Molokai

Best months by our weather score: May, June, November. Daytime highs, rain and sunshine are 2016–2025 averages at Molokai Airport (Open-Meteo historical weather archive); sea temperatures are 2022–2025 averages for the nearest sea area (Open-Meteo marine archive). Months marked in the storm row fall in the Central Pacific hurricane season (June 1 to November 30); the score takes that risk into account.

Gateway airport

Molokai Airport (MKK)

US nonstops

None. No US mainland nonstops and no ferry (Molokai Princess ended 2016; county ferry planned for 2029). Connect via HNL (Lanai Air, 4 daily round trips since August 12, 2026, $169 one way; Mokulele) or OGG (Mokulele).

Distance

2,512 mi from Los Angeles, 4,940 mi from New York

Passport

Not needed for US citizens

Hotel, one night

$328 on Jan 13, 2027 · $356 on Jul 14, 2027 (Kaunakakai)

Visitors a year

23,482 overnight visitors (2025), plus 3,365 cruise passengers

Bringing a dog

Hard: Rabies-free state: two rabies vaccinations, microchip and a passing FAVN blood test at least 30 days before arrival qualify a dog for the 5-Day-or-Less program ($244) or direct airport release; otherwise quarantine of up to 120 days ($1,080). Molokai has no neighbor-island inspection: the dog must clear at Honolulu (or Kahului, Kona or Lihue with a $165 permit) before the inter-island flight.

Hotel prices: Cheapest hotel rated 3 stars or better in the named area, 1 night, 2 adults, Kayak 'Nightly total - including all taxes + fees' view, Class 3+ filter, checked 2026-10-20. Hotel Molokai (3 stars), the island's only hotel listed. Castle at Molokai Shores condominiums (3 stars) were $262 on both dates; excluded as condos, not a hotel. No star filter applied because results were few.. Visitor figures: DBEDT (State of Hawaii, which now produces the former HTA visitor statistics), 2025 Annual Visitor Research Report, Table 51.

Molokai suits repeat Hawaii visitors who want to see a rural island where most people are residents, and travelers drawn by the history of Kalaupapa, the peninsula where Hawaii exiled people with Hansen's disease. It suits couples who want to read, drive and do very little.

Skip it if you want beaches and resorts. The swimming is limited, restaurants are few and evenings are quiet. Families and first-time visitors are better served by Maui or Oahu. Our Hawaiian island ranking shows how it compares; a low place there is about fit, not quality.

Almost all lodging is around Kaunakakai on the south shore. On Kayak, the only hotel rated 3 stars or better was Hotel Molokai: $328 for January 13, 2027 and $356 for July 14, 2027, one night for two adults, taxes and fees in. The Castle at Molokai Shores condominiums, also rated 3 stars, were $262 on both dates; the rest of the listings were private condo units from $371.

Book a rental car with your room. The sights are spread out along one long east-west road.

Papohaku Beach on the west end is a very long white-sand beach. It faces open ocean, and it is a beach for walking and sunsets more than swimming; go in only on calm summer days. The south shore near Kaunakakai is fronted by a wide, shallow reef, which keeps the water calm but too shallow for a real swim in many places.

On the east end, small sandy coves along the road toward Halawa offer the island's best calm-day snorkeling. That is why we score Molokai's beaches 4 of 10: lovely to look at, limited for swimming.

• Kalaupapa National Historical Park: Hawaii state law requires a permit to enter, and general visitors get it by booking a guided tour. For now, visitors can arrive only by air at Kalaupapa Airport, because the pali trail crosses private land that the park cannot yet open. No one under 16 may visit, and there are no medical facilities.
• Palaau State Park: the overlook above Kalaupapa, open again after the September 2026 storm closures.
• Halawa Valley at the end of the east-end road: a deep valley with a waterfall, usually visited with a local guide because much of the land is private.
• Kaunakakai: the long wharf and the main street of shops and bakeries.
• Whale watching on the south shore; NOAA's humpback sanctuary says whales are seen from November through April.

Two to three days covers it, which is why we score things to do 4 of 10.

Kalaupapa is the reason many people come, and it takes planning. The National Park Service says the park is never closed, but visits are strictly limited to guided tours. The tour supplies the state Department of Health permit, and that permit lets you book a flight to Kalaupapa Airport. It does not let you cross the private land between the Kalae Highway and the Kalaupapa Pali Trail, so walking down the cliff trail is not an option until the park reaches an agreement with the landowners.

Plan for a full day, book the tour before your flights, and leave children under 16 at home: they are not permitted. The park warns of significant safety risks and has no medical facilities, so follow the guide's rules. If you cannot make it down, the overlook at Palaau State Park gives you the view of the peninsula from the top of the cliffs.

The west and south of Molokai are dry; the north-shore cliffs and the east end are wetter and greener. The climate table on this page has the numbers. Winter is whale season and the time of big north swells; summer is calmer for the few swimming spots.

The Central Pacific hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, per NOAA's National Hurricane Center. All Molokai state parks closed on September 25, 2026 as a precaution for Tropical Storm Nolo, and the state listed them as reopened in its October notices. See our hurricane season guide.

Molokai Airport (MKK) at Hoolehua has no US mainland flights. From the mainland, fly to Honolulu or Kahului and connect. Lanai Air flies four daily round trips to Honolulu on 19-seat Cessna SkyCouriers. Mokulele Airlines flies to Honolulu and Kahului, and also serves Kalaupapa.

It is all domestic travel, so a REAL ID-compliant license or a passport is enough. TSA charges $45 for ConfirmID if you arrive at the first airport without acceptable ID. A dog is very hard to bring: Molokai has no neighbor-island inspection, so the dog must clear Hawaii's rabies rules elsewhere first.

Hotel Molokai came in at $328 to $356 on our dates. Add the connecting flight, $169 each way on Lanai Air from Honolulu, and a rental car. Since January 1, 2026, the state Transient Accommodations Tax is 11%, up from 10.25%, under the Act 96 green fee; county tax and general excise tax come on top, and Kayak's totals include them.

Deluxe Helicopter Tour of Molokai and Maui

It departs Maui and does not land on Molokai. Passengers over 275 lbs must buy a second seat; we found no bookable tour that starts on Molokai itself, and Kalaupapa can be visited only on a permitted guided tour.

55 minutes

4.9★★★★★★★★★★(352 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on Viator

Booking through these links supports this site at no cost to you. Prices move by date, so we do not print them here; the official prices we checked are in the page above.