Lanai Exploration 2013

It’s been awhile since I’ve been to Lanai, probably > 20 years to be more precise… so as you can imagine, I could only remember a very few things about it. For one, I remember “swimming with sharks” at some tourist trap (that really did not deliver what the brochure depicted whatsoever)…and secondly, doing a little bit of shoreline fishing. At the time I really didn’t know how to fish, so along with our other planned adventures there, I was eager to bring some gear over to get some redemption.

Luahiwa Petroglyphs

Our (Baron, Jennifer, Paige, Seth and I) first destination was the Luahiwa Petroglyphs, which was just minutes away from town / Lanai City.

There, we were able to see so many authentic petroglyphs, and some which were not. It’s unfortunate that people deface / vandalize such cultural important and historical places in Hawaii.

When visiting this special places like these, please look as much as you want, but do not touch.

Munro Trail

We were soon on our way to our next destination, the Munro Trail, which was a dirt road which virtually traverses the entire mountain range on Lanai. It even crosses the highest point on Lanai, called Mount Lanaihale.

Higher up on the ridgeline, there were several places to pull off the main road and appreciate epic views, which include the islands of Maui and Kahoolawe in the eastern direction.

As well as Molokai, while facing the a more northern direction. I’m sure there was much to explore around here, if we got out of our car more… but a tight schedule had us heading on to the next destination.

Kaiolohia (Shipwreck Beach)

A short drive down to the coastline and we were at Kaiolohia, or Shipwreck Beach.

A faint trail lead up and way from the coastline,

…where we were able to observe several more petroglyphs. Baron was able to even find his “double” birdman petroglyphs, which had been eluding him over the past couple of years. As with the petroglyphs at Luahiwa, several of the boulders and stone carvings have become vandalized. There was even a large rock that was chiseled / painted to say, “do not deface.” A little hypocritical, but when visiting here, please respect the area.

After getting an eyeful of the stone carvings, we walked further down the coastline to view what Kaiolohia was more well-known for…

Shipwrecking boats, like this massive oil tanker which had run aground on the shallow reef in the 1940s.

After taking some photos, the group decided to hang around here while I ran back to the car to get my fishing gear.

While walking towards the shipwreck, I noticed several schools of Oama (juvenile white weke / yellowstrip goatfish) along the beach,

…and even swimming around the tide pools on the coastline. They often come into shallow water to feed or are chased inshore by large fish who feed on the young fish.

Also as predators, Seth and I chased and trapped a small school into progressively smaller pools, to catch about 20 Oama with our hands. We then kept them alive in a small, enclosed tide pool nearby, where we could use them as needed for live bait.

Just casting the live Oama outside of the large tide pools almost immediately resulted in 1-2 lb Omilu (Bluefin trevally). The one on the left bit after 2 seconds and the middle in about 2 minutes after casting. The one of the right bit before I even casted it, seriously! I waded out about 15-20 ft from shore to cast, dragging the Oama in the water, then my reel just started screaming, haha. Wish it was always this easy to fish… Only on Lanai though! We only kept the 2 smaller ones on the left and let go the largest one on the right. We hooked up with several more omilu, but I’m sure you get the idea how the fishing was. 🙂

Keahi A Kawelo (Garden of the Gods)

After a good couple hours of fishing, we were off to our campgrounds at Polihua Beach. On the way there, we passed through the Garden of the Gods. Hawaiians used to stack several tiers of boulders here, which as I understand, were a site to see. However, a recent earthquake knocked them all down. Spending much of her youth on Lanai, Jennifer said it was an amazing place, as there were stacked boulders as far as the eye could see. Now passing through this area, it easy to drive through not knowing how unique this place was.

Polihua Beach

We arrived at Polihua just in time to set up camp,

…and watch the sunset on the beach.

A feast of fresh pan-fried omilu, as well as some marinated prawns and poi I brought back from the Kauai. When it got dark, we went out to the beach to have a few beers and watch moonrise on the horizon. I should have done some night photography, but was too exhausted and wanted to just relax in the good company of friends.

Kamalapau Harbor

The next morning we headed south and stopped by Kamalapau Harbor for a little bit of swimming, and to pick a few yellow-foot opihi. So ono!

Hulopoe Beach / Puu Pehe

After having lunch in town, we ended up driving out to Manele Bay and Hulopoe Beach.

Walking a little further away from the resort area,

we were able to visit Shark’s bay and Puu Pehe (or sweet heart rock).

The summit of the rock is supposedly where a Hawaiian warrior buried his deceased lover, after she had drowned. That is obviously not the whole story, but please look it up before visiting here.

We lounged around Hulopoe beach for a little bit after our excursion and were contemplating on whether or not to visit the Kaunolu fishing village… but unfortunately we were out of time. Although nearby, Seth had an earlier flight than the rest of us and we wanted to make sure he could check in for his flight on time. Also, the car rental system was a little inconvenient. The rental company is located in Lanai Town, and not at the airport. Not that this is not understandable, but the shuttle system and company closes at 5pm! Therefore, we had to make sure we returned our car much earlier than our flight, which was at 730 (or 630 for Seth). We would have had an extra couple more hours to explore if not. Anyhow, regardless of this set back, we all had a great weekend on Lanai. We are just going to have to all the things we didn’t get to do on this trip the next time!

Mahalo nui loa to Sharah, Juri and Jennifer for all your suggestions and helpful info for our Lanai Trip. Sharah / Juri, we hope to meet up with you folks the next time we visit! Aloha no…

More questions about our Lanai Adventure?? Just ask!!!

Aloha and mahalo nui for visiting… Come back again soon!