If you stay on the island of Lanai you can enjoy world-class golf, horseback riding, swimming and snorkeling and much more. Your could also take half day or one day private Lanai tour that will take you to some more most scenic and unique places on the islands.

We booked a half day tour with Neal Rabacca Tours. Our day began at 9 am when our tour guide Bruce met us in front of Koele Lodge (where we stayed at). After we introduced each other our tour began. On the way to our first stop The Garden of the Gods we were already impressed by the comprehensive knowledge Bruce had about the island of Lanai. We learned about Lanai’s pine trees, about Lanai’s pineapple fields, people, history and etc. When we arrived at the Garden of the Gods Bruce took us at a scenic point from where we could see the canyons of the garden all around and the islands of Lanai and Molokai at the distance. Our guide pointed some interesting rock formations resembling figures he gave us in-depth information about the stones and the area.

After our Gardens of the Gods visit we left for the north part of the island to visit Shipwreck Beach. On the way, while driving on Keeamoku road, we learned about dramatic historic events occurred at the area in 1778 when the king of the Big Island of Hawaii, Kalaniopu‘u, invaded Lanai and killed almost all of Lanai’s around 4,000 inhabitants.

As we approaches the Shipwreck Beach we could see the Au‘au Channel that stretches between the islands of Maui and Lanai. In clear days you could see the wind line. Once we got to Shipwreck Beach we walked on the beach and even saw a green sea turtle (honu). She did not seem shy and she let us took some pictures of her while sunbathing on the beach. We saw interesting lava rocks and stones on the beach as well.

After we enjoyed some time on Shipwreck Beach we headed to our third stop – Munro Trail. Our guide drove very slowly because the rough conditions on the dirt road on the trail and while driving he gave us detailed information about the plants and trees in the area.

Finally we ended our tour with a ride around Lanai City. We saw some city attractions and we were dropped off at our hotel around lunch time.

Even though the tour was only three and a half hours long, it felt much longer because we saw and learned so much! I myself have been working in the past five years in the Hawaii tours industry and have been to many tours and activities. The tour with Bruce on Lanai was one of the best tours I have ever taken! The service was very professional and we saw a lot! Just like Bruce said, many people may think there is not much to see on Lanai, besides the elaborately-manicured hotel gardens. But it depends on how you define the word “nothing.”

Here are some photos we took on our tour.