Start from 20 curated places around Molokai, HI, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Kanemitsu's Bakery & Coffee Shop
A family bakery on Ala Malama Street that has been running since the 1930s and recently received a James Beard nomination — remarkable for an island of 7,000 people. The thing everyone comes for is the late-night hot bread ritual: after dark, walk around to the back alley, knock, and loaves are handed out hot with your choice of fillings spread right in. It is one of those purely local things that exist nowhere else.
Hiro's Ohana Grill
The oceanfront restaurant at Hotel Molokai, set on a pier with tiki torches and live Hawaiian music most evenings. It is the closest thing to fine dining on the island — local catch, steaks, and island-style dishes served a few feet from the water with views across to Lanai. The vibe is relaxed but the food is several cuts above the rest of Kaunakakai's options.
Trails & outdoors
Halawa Valley Falls Cultural Hike
A 3-mile trail through one of Hawaii's oldest continuously inhabited valleys, settled by Polynesians around 650 AD, ending at Mo'oula Falls — a 250-foot waterfall surrounded by lush jungle. The valley is private land and access requires a guide from the Solatorio family, whose ancestors have lived here for generations. The hike is as much a cultural immersion as a physical one, with guides sharing oral histories of the valley along the way.
Kalaupapa Trail (Pali Trail)
A 3-mile trail descending 1,700 feet down the world's tallest sea cliffs on 26 tight switchbacks to the Kalaupapa Peninsula below. It is one of the most dramatic and historically charged hikes in the Hawaiian Islands — the same route used to exile Hansen's disease patients — ending at a settlement that is both a national park and an active, closely managed community. Hikers must have a permit and join an authorized tour at the bottom.
Things to do
Molokai Mule Ride to Kalaupapa
A mule ride down the same 26-switchback pali trail that hikers use, descending 1,700 feet of cliff to Kalaupapa Peninsula. Buzzy Sproat's operation has been running mules down this route for decades and the animals are specifically trained for the exposure and footing. The combination of the dramatic cliff descent on muleback followed by a guided tour of the Kalaupapa settlement is one of the most unusual and memorable day outings in all of Hawaii.
Kaunakakai Wharf at Sunset
The old commercial pier that juts into Kaunakakai's shallow harbor is a gathering spot for locals in the evening — fishing from the end, watching the sun drop toward Lanai and Maui, and just being unhurried in the way Molokai does best. There's nothing commercial about it, which is entirely the point. On a warm evening, after picking up food from somewhere on Ala Malama Street, eating at the wharf end is quintessential Molokai.
Landmarks & sights
Kalaupapa National Historical Park
A remote peninsula sealed on three sides by ocean and on the fourth by 2,000-foot sea cliffs, where more than 8,000 people diagnosed with Hansen's disease were exiled between 1866 and 1969. The community that formed here — and the Belgian priest Father Damien who served it — is one of the most haunting and humanizing stories in Hawaii. The handful of remaining residents still live on the peninsula, making every visit a matter of genuine reverence.
Palaau State Park & Kalaupapa Overlook
A forested state park at the top of Molokai's north-shore pali where a short paved path ends at a platform 1,600 feet above the Kalaupapa Peninsula. The view encompasses the entire peninsula, the ocean beyond, and the dramatic cliff wall — all without a permit or tour. The park also holds a sacred Hawaiian phallic rock, Kaule o Nanahoa, set in a quiet ironwood grove.