Plan a Meaningful Day Trip: Getting Around Lāna'i is Easy

There has been a common misconception, even among Maui residents, that transportation – such as car rentals and taxi services—are hard to come by on Lānaʻi. As part of the community-driven rebranding of Lānaʻi, the Maui Visitors & Convention Bureau (MVCB) worked closely with the Lanaʻi Advisory Group to create new messaging which represents the island. One of the messages the Lānaʻi Advisory Group has for visitors coming to their island: transportation is easy on Lānaʻi.

There has been a common misconception, even among Maui residents, that transportation – such as car rentals and taxi services—are hard to come by on Lānaʻi. For this reason, it is not uncommon that visitors traveling to the island by ferry, plan their trip without looking into available transportation options. Lānaʻi Advisory Group members discourage visitors from coming solely to visit the beach, bringing their coolers with them. This is regarded by residents as an extractive form of tourism: one that puts pressure on natural resources and does not contribute to the local economy.

Instead, it’s time to think outside of the beach box. The Lānaʻi Advisory Group encourages all visitors to plan a meaningful day trip on their island by venturing up to Lānaʻi City to support the mom-and-pop shops in their charming, historic town...and then venturing beyond the town to the nearby Lānaʻi Cat Sanctuary, taking a tour around the island with Rabaca’s knowledgeable guides (lifelong Lānaʻi residents), doing an e-bike tour with Lānaʻi Adventure Park, or doing a self-guided driving tour or hitting the hiking trail with the Lānaʻi Guide app.

MVCB worked closely with the Lānaʻi Advisory Group to identify the transportation options on Lānaʻi which visitors can book. MVCB then went to work with Expeditions Ferry, a company that provides daily ferry transfers between Lāhainā and Lānaʻi, to revise their website—a primary source of information for visitors planning their trip to Lānaʻi.  Community-supported content was added throughout the site to represent Lānaʻi accordingly to the Lānaʻi Advisory Groups recommendations. Recommendations included adding diacritical marks (so that Lānaʻi was written as such, as opposed to “Lanai“), nicknames were replaced with traditional place names, and new tabs were added. One such new tab was added called “Plan your Visit” which contains the following content:

Getting around Lānaʻi is easy!

Rabaca’s Shuttle Service & Island Tours:
(808) 559-0230; no website available

Dela Cruz Taxi:
(808) 649-0808; [email protected]

ABB Executive Rental:
(808) 649-0644; www.abbautorental.com

Lānaʻi Car Rental:
(808) 565-3100; www.lanaicarrental.com

Lānaʻi Cheap Jeeps:
(808) 489-2296; lanaicheapjeeps.com

Uber:
(808) 563-0150

The work described above moves the following DMAP Actions:

• Lānaʻi Action E: Promote Lānaʻi City to increase spending that goes to residents and small businesses.
• Lānaʻi Action E.3: Make transportation to Lānaʻi City easier for resort guests, and others that arrive via ferry and the airport.