Molokai

Molokai has around seven thousand residents, no building taller than a palm tree by local convention, no traffic lights and no resort development - a proposed cruise ship stop and several large projects were rejected by the community, which is the central fact about the island. The population is the highest proportion of Native Hawaiian of any island except Niihau, and subsistence fishing and hunting remain part of daily life. The north coast has sea cliffs that reach around a thousand metres, among the highest in the world. On the peninsula below sits Kalaupapa, where people with Hansen's disease were forcibly isolated from 1866 until the law was repealed in 1969; Father Damien worked and died there. Access is restricted and permitted.

What you actually see

• No resorts and no traffic lights - by community decision.
• Sea cliffs around a thousand metres - among the world's highest.
• Kalaupapa - the isolation settlement, access by permit only.
• A largely Native Hawaiian population - with subsistence practice continuing.

When to go

Year round. Several days.

Honest expectations

There is very little tourism infrastructure - that is the point. Kalaupapa access has been closed or heavily restricted for extended periods, including for the residents' protection. The mule trail down has been shut after landslides. Visitors are guests and are expected to behave as such.

Nearby

Maui is across the channel; Lanai is south-west.