Off-road E-bike Adventure on the Pineapple Island

The bikes were Kona mountain e-bikes... not inexpensive, but an amazing way to get to parts of the island that are less traveled.

Today I wanted to take guests to an island that not many tourists ever get a chance to see. Known as the 'private isle', or the 'pineapple isle', the island of Lana'i is one of Hawaii's best kept secrets. It is hard to secure a place to stay here since the two resorts at very expensive, but a few airbnbs can be found. The Lana'i Adventure Park provides a few options for exploring the parts of the island that are less traveled, and this is what we wanted. One of my favorite ways to get off the beaten path here in Lana'i is to rent e-bikes and head out across what used to be the biggest pineapple plantation in the world.

The pineapples are all gone now, but the network of old red dirt roads give you access to almost the entire island. And with the help of some pretty rad Kona off-road mountain e-bikes, that was just what we were going to do. I took a group of hard charger guests around the parking lot in order to get used to the ebike functions, and then off we went. We passed old stone churches and a hidden grove of rainbow eucalyptus trees on our way out of Lana'i City. The boost mode on the e-bikes made going uphill feel like a flat trail. Everyone handled the offroad conditions and got to enjoy some beautiful overlooks off the north side of the island. We even saw some whales making huge splashes in the channel between Lana'i and Molokai.

Once we had gotten back onboard and washed all the red dirt off our shoes, we were treated with some amazing marine wildlife. A huge pod of spinner dolphins came over to bowride, surfing the wave the boat creates by plowing through the water. Then a mom and newborn humpback whale swam by, giving everyone the show of their life. Not a bad day on one of Hawaii's least visited islands.

A huge pod of Hawaiian spinner dolphins surfs our boat's bow wave just like a surfer at the beach. Without even flapping their tale, they glide in the underwater wave created by the boat pushing through the water.

I didn't mean to take a selfie here, but you can see the fun that we are having riding our off-road mountain e-bikes to parts of Lana'i that are otherwise inaccessible.

Nanci and Katie, a mother daughter duo, join me for the e-bike adventure across the island of Lana'i.

At one point we got off the bikes and went for a small hike through this colorful terrain on the north side of Lana'i.

We stopped at several overlooks for photo opportunities. This one had a great view across the channel to the island of Molokai.

Pretty amazing views in this part of Lana'i.

Turning off the main paved road to get deeper into the less explored parts of the island.

Our rough and tumble group of hard chargers.

We used these old red dirt jeep tracks that were left over from the pineapple plantation era.

We had to stop and check out this grove of rainbow eucalyptus trees.

Rob, making the turn as we head west and north off the main road.

Taking a break, but ready for more.

Our last stop, the ruins of a 19th century stone church near Lana'i City.

As we left the island of Lana'i, a mother whale and her calf swam near our ship. I was able to fly my drone over them to get this shot of the moment mom came up for a breath.

As always, keep traveling and keep posting!

• Dai Mar