MOLOKAI “The Friendly Isle”

ON A CLEAR night, from the tranquil cocktail patio of the Sheraton Molokai resort, you can see the feint, glittering lights of Waikiki and Diamond Head some 25 miles across the Kaiwi Channel. But with few tourists and an unhurried way of life, Oahu’s nearest neighbor is about as far from Waikiki as you can get.

Molokai is the island that your pilot points out to you on your way to Maui, and from the air it isn’t impressive-a narrow strip of low, rugged land with few signs of life save for scattered patches of pineapple. But ignoring the “friendly island” is a mistake, both because it really is friendly and because it’s an adventure-truly an island for exploring. Only 38 miles long, 10 miles wide and traversed by one main highway, it’s the easiest of the islands to get to know and the one with the most “unknown” places.

This formerly passed-over isle gets its infamy from the small, isolated northern peninsula called Makanalua, where, in 1866, the Hawaiian monarchy began dumping victims of leprosy (today known as Hansen’s disease), leaving them to live out their lives separated from their families and the rest of the world. Hansen’s disease was brought under control in the Forties by sulfone drugs, and today there are fewer than 100 patients, now cured, living on the peninsula in the government-supported village of Kalaupapa.

The Kalaupapa settlement sits beneath high cliffs which separate it from the rest of Molokai and also make it one of the island’s most beautiful locales. It is inaccessible by road, but you can take an air taxi service there or, better, ride down on mules. The Great Molokai Mule Train leaves from the top of the cliffs every morning except Sunday and travels down the famous Jack London Trail-three miles of winding, rocky path entrenched in lush vegetation, with 26 switchbacks and a few perilous views of the straight drop to the sea 1,500 feet below. Once down, tour guides from Kalaupapa take you to the eastern side of the small peninsula and show you the original colony of Kalawao, where more than 1,000 leprosy victims once lived. Today, there are only old gravestones and two churches, the most interesting being St. Philomena’s Catholic Church.

Just past the point of departure for the mule ride, you’ll find Palaau State Park, a forested mountain area with a spectacular lookout over Kalaupapa. Not far from here, down a dirt road at the end of Highway 48, stretch two of Molokai’s most attractive beaches. The first, Keonelele, offers good swimming and a picnic pavilion; farther down, Moomomi Beach has wind-rippled sand dunes and privacy.

Molokai can be best enjoyed by driving down Highway 45 all the way to Halawa Valley on the eastern side. Stop first in Kaunakakai, Molokai’s largest town and home of a half-mile wharf which in more prosperous times docked barges that freighted pineapple from the large groves owned by Dole and Del Monte. Driving east, you’ll pass dozens of miniature churches before beginning the climb into a more tropical terrain with a beautiful southern view of the Pacific.

The western side of Molokai is mostly rolling hills, 66,000 acres of which are owned by the Molokai Ranch. One square mile of the ranch has recently been turned into the Molokai Ranch Wildlife Park. Caretaker Pilipo Solatorio takes van tours into the park daily (which can be arranged through the Sheraton).

Farther west, the quaint town of Mauna-loa affords visitors a truly unspoiled look at a genuine Hawaiian settlement, and while you may not want to spend more than an hour here, the odd shops and workaday feel of it make it worth your while. Farther down the road is Puu Nana; from its 1,381-foot summit, you can see Oahu 30 miles away, weather permitting.

There are two small motels on the island-the Hotel Molokai and the Pau Hana Inn-but most visitors head for the very civilized retreat of the Sheraton Molokai and the nearby Paniolo Hale condominiums, both part of the Kalua Koi development. The Sheraton is about as appealing a Sheraton as you’ll find anywhere, with a quiet, generously-spaced collection of redwood and Ohio wood halls, many with a view of the north shore.