The dream. (Picture: Facebook/Lanai Cat Santuary)

Sea and sand is great, sure. But all cat-lovers know that for a holiday to be truly glorious, it requires at least one cat you can befriend during your trip and seriously consider taking home with you.

It’s totally okay if Japan’s cat island is your dream destination. We understand if the phrase ‘house cat’ convinces you to book a certain Airbnb location.

We get it. Cat people understand. Cat people accept you.

But there’s something you should know. There’s a destination all cat-lovers should add to the top of their dream holiday list, and you might never have heard of it.


The small Hawaiian island of Lanai is the perfect place to relax and unwind for many reasons – gorgeous weather, delicious pineapple, stunning views, to name a few.



But the top reason you need to visit? Lanai is also home to the Lanai Cat Sanctuary; a delightful place where you can hang out with 495 cats.

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So, yeah. Incredible island. Great weather. Hundreds of cats.

We need to go there, ASAP.

Credit: Instagram/Lanai Cat Sanctuary

The Huffington Post reports that the Lanai Cat Sanctuary has become somewhat of a tourist attraction in itself, with people hopping on planes just for the joy of meeting a bunch of cats.

And yes, the location is definitely joyful – for visitors and the feline residents.

The sanctuary covers 25,000 square feet and is only open to visitors for a few hours each day.

There are no cages or barriers (apart from one fence around the outside of the sanctuary), leaving the cats free to explore, and there are plenty of large patches of grass and trees for the cats to play in, plus shaded huts where they can lay back and chill out.

A visit is essentially like a trip to a cat café times a thousand.

No stressed out cats tired out by all the attention, no stuffy surroundings, and no feeling offended when none of the cats are up for a snuggle (with hundreds of cats, a few are bound to be feeling social at any given moment).

Credit: Facebook/Lanai Cat Santuary

Plus, if you end up falling in love with one of the cats you meet at the centre, the sanctuary offers the chance for visitors to adopt or foster all of the residents.

If you can’t make it all the way to Hawaii, there’s also the option of sponsoring one of the cats (or just making a donation to the sanctuary) so they can continue living out their days in laidback luxury.

In short: this place just went straight to the top of our ‘places we’d quite like to visit’ list. And our ‘places we’d like to live forever’ list. Take us there.

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