Things to do nearMoloka‘i

Moloka'i is the fifth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and has long resisted the resort development that transformed its neighbors. The island's population remains small, and much of the land is devoted to ranching, small farming, and the preservation of Native Hawaiian practices that have continued here without interruption for centuries. The Kalaupapa peninsula, tucked beneath towering sea cliffs on the island's north shore, holds one of Hawaii's most sobering and moving historical sites, the former leprosy settlement where patients were isolated beginning in the 1860s and where Father Damien de Veuster devoted his life to their care.

The north shore's Napali-style pali cliffs rise more than 3,000 feet directly from the ocean, forming some of the most dramatic coastal scenery in the Pacific. Halawa Valley on the eastern tip preserves ancient heiau, or Hawaiian temples, alongside lush agricultural terraces and a pair of waterfalls reachable by guided hike with a local family. The island's south shore shelters a string of ancient Hawaiian fishponds, stone-walled enclosures built centuries ago to cultivate fish, several of which are being actively restored by community organizations today.

The small town of Kaunakakai serves as the island's commercial center, with a handful of locally owned restaurants and shops lining Ala Malama Street. Dining options lean toward plate lunches, fresh poke, and Filipino home cooking, reflecting the island's multicultural working-class heritage rather than resort cuisine. Sunsets from the western end of the island, near Papohaku Beach, one of Hawaii's longest white-sand beaches, are unhurried and spectacular.

Moloka'i is worth visiting because it offers an honest encounter with Hawaii as a living place rather than a curated destination, where the land, the culture, and the people remain genuinely connected to one another.