What's the story with Lanai and Moloka'i?

My wife and I have a hotel/condo looking West, basically staring dead-center between the two islands. We've looked at what Wikipedia says, which differs a bit from what our varying local interaction has said. The snorkel guys gave some info, which contrasted a bit with what the Haleakala Sunrise/Bike guys had to say about them.

What's the story? I imagine the Larry Ellison thing is pretty solid info, but my wife and I are dying to know more about the locals and seeming mystery surrounding the two great islands directly ahead of us.

Thanks in advance! Aloha!

Lana’i is owned by Larry Ellison; it has a small town in the center, and two big resorts, one on the ocean and one inland. You can take a ferry to Lana’i, rent a car and drive around the island. Maui Revealed has details.
I’ve gone over and done that, including doing some archery at the inland resort; they also had sporting clays available. The resorts have undergone some refurbishing since we were there.

Moloka’i also has a ferry but it doesn’t get you to much. The interesting part of the island is on the north shore, Kalaupapa, the previous leper colony. You have to arrange a tour to visit, I believe. In >6 years living there we never got to Moloka’i. Moloka’i is not at all touristy.

It’s also easy to get a boat ride over to Lana’i with boat companies including the Pacific Whale Foundation. They have a nice whale watch/spinner dolphin half-day tour that is very nice; they also hava a snorkel tour just off Lana’i.

Lanai used to be owned by Dole and was basically a pineapple plantation. Never set foot on it although I’ve been a stones throw away while fishing a few times over the years. No reason to go ashore ever came up. Molokai is pretty “local” and there isn’t a whole lot to do there either, which is why I haven’t felt any urge to go there as well. You’ve likely heard the expression “Maui nō ka ‘oi”, which translated says ”Maui is the best.”. It was originally part of a boastful ancient chant but they were definitely on to something if you ask me. Hope you like it as much as I do.

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Hope you like it as much as I do.

We've really enjoyed it so far! (Although Frida's didn't sit well with me, but I'll admit I tried the octypus on suggestion.)

Visited Lana'i way back before Sir Larry owned it (actually not long after Bill Gates rented the island for his wedding). There wasn't much to do except toggle between the mountain resort and the beach resort. That said, it was one of my best Hawaii trips ever. The mountain resort is world class, in fact it was the #1 mtn resort in the world (not sure if it still is). The beach was also awesome. Always meant to return some day, so far haven't yet.

Maui has several helicopter companies that do tours. While there in January I was able to get the cheap seat ($100) for a flight out to Molokai. I pushed the pilot to fly a little more "aggressive" and we were not very many yards from the tallest sea cliff in the world from the blades hitting it. The chopper companies will have last minute deals like this so if going alone you could get in. 2 people you are going to pay full price. It's worth the trip. It was a flight from Maui through the west mountains over to Molokai and back through the valley on the way back.

Get some Poke from Foodland. $7.99. And Maui Brewing's Bikini Blonde is excellent.

A few years ago my wife and I went on a "Trilogy" (trimaran) tour, that included sailing to Lana'i and having a box lunch on the beach. Afterwards, we sailed back to Maui (where we started). It was a pleasant way to spend the day, but we didn't see much of the the island.

I understand that there's good deer hunting on Lanai, if you are interested in setting up a hunt. I hunted Axis deer on Maui and it was enjoyable. Be sure and bring home some frozen boned out meat for the butcher to cut into steaks, roasts, burger, etc...! It's probably the best tasting venison I've ever eaten and incredibly tender!!!

http://www.highadventurecompany.com/hawaii-hunting/

Don't miss the Maui Ocean Center! Incredible aquarium of local sea life.

And say hello to my friends at Coconut's Fish Cafe in Kihei if you get around to the south side.

If you have time, make a reservation for sunset at Merriman's Restaurant in Kapalua.

Slack key guitar fan? Go to George Kahumoku's Wednesday night concert at Napili Kai. P210 and nhtagmember can vouch for it.

If you can, try to make it to Mama’s Fish House. It’s one of the best dining experiences on earth and while expensive it’s worth it for special occasions. Tonight for example. My daughter is visiting with her sons and we had a blast.

We were staying on Maui a few years ago and took the ferry ride over to Lana'i.

We went to the Cat Sanctuary and spent the afternoon at a nice beach.

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Originally posted by P210:
If you can, try to make it to Mama’s Fish House. It’s one of the best dining experiences on earth and while expensive it’s worth it for special occasions. Tonight for example. My daughter is visiting with her sons and we had a blast.

Yes, absolutely. Mama's is propably one of my top 3 dining experiences ever. From beginning to end, everything was exceptional.