect day trip to take the Maui to Lanai ferry, hike the scenic coastal trails around Hulopoe Bay, hang out at Hulopoe Beach with some swimming and snorkeling, and then end your day with a Lanai to Maui ferry! (More on the Hulopoe Bay activities below!)

How long is the boat ride from Maui to Lanai?

The boat ride from Maui to Lanai might be around 1 hour 10 minutes from Maalaea Harbor.

It can depend on the ocean conditions which can make a smooth sailing, or it can make it take a little longer!

If you’re staying on another Hawaiian island like Oahu, the Big Island, or Kauai, there’s an airport on Lanai so you can fly into and out of Lanai. (Although, because of time in transit, Maui and Oahu would be the most ideal islands to make a day trip from.)

For interisland flights to Lanai, see:

• Hawaiian Airlines
• Mokulele Airlines

Lanai airport code is LNY.

Getting around Lanai without a car

If you are arriving by ferry from Maui, you’ll arrive at Manele Harbor.

You can then walk to Hulopoe Beach from which you can do a number of the activities on the list below. 

To get around Lanai otherwise, there’s a Lanai shuttle that will basically drive you to anywhere there’s a paved road.

This is basically between the harbor and city and the airport.

You will want to call about the Lanai shuttle service before you go, and the phone numbers can be found on the Lanai ferry website.

Renting a car on Lanai is also an option, although you can expect to pay $200 (or more) for a one-day car rental.

Most, if not all, car rentals on Lanai will be a 4-wheel-drive vehicle. 

👆 That’s a Lanai rental car. So also don’t expect a brand new jeep just because it’s $200 a day! (Lanai is a small island and I saw the people in this car elsewhere on Lanai earlier. They saw me walking to the Hulopoe Beach campground with all my gear and offered me a ride! By coincidence I also saw them driving on this trail. This is Munro Trail or nearby.)

Day trips from Lanai

If you decide that you want to spend most of your time on Lanai, it can be reasonable to make a day trip to another Hawaiian island. Although, it will be a much more relaxing vacation if you stay on Lanai the whole time!

But in case you do want to consider going to another island since you’re “in the neighborhood,” some one day trips you may want to consider:

• Haleakala National Park (Maui’s volcano – see the summit and do the volcano crater hike)
• Road to Hana (Maui’s famous highway – prioritize with waterfalls, the black sand beach state park, the national park bamboo forest hike, and maybe the red sand beach hike)
• Pearl Harbor Memorial (Oahu)

Maui’s main airport is OGG Kahului airport in central Maui. Oahu’s airport is HNL Honolulu Airport.

You’ll need to rent a car for Haleakala National Park and the Road to Hana. You can do without renting a car for Pearl Harbor (there’s the Oahu bus), but having a car will give you more time to explore the rest of Oahu, like the North Shore of Oahu and the east side of Oahu, if you won’t be spending all day at Pearl Harbor, which is possible!

The flight timings from Lanai to the Big Island (Hilo) might not make Hawaii Volcanoes National Park worth it, unless you are okay with only 1-2 hours in the park.

Lanai map

So Lanai is one of the islands in Hawaii.

Lanai is a part of Maui County that most notably includes the Hawaiian islands of Lanai, Maui, and Molokai.

👆 Map of where Lanai is located in Hawaii. Explore the Hawaiian islands map on google maps.

Lanai, or another island in Hawaii?!

And if you’re still not sure which Hawaiian island to choose, also see…!

• Hawaiian islands map with best things to do in Hawaii
• Maui or the Big Island for your first trip to Hawaii?
• Top things to do on Maui
• Top things to do on the Big Island
• Top things to do on Oahu + Best of Oahu in 3 days
• Best island to see old lava flows in Hawaii

I was on Lanai in February 2020. Your experience may vary!