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Molokai

Molokai from Space
The Hawaiian Island of Molokai

Molokai is the fifth largest island of the Hawaiian Islands with a land mass of just over 260 square miles and a population of around 7500. Molokai is 38 miles long and 10 miles wide at it's widest. It has 88 miles of coastline and all of Molokai is within 5 miles of the ocean.

Molokai is called as the Friendly Isle. About half of the island is very dry and the other half is quite wet, receiving almost 30 inches of rain a year. The wet side is much higher in elevation, the pinnacle being Kamakou Peak which has an elevation of 4900 ft.

Molokai is quite simple, and as such is not the typical Hawaiian tourist destination. There are no traffic lights, no dry cleaners and no tall buildings. The local night life is more akin to small town America than to that of Waikiki or even Lahaina.

Kaunakakai is the largest town on the island, but it is still small by all accounts – the main street being only about a quarter of a mile long. There are several small hotels in town as well as a resort on the west end of town. Home to one of only two ports that exist on the island, it was a strategic spot for the pineapple shipments of years ago.

Speaking of pineapples, Maunaloa, a small village on the west side of the island, is a former pineapple plantation and is quite deserving of a visit. It hosts the Molokai Ranch – a 65,000 acre, 100+ year old working ranch that also contains a luxury resort called The Lodge at Molokai Ranch.

With the islands rural feel comes a slow paced lifestyle that is rare in this tourist hungry state … There are several beaches on the island that embrace the visitor – often in complete or near complete seclusion. One of those beaches is Kawakiu Beach, located on the northwest shore of the island. Papohaku Beach on the west side is another, being one of the largest beaches in the Hawaiian Islands.

Seclusion was also important for Father Damien and the patients of the leper colony at Kalaupapa, located on the Makanalua Peninsula of Molokai’s north shore. The colony is just about as secluded as it can get, being surrounded on all sides by either tall sea-cliffs or the Pacific Ocean.

Other places to visit include the Halawa Valley and the Mauna Loa volcano, one of 2 volcanoes that make up Molokai.

Oahu * Maui * "Big Island" of Hawaii * Kauai * Molokai * Lanai
St Thomas * St John * St Croix * Key Largo * Key West * Puerto Rico * Guam