Molokai — The Friendly Island

A Mini Travel Guide
from Hawaii Travel Experts
 

A few hotels and condominiums are scatted along Molokai's south shore, and on the western coast is the 6,700-acre Kaluakoi Resort with an 18-hole championship golf course and miles of secluded white sand beach.

A memorable stop on any tour of the Friendly Isle is Kalaupapa, one of America's early settlements for sufferers of Hansen's Disease. Established by the Hawaiian monarchy in 1866, the famous leper colony is on the Kalaupapa Peninsula on the north coast. Father Damien de Veuster, a Belgian priest, came to Kalaupapa in 1873 planning to stay only a few weeks. Instead he spent the rest of his life establishing order, ministering to those shunned and forgotten people, and becoming himself a victim of Hansen's Disease, leprosy. Father Damien's church, St. Philomela's, stands near the old cemetery where a monument marks the martyr's gravesite.

From a pleasant park along the craggy shoreline you have a stunning view of Molokai's windward side, with the world's highest sea cliffs and waterfalls plunging thousands of feet into the ocean. Near the park is Kaohako Crater with ancient Hawaiian graves along its slopes.

All of Molokai is rich with Hawaiian lore. Much of the island's eastern end is dense wilderness, thrusting mountains, and deep green valleys. The western side is a rolling fertile plain, Molokai's main agricultural area.

Winding country roads beckon sightseers. You'll find a pit where Hawaiians measured loads of fragrant sandalwood before shipping them to China. There are missionary churches, the walls of ancient Hawaiian fish ponds, stark stone heiaus (sacrificial temples), and historic battlegrounds.

True adventurers hike a twisting trail up verdant Halawa Valley to splash in the pools at the foot of Moalua Falls. Molokai's thickly forested back-country intrigues the huntsman with a variety of game, while isolated and unfrequented beaches and reefs delight skindivers.