North Lanai Travel Guide

The northern end of Lanai has a few destinations where tourists can visit including Keahiakawelo, Kanepuu Preserve, Polihua Beach and Kaiolohia. Keahiakawelo is a rock garden found at the end of the Polihua Road. The garden is also called the Garden of Gods. The native legend claims that the garden is formed as a result of a fight between kahuna. You can watch beautiful sunset scenery at the rock garden. Some of the main features of the rock garden include rock tower and rock formations.

Kanepuu Preserve is a large garden that offers various types of flower plants including hau hele, and olopua. Hau hele is a rare hibiscus. Endangered plants such as Hawaiian gardenia can be found in the garden. You can observe many types of native birds at the Kanepuu Preserve. The canoes found in the preserve are made from a type of tree called aiea tree. The sacred fences and temples are built from the lama plant. The preserve covers an area of 590 acres. The garden has many rare and endemic plants that can be found in most parts of the world.

Polihua Beach is ranked as the longest Lanai beach. Polihua refers to egg nest. It is given this name because the green sea turtles like to come to the shorelines to lay eggs. The beach experience high winds from time to time. It is a great spot for people who want to perform activities such as sunbathing, picnicking and etc. During a sunny day, you can stand at the beach and view the scenery from Kalohi Channel to the Diamond Head. Often, the ocean current can be strong. If the ocean current is strong, it is advised that you don’t swim. If you want to reach Polihua Beach, you should hike on the trail at the Garden of the Gods.

Kaiolohia, also called the Shipwreck Beach is 8 miles long. Many ships have wrecked at the beach so it is named as Shipwreck Beach. You can still observe the oil tanker at the Kaiolohia beach. From the beach, you can view the Maui Island as well as Molokai Island. If you are interested in petroglyphs, you can hike the trail near the beach. While hiking on the trail, you will come across a signs that read Kukui Point petroglyphs. It is best that you travel on the trail with a four-wheel drive vehicle. You can reach Kaiolohia after driving about 30 minutes from the Lanai City.