page_title: Molokai
section_title: Tourism
hierarchical_section_title: Molokai / Economy / Tourism
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of a waterfall on Molokai as taken from a helicopter Oloʻupena Falls
context_page_description: Molokai, or Molokaʻi, is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles in size at its extreme length and width with a usable land area of 260 square miles, making it the fifth-largest of the main Hawaiian Islands and the 27th largest island in the United States. It lies east of Oʻahu across the 25 miles wide Kaʻiwi Channel and north of Lānaʻi, separated from it by the Kalohi Channel.
  The island is an agrarian society, where the economy has been driven primarily by cattle ranching, pineapple production, and sugar cane production, and small-scale farms. Tourism comprises a small fraction of the island's economy, and much of the infrastructure related to tourism was closed and barricaded in the early 2000s as the primary landowner, Molokai Ranch, closed operations due to substantial revenue losses. In Kalawao County, on the Kalaupapa Peninsula on the north coast, settlements were established in 1866 for quarantined treatment of persons with leprosy; these operated until 1969. The Kalaupapa National Historical Park now preserves this entire county and area.
context_section_description: The tourism industry on Molokaʻi is relatively small, compared to the other islands in Hawaiʻi. Only 64,767 tourists visited Molokaʻi in 2015.  For decades, residents of Molokaʻi have resisted private developers' attempts to increase tourism because of the irreparable changes to community and culture that are associated with a tourism industry. Accommodations are limited; as of 2014, only one hotel was open on the island. Most tourists find lodgings at rental condos and houses.
  National Geographic Traveler magazine and the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations conduct annual Destination Scorecard surveys, aided by George Washington University. In 2007, a panel of 522 experts in sustainable tourism and destination stewardship reviewed 111 selected human-inhabited islands and archipelagos around the world.  Molokaʻi ranked 10th among the 111 destination locales. The survey cited Molokaʻi's undeveloped tropical landscape; environmental stewardship; rich and deep Hawaiian traditions (the island's mana ). The neighbor islands of Hawaiʻi, Kauaʻi, Maui and Oʻahu, ranked 50, 61, 81 and 104, respectively.
  Molokaʻi is believed to be the birthplace of the hula. The annual Molokaʻi Ka Hula Piko festival is held on this island.
  Molokaʻi can be reached by plane. Planes fly into Molokaʻi daily from other Hawaiian islands including Oʻahu (Honolulu and Kalaeloa), Maui (Kahului) and Hawaiʻi (Kona) on Mokulele Airlines, Makani Kai Air, Paragon Air and Hawaiian Airlines.
  A ferry that formerly sailed between Molokaʻi and Lāhainā Harbor, Maui closed operations on October 27, 2016. Sea Link President and Senior Capt. Dave Jung attributed the closure to competition from federally subsidized commuter air travel and declining ridership.
caption: Molokaʻi Waterfall
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