Moloka'i: The Island Most People Skip (And Why You Shouldn't)

Molokai Travel Guide: Flights, Where to Stay, and Must-Do Experiences

Marcie shares a Molokai trip she took with her mom, describing the island as the least visited and “most Hawaiian,” with no traffic lights, minimal development, and uncrowded beaches. She explains logistics: Molokai is reachable only by Mokulele Airlines from Maui (about 30 minutes) with occasional maintenance groundings, and visitors need a rental car due to no Uber or public transit. In Kaunakakai, she recommends Hulu Bean Cafe, A Taste of Molokai food truck, and Kanemitsu’s Bakery “hot bread” (Thu–Sun nights), noting many businesses close Sundays. Highlights include Molokai Plumeria Farm lei-making, the scenic drive to Halawa Valley and guided Mo’oula Falls hike, and the Molokai Museum’s Kalaupapa history plus the Kalaupapa Lookout; limited Kalaupapa tours require permits and are air-access only. Lodging includes Hotel Molokai and rentals, and she advises staying 2–3 nights over a rushed day trip.

00:00 Why Molokai Now
00:45 Getting There by Air
01:51 Rental Car Essentials
02:25 Molokai Vibe and Etiquette
03:26 Kaunakakai Eats and Hot Bread
04:50 Plumeria Farm Lei Making
06:00 Halawa Valley Scenic Drive
06:47 Museum and Kalaupapa History
07:58 Where to Stay
08:42 Day Trip or Overnight
09:45 Final Tips and Wrap Up

Kalaupapa Settlement

About Your Host: Marcie Cheung is a Certified Hawaii Destination Expert who has visited Hawaii 40+ times and spent 20+ years as a professional hula dancer. Through Hawaii Travel with Kids, she helps families plan authentic, affordable Hawaii vacations that respect local culture while creating unforgettable memories.

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Transcript

0:00

My mom has lived on Kauai for years. She's been to Maui, the Big Island, Oahu, every island multiple times. And one day I realized she had never once been to Molokai. Neither had I, and I thought, "Well, she's the perfect person to figure this out with." So we flew over together, rented a car, and spent a few nights exploring a brand-new island for both of us. And I wanna tell you everything we found because Molokai is unlike any other place in Hawaii, and I think a lot of people are missing out Welcome back to Hawaii Travel Made Easy. I'm Marcie, and today we're talking about Molokai, the most Hawaiian island, the least visited, and one of my favorite places in the state. Whether you're thinking about doing a day trip from Maui or staying a few nights, this episode is for you. There's no ferry to Molokai anymore. It shut down in 2016. Your only option is flying, and you'll be on Mokulele Airlines out of Kahului Airport on Maui. Little 10-passenger planes. The commuter terminal is across the street from baggage claim behind the main building. It's small. You will not miss it. I was nervous about that flight. It's a tiny plane, short runway, and I had no idea what to expect. But the moment we took off, I forgot all about being nervous because the views were absolutely breathtaking. Molokai is a gorgeous island and seeing it from the air, the cliffs, the coastline, the color of the water, I felt so lucky to be on that flight. And then on the way back to Maui, we saw whales from that plane. I screamed a little. The pilot was very professional about it. The flight is about 30 minutes, and they will ask you your weight before boarding. Don't let that stress you out. It's just for weight distribution on a small aircraft, and nobody else sees what you tell them One thing worth knowing, mokulele has had a couple of short-notice groundings over the past few years for maintenance and inspections. Service has always resumed quickly, but if Molokai is a non-negotiable part of your trip, book refundable accommodations just in case. Once you land, you need a rental car. No Uber, no public transit, everything is spread out. There's an Alamo counter literally steps from the terminal. It was the fastest car rental experience I've ever had in Hawaii. I always book through Discount Hawaii Car Rental to make sure I'm getting the best rate. You can find my link at hawaiitravelwithkids.com under Hawaii Resources, along with all my other trusted Hawaii resources. And if you're trying to figure out whether adding Molokai to a bigger Hawaii trip makes sense for you, I covered that whole island-hopping question back in episode nine, Island Hopping in Hawaii: Is It Right for Your Trip? Go check that out. So what does it actually feel like on Molokai? Well, there are zero traffic lights on this entire island. The biggest town is one main street, and that's not a downside. That's the whole point. If you've been to Hawaii before and felt like it's gotten more crowded, more built up, more like everywhere else, Molokai is the antidote. It feels like what Hawaii was like before tourism took over, and the community here is very intentional about keeping it that way. So when you visit, you pull over to let locals pass you on narrow roads, you spend money at local businesses, and you don't go places you're not supposed to. That's just the deal. The beaches are another thing entirely. On every other Hawaiian island, the good beaches have crowds. Some have lines, some have reservations, some require you to wake up at six AM to snag a parking spot. On Molokai, you can be the only person on a beach, and I mean that literally. If your dream vacation, if your dream Hawaii vacation is sitting on a beautiful stretch of sand with nobody else around, no tour boats, no vendors, nothing, Molokai is where that still exists Kaunakakai is the main town. It's one street, Ala Moana Avenue, named after King Kamehameha V's home from the 1860s, and you can walk the whole thing in about 10 minutes. Park anywhere and just take it in. For breakfast, go straight to Hulu Bean Cafe. The coffee is excellent and the breakfast sandwiches on fresh baked bread are really good. For lunch, A Taste of Molokai food truck is where I'd send you. Get the kalbi ribs and garlic shrimp. And if you're staying overnight, you have to do hot bread. This is a Molokai tradition that's been going on for decades. So here's how it works. Thursday through Sunday nights- Kanamitsu's Bakery opens the back window and sells bread fresh out of the oven. The bakery's closed Tuesday and Wednesday, so plan your overnight stay around a Thursday through Sunday night if you wanna do this. You park on the main street, walk down an alley, and order from the window. I had psyched myself up for something kind of sketchy, and it was not sketchy at all. What I was not prepared for was the line of locals in front of us who all knew exactly what they wanted. My mom and I looked at each other, panicked, and just quickly ordered. The bread is massive. They cut it open and stuff it while it's still steaming with whatever you want, cream cheese, jelly, butter, cinnamon, and we got two loaves. It took us the entire rest of the trip to finish them. We were eating hot bread for breakfast three days later, and we were not complaining. One practical note when we're talking food, most restaurants and grocery stores on Molokai are closed Sundays and have limited hours throughout the week. If you're arriving on a Sunday, stock up on snacks before you leave Maui. I promise you'll thank yourself Okay, I wanna talk about Molokai Plumeria Farm. This was one of my favorite experiences I've had in Hawaii in a very long time, and I don't say that lightly. Molokai Plumerias is a working farm just a couple of minutes west of Kaunakakai. The owner, Dick, has been growing plumeria here since 1982. You walk out into the grove, he shows you how to pick the flowers without damaging the branches, hands you a paper bag, and lets you loose. My mom was on one side of the grove and I was on the other, and we were just wandering at our own pace, no timeline, no tour guide hovering. The trees smell incredible. At some point, Dick wandered by and we ended up talking with him for a while about his life on Molokai, how he ended up there in 1982, and what keeps him there, what the island has changed and what hasn't. It was kind of the conversation where you lose track of time and don't mind at all. When you've picked enough flowers, you sit down at the lei-making table and Dick teaches you how to string them. I've worn a lot of lei over the years, and I was proud of how mine turned out. Book ahead by email. They're flexible, but prefer a reservation. And a tip directly from Dick, late afternoon is the best time to visit because the flowers are freshest. We went in the morning because of our schedule, but I'm noting that for next time Moving on, I have one more must-do activity. The drive to Halawa Valley on the east end of the island is one of the most beautiful drives I've done anywhere in Hawaii. You're following the coastline the whole way out, ocean to your left, barely any other cars. People compare it to the road to Hana on Maui, but it's much less stressful, and you actually get to enjoy it instead of white-knuckling the whole thing. Pull over whenever you feel like it. The valley at the end is stunning and worth the full drive out. There's also a cultural guided hike to Mo'oula Falls With the Solitorio family. Greg Solitorio leads the tours, and by all accounts, it's extraordinary. The hike crosses private land, so you have to go with a guide. Tours run most days except Wednesday and Sunday, and they only do one per day, so book ahead. That's the top of my list for when I go back All right, I wanna talk about Molokai Museum and Kalaupapa next. The Molokai Museum is on a restored sugar plantation about 45 minutes from Kaunakakai. Admission is $5 for adults, cash only. They show you two short films, one about the history of the sugar mill and one about the people who were forcibly sent to Kalaupapa settlement Because they had Hansen's disease, what used to be called leprosy. That second film is heavy, and the photo exhibit of Kalaupapa residents gets heavier the more you read. Each photo has a person's story. I found myself standing there much longer than I expected to. It's an important history and worth your time. Just know going in that it's not a lighthearted stop. Right nearby is the Kalaupapa Lookout, where you can see the entire peninsula from above. The view is incredible, and there are informational panels that help you understand what you're looking at. And I wanna mention, tours to Kalaupapa itself have reopened after being closed for several years. You need a permit, and you have to be 16. You have to be at least 16, and access is only by air. Tours are very limited and book up well in advance. I'll link the official NPS page in the show notes Because the logistics on this change, and I want you to have the most current information rather than me quoting something that's already outdated. All right, so where should you stay on Molokai? Hotel Molokai is the only traditional hotel on the island. That's it, one hotel. It's bungalow style, right on the water, about 15 minutes from the airport. There are hammocks strung up everywhere, between the buildings, along the beach path, outside the rooms. I spent a lot of time in those hammocks. Fair warning, this is not a resort. Things show their age. We had some mosquitoes. The beach right out front isn't the best swimming beach on the island. But if you go to Molokai expecting a polished resort experience, you've come to the wrong island. If you go expecting to actually slow down and be somewhere real, it's perfect. There are also vacation rentals and condos if you want more space. I have options listed at hawaiitravelwithkids.com under Hawaii Resources. All right, so how do you decide between a day trip versus staying over? If you're on Maui deciding whether to fly over for the day or stay a few nights, my honest answer is that Molokai rewards you for slowing down. One day is enough to fall for it, but you can't rush this island. If you're trying to check everything off in a single day, you'll spend more time in the car than anywhere else. A well-planned day trip is totally doable. Breakfast at Hula Bean, the Plumeria Farm, the drive out to Halawa Valley, and a quick stop at the Kalaupapa Lookout on the way back. That's a full, satisfying day. But if you're someone who doesn't need luaus, boat trips, or a packed activity schedule, if what you actually want is uncrowded beaches, slow mornings, and the feeling of being somewhere unspoiled, give yourself two or three nights. You'll understand pretty quickly why people who go to Molokai once tend to go back. My mom has been to every other Hawaiian island, and she'd somehow never made it to Molokai. By the end of that trip, she completely got it. There's something about that island that stays with you, the quiet, that feeling that you stumbled onto something most people blew right past. I'm already thinking about when I can get back. Everything we talked about today, the Plumeria Farm, hotel options, discount Hawaii car rental, and Kalaupapa tour links, it's all at hawaiitravelwithkids.com under Hawaii Resources. And if you're in the middle of planning a Hawaii trip and want help sorting it out, I do one-on-one consultations at hawaiitravelwithkids.com under Hawaii Travel Consultant. We can figure out whether Molokai fits your trip and build your itinerary around what actually matters to you. Thanks so much for being here. I'll see you Wednesday. Aloha.