Visiting the Hawaiian Island of Molokai

From the coast of Kapalua on Maui, you will have a clear view of Molokai, the Hawaiian Island of Yesteryear. Molokai’s 260 square miles most resemble Hawaii as it used to be. You will not find a Starbucks or a McDonald’s on Molokai. In fact, you will not find a single traffic light. (Nor will you find any traffic.) Molokai is Old Hawaii, an island of unimaginable beauty and the tallest sea cliffs on the planet, over 3,000 feet high.

Molokai is a long, skinny island off-shore from Maui. It has a population of approximately 7,500 and an abysmal economy. But that should not in any way discourage a visit to this magical place. You can either fly to Molokai or take a boat trip from Maui. I recommend Maui Princess Cruises’ Molokai Ferry. You will travel in comfort, and packages that include rental cars and guided tours are available.

Ironically, the most compelling place to see on the Hawaiian Island of Molokai used to be the most nefarious. The Kalaupapa Overlook is where you will get your view of Molokai’s infamous leper colony. This is where people stricken with leprosy (now commonly referred to Hansen’s Disease) were banished to in order to wait out their deaths in the 1800s. Although leprosy is now curable, some former leprosy patients still remain at Kalaupapa.

Mule rides are a main attraction on the island of Molokai. Molokai Ranch owns almost a third of this Hawaiian Island. You will want to visit the isolated and quaint Halawa Valley. The valley’s majestic backdrop is made up of several picture postcard waterfalls. Near the Kalaupapa Overlook, you will find Ka-ule-o-Nanahoa, also known as Phallic Rock. It is a six foot tall stone that to the ancient Hawaiians represented fertility.

You may consider staying at Hotel Molokai, whose room rates start at just over $100 per night. In Kaunakakai, you will find the Molokai Pizza CafÃ?©, which offers delicious pizza as well as sandwiches and pizza. Molokai also has some of Hawaii’s most beautiful beaches, some of which you are bound to have all to yourself.

Although Molokai has been dubbed “the Friendly Isle,” you may not find its residents so friendly. Life for residents is difficult because of the terrible economy, and most Molokai residents wish for Molokai to remain as it is, a replica of Old Hawaii. They, therefore, resent tourism and, of course, tourists. Many Molokai residents live as their ancestors did, off the land, by harvesting the ocean, gathering fruits and plants and by hunting deer, pigs and goats. Residents are fighting against development, but that, of course, is a difficult fight to win.

If you are coming to Hawaii, hoping to immerse yourself in some culture by taking a trip back in time, Molokai is definitely an island you will want to visit. Molokai is everything that Waikiki is not, a place of immense beauty where an ancient way of life has (thus far) been preserved.