Location: Hawaii
Molokai
Hawaii
From the western shore of Molokai, you can gaze across the channel to the island of Oahu – but the world of Waikiki is light years from this quiet “Friendly Island.” Considered the birthplace of the hula, Molokai is where native Hawaiian culture has been woven most thoroughly into daily life. As a result, the place moves at its own languid pace.
Lodgings here are limited to a single resort and a handful of small hotels and condominiums. The only town, three-block-long Kaunakakai, would look at home on a Wyoming back road. Recreational activities tend to be low-key: There's hiking (an easy trail leads to a swimming hole at the base of Moaula Falls, in Halawa Valley), off-road biking on mountain trails in Kamakou Preserve, and horseback riding. Water sports on the island are somewhat limited by Hawaiian standards (the best windsurfing is along the south shore; kayakers prefer the leeward west coast), but inveterate golfers can tee it up with the locals at Ironwood Hills Golf Club, in Kalae.
There is also natural and human drama: The sea cliffs of Molokai's Na Pali Coast are the highest in the world, and for more than 135 years, they served to isolate Kalaupapa, the island's seaside leper colony – one of the most hauntingly beautiful places in the islands.
Lodgings here are limited to a single resort and a handful of small hotels and condominiums. The only town, three-block-long Kaunakakai, would look at home on a Wyoming back road. Recreational activities tend to be low-key: There's hiking (an easy trail leads to a swimming hole at the base of Moaula Falls, in Halawa Valley), off-road biking on mountain trails in Kamakou Preserve, and horseback riding. Water sports on the island are somewhat limited by Hawaiian standards (the best windsurfing is along the south shore; kayakers prefer the leeward west coast), but inveterate golfers can tee it up with the locals at Ironwood Hills Golf Club, in Kalae.
There is also natural and human drama: The sea cliffs of Molokai's Na Pali Coast are the highest in the world, and for more than 135 years, they served to isolate Kalaupapa, the island's seaside leper colony – one of the most hauntingly beautiful places in the islands.
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- Greg Vaughn |
A place of refuge, then and now
Once a pu'uhonua (place of refuge) for defeated warriors and those who had violated the strictures of the Hawaiian kapu system (that which is prohibited or sacred), Molokai has long been a land of special power. Like all such sanctuaries in Polynesia, Molokai was not protected by physical force, but by mana — that is, spiritual power.
That power is still palpable on Molokai, which is often referred to as the "Most Hawaiian Island" because it has the largest percentage of native Hawaiian residents in the state (excluding, that is, the privately owned island of Ni'ihau).
| Outdoor Adventure When exploring Molokai you'll find Hawaii's longest white sand beach; the only barrier reef north of Australia; black sand beaches; lowland desert; rain forests; grasslands; and ancient Hawaiian heiau and fishponds. |
A scant 264 square miles in total, Molokai can be driven tip to tip in a couple hours. Its main town, Kaunakakai, spans three blocks and offers no traffic lights or fast-food restaurants. Instead, you'll find unparalleled natural beauty and a much-storied past.
North Molokai's Kalaupapa peninsula — hemmed in on one side by a 1,500-foot pali (cliff) and on the other side by the blue Pacific — was established as a place of exile for people suffering from Hansen's Disease (then known as leprosy) in 1866. Joseph De Veuster, a.k.a. Father Damien, would arrive here in 1873, devoting the last 16 years of his life to providing comfort before he, too, died of the disease at age 49. Today a small group of former Hansen's patients still choose to live in Kalaupapa of their own free will, occasionally guiding visitors through their secluded community.
East of Kalaupapa is Kahiwa Falls, at 1,750 feet the highest sea cliff in the world. Meanwhile, to the West, the goddess Laka is said to have given birth to the art of hula somewhere near Maunaloa. For this Molokai is often referred to as "Ka Hula Piko" — literally, "the navel of hula" (or figuratively, "the center of the dance").
Natural Attractions
Also on Molokai you'll find Hawaii's longest white sand beach; the only barrier reef north of Australia; black sand beaches; lowland desert; rain forests; bogs; fern forests; grasslands; lowland forests; ancient heiau (temples, pre-Christian places of worship); and Hawaiian fishponds, which in several places are being restored and returned to use as an ingenious form of aquaculture. In fact, bringing these ancient ways into the 21st century is at the heart of Molokai's existence, and is the source of its continued mana.
What's More ...
• Located nearly at the center of the chain of eight main Hawaiian Islands, Molokai is about two million years old.
• The average temperature on the island is 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Each May, "Molokai Ka Hula Piko" — a hula festival celebrating the island's distinctive title as the birthplace of hula — is held in Papohaku Beach Park. Other annual events include September's Molokai Mule Drag (a parade and block party followed by mule races down Kaunakakai's main street); and November's 100-mile ultramarathon.
• Molokai's official flower is the white kukui tree blossom
• The island's official color is green
BIOLOGY Molokai has a wide variety of plant, marine and animal life. Many species are rare and endangered including the Pueo (Hawaiian owl) and the Humpback Whale (the official state marine mammal). Vegetation zones include coastal, dryland forest, mixed open forest, and rain forest.
CLIMATE Like most of the Hawaiian Islands, Molokai has only two seasons: "summer" between May and October and "winter" between October and April. The island is divided into an arid western region and a verdant eastern region. Depending upon locale:
Major contributions to the State of Hawaii's economy include:
With the demise of its sugar and pineapple industries in the 1990's, Hawaii is working to diversify its economy with a focus on industries such as science and technology, health and wellness tourism, diversified agriculture, ocean research and development, and film and television production. A Study currently being conducted by the State is looking at the extent to which the benefits from tourism can be maintained, while sustaining the quality of our social, economic and environmental assets.
On Molokai there are attempts at diversified aquaculture/agriculture to offset the collapse of pineapple cultivation. Tourism is minimal - approximately 74,683 visitors in 2005.
In ancient times Molokai was an affluent community boasting the most fishponds in the Islands and a prosperous adze quarry industry. Today's Molokians are the last survivors of a lost race holding on desperately to what little they have left - struggling to keep their island as it once was and wants to be.
EDUCATION Molokai :
Molokai is:
Scientists say the Hawaiian Islands were born according to laws of nature, that volcanic forces pushed these underwater mountains above the surface of the ocean. The myths say the Hawaiian Islands were born of the spirit world. Maui, demi-god of old, stuck his giant fishhook into the ocean and pulled the islands from the sea.
Whichever you believe - it's a world unto itself.
GOVERNMENT The Island of Molokai is part of Maui County. In Maui County, as throughout the State, there are no separate municipal governments. Maui County has an elected mayor with a four-year term (two-term limit) and a nine-member council with two-year terms. Attempts at creating an autonomous government for Molokai have to date been unsuccessful - its political voice goes largely unheard.
OFFICIAL COLOR AND FLOWER The official color is green and the official flower is the kukui blossom.
POPULATION Molokai:
CLIMATE Like most of the Hawaiian Islands, Molokai has only two seasons: "summer" between May and October and "winter" between October and April. The island is divided into an arid western region and a verdant eastern region. Depending upon locale:
- average temperature ranges from 75 (°F) to 85 (°F)
- yearly average rainfall is 30 inches
CULTURAL HISTORY Molokai, from earliest times, was revered and feared as a center for mysticism and sorcery. Today Molokai is a sanctuary for those who seek the real world.
A Word about Kalaupapa: Starting in 1866, Hawaii's victims of Hansen's Disease (Leprosy) were dumped on Molokai's Kalaupapa Peninsula to die. The isolated settlement was literally hell on earth until the arrival of Father Damien in 1873. A catholic priest from Belgium, he treated the exiles with dignity and gave them a sense of hope. Today, Hansen's Disease is treatable and is one of the least contagious of all communicable diseases. With the arrest of the disease, the remaining small community of resident patients on Kalaupapa choose to live in the only home they've ever known.
As part of Maui County, Molokai is a multi-cultural society with major immigration from:
- Polynesia - 700 A.D.
- United States - 1820
- China - 1852
- Japan - 1868
- Portugal - 1878
- Puerto Rico - 1900
- Korea - 1903
- Philippines - 1906
- 2005 Visitor Arrivals to the State totaled 7.4 million (a record)
- 2005 Gross State Product was $54 billion
Major contributions to the State of Hawaii's economy include:
- Visitor Expenditures: $11.8 billion (2005) - an all-time high*
- Federal Defense Spending: $4.8 billion (2003)
- Construction (Private Building Permits): $3.5 billion (2005)
With the demise of its sugar and pineapple industries in the 1990's, Hawaii is working to diversify its economy with a focus on industries such as science and technology, health and wellness tourism, diversified agriculture, ocean research and development, and film and television production. A Study currently being conducted by the State is looking at the extent to which the benefits from tourism can be maintained, while sustaining the quality of our social, economic and environmental assets.
On Molokai there are attempts at diversified aquaculture/agriculture to offset the collapse of pineapple cultivation. Tourism is minimal - approximately 74,683 visitors in 2005.
In ancient times Molokai was an affluent community boasting the most fishponds in the Islands and a prosperous adze quarry industry. Today's Molokians are the last survivors of a lost race holding on desperately to what little they have left - struggling to keep their island as it once was and wants to be.
EDUCATION Molokai :
- K-12 students in public schools (2005): 1325 (excluding Special & Charter Schools)
- Number of Public schools (2005): 6
- Number of Private schools (2005): 2
- Molokai Education Center - part of Maui Community College
Molokai is:
- located in Polynesia
- near the center of the Pacific Ocean
- just below the Tropic of Cancer
- one of the most remote spots on Earth
- 2,340 miles west of California
- the fifth largest of the 8 main Hawaiian islands
Scientists say the Hawaiian Islands were born according to laws of nature, that volcanic forces pushed these underwater mountains above the surface of the ocean. The myths say the Hawaiian Islands were born of the spirit world. Maui, demi-god of old, stuck his giant fishhook into the ocean and pulled the islands from the sea.
Whichever you believe - it's a world unto itself.
GOVERNMENT The Island of Molokai is part of Maui County. In Maui County, as throughout the State, there are no separate municipal governments. Maui County has an elected mayor with a four-year term (two-term limit) and a nine-member council with two-year terms. Attempts at creating an autonomous government for Molokai have to date been unsuccessful - its political voice goes largely unheard.
OFFICIAL COLOR AND FLOWER The official color is green and the official flower is the kukui blossom.
POPULATION Molokai:
- had a resident population of 7,404 in 2000
- it is estimated that over 2,500 of the island's 7,000+ inhabitants have more than 50% Hawaiian blood
- except for Niihau (a small private island near Kauai), it is the only island where Hawaiians are the majority.
TOURISM
Molokai had approximately 74,683 visitors in 2005. Neglect from the outside world sheltered Molokai and kept it unspoiled and made it "the Friendly Isle". While its sister islands have been developed, Molokai has stood still - its clock ticks more slowly than elsewhere.
If you need to be where nothing is happening - happiness is discovering Molokai. Time spent here is a good way to get acquainted with the old Hawaiian-style of life which involves family, fishing, and feasting with friends.
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