This post contains affiliate links. If you book a rental through one, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Short answer: Lanai has no big rental counter row. The airport lists one local company, and Lanai Car Rental in Lanai City rents Jeep Wranglers to drivers 25 and up. Book ahead, and arrange a taxi or shuttle from the ferry or airport.
A Lanai car rental works differently from Maui or Oahu. There’s no consolidated rental center, the companies are small and local, and the fleet leans heavily toward Jeeps because so much of the island is unpaved.
Who actually rents cars on Lanai
The state’s Lanai Airport car rentals page lists a single company, Lanai City Service Inc. You won’t find the usual national brands lined up at the terminal.
Lanai Car Rental, at 1039 Lanai Avenue in Lanai City, publishes its own terms:
- A fleet built around four-door Jeep Wrangler Saharas.
- Drivers must be 25 or older.
- Open daily, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- Bookings start as a request form or a phone call, and an agent confirms. The request alone is not a reservation.
- The office is about 3.7 miles from Lanai Airport and 7.8 miles from Mānele harbor, where the ferry docks.
Because the office isn’t at the airport or harbor, plan the first leg. The company points arriving visitors to local taxi and limousine services and recommends booking those ahead too.
Getting to Lanai: the ferry from Maui
Most visitors come over on the Expeditions passenger ferry, which runs three round trips a day between Mā‘alaea on Maui and Mānele on Lanai. The crossing takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
| Route | Departures |
|---|---|
| Mā‘alaea, Maui to Mānele, Lanai | 6:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 3:30 p.m. |
| Mānele, Lanai to Mā‘alaea, Maui | 8:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 5:30 p.m. |
The ferry left Lahaina after the 2023 fire and now uses Mā‘alaea, so older guides that send you to Lahaina harbor are out of date. Check fares and the current schedule on the Expeditions site before you go.
Do you need a car for a Lanai day trip?
Not always. The harbor sits next to Hulopo‘e Beach, so a beach-only day trip works on foot. A car (in practice, a Jeep) matters if you want Lanai City, the lookouts, or the island’s dirt roads. With the rental office open only until 4:00 p.m. and the last ferry back at 5:30 p.m., an early ferry gives you the most usable hours.
Keep your Maui rental on Maui
The passenger ferry doesn’t carry rental cars. If you’re day-tripping from Maui, park at Mā‘alaea and pick up a separate vehicle on Lanai. For the Maui side of the trip, start with the Kahului Airport car rental guide, or see Kihei Rent A Car if you’re staying on the south shore, which is close to Mā‘alaea.
Heading to the other small island? See renting a car on Molokai.
Compare rental rates for your trip →
Photo: Brett Sayles on Pexels.
Researched and written by Neo Pecorro. Facts on this page were checked against Hawaii Department of Transportation airport pages and the companies’ own sites, plus the other sources linked above. Hawaii rules change often, so confirm on the official page before you go.
Last updated: October 14, 2026.