With no traffic lights and miles of open space, Lanai is a perfect place to getaway from it all. Lanai is a small island with 141 square miles and small resident population. Most of the residents live upcountry in Lanai Town.
Though it may seem faraway, Lanai is separated from Maui and Molokai by two narrow channels, and is easily accessed by boat from either island. You can see these islands from the beach. The two major resorts on the island are the Lodge at Koele and Manele Bay, there is also a Hotel Lanai an small hotel. If you need a beach with amenities Manele Bay is your best choice, If you want mountain luxury theLodge at Koele provides cooler pleasures. This leaves the rest of the 100,000-acre island open to explore.

As soon as you arrive on Lanai, you'll feel the small-town atmosphere. The people wave and the residents stop and talk with their friends. Fishing and gardening are priorities on Lanai. Previous to tourism the island was known at the Pineapple Island but has since closed the fields and turned its efforts to tourism.

In 1990, when the Lodge at Koele, a 102-room hotel resembling an opulent English Tudor mansion, opened its doors, followed a year later by the 250-room Manele Bay, a Mediterranean-style luxury resort overlooking Hulopoe Bay. Overnight the isolated island was transformed: Corporate jets streamed into tiny Lanai Airport, former plantation workers were retrained in the art of serving gourmet meals, and the population of 2,500 swelled with transient visitors and outsiders coming to work in the island's new hospitality industry. Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates chose the island for his lavish wedding, booking all of its hotel rooms to fend off the press -- and uncomplicated Lanai went on the map as a vacation spot for the rich and powerful.

But this island is also a place where people come looking for dramatic beauty, quiet, solitude, and an experience with nature. The sojourners who find their way to Lanai seek out the dramatic views, the tropical fusion of stars at night, and the chance to be alone with the elements.

They also come for the wealth of activities: snorkeling and swimming in the marine preserve known as Hulopoe Bay, hiking on 100 miles of remote trails, talking story with the friendly locals, and beachcombing and whale-watching along stretches of otherwise deserted sand. For the adventurous, there's horseback riding in the forest, scuba diving in caves, playing golf on courses with stunning ocean views, or renting a four-wheel-drive vehicle for the day and discovering wild plains where spotted deer run free.

In a single decade, a plain red-dirt pineapple patch has become one of Hawaii's top fantasy destinations. But the real Lanai is a multifaceted place that's so much more than a luxury resort -- and it's the traveler who comes to discover the island's natural wonders, local lifestyle, and other inherent joys who's bound to have the most genuine island experience.