Fogjazz49-Retired
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I've been to almost all of the islands more than once. My suggestion: get off the beaten track and go to Molokai.
Molokai is considered the "real Hawaii", meaning old culture that has not been corrupted and over-commercialized by too much tourism. It is definitely friendlier and much more laid back than the other islands. The economy of that island is very depressed right now, so prices tend to be lower. This is not the island for partiers who like the night life, but if what you want is affordability, lots of natural beauty, warm friendly people, and peace and quiet, this is your island.
I stayed on the spectacularly lush east end, which is the "wet" side of the island. The northern coast of Molokai resembles the Na Pali coastline of Kauai, with deep river valleys you can only access with some rough hiking, that open onto breathtakingly beautiful near-deserted beaches. The most inaccessable of them all became the infamous leper colony at Kalaupapa, reachable only by boat or mule. At the northeastern corner of Molokai the Puu O Hoku Ranch occupies a huge space including a natural preserve for the Hawaiian geese, and I stayed on the ranch in a small and relatively isolated guest house above the Halawa River Valley. Most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen. I could go down to Halawa beach early mornings to do my yoga on the sand, and there would be no one there but me and the sand crabs.
All along the east coast there are plenty of very nice large private houses for rent in the tropical forest right on the beaches, at really affordable rental rates. Not a lot of restaurants out there so you have to shop and cook, but I loved cooking "native" with local ingredients, especially since good fresh fish is plentiful in the markets, and the ranch manager kept me well-supplied with sweet fresh mangoes and papayas and bananas right off the trees!
The Molokai Ranch area on the dry, red-earth west side of the island is more touristy, and provides some distractions (restaurants, clubs, golf, tennis, touristy retail) if you want to get out exploring. Personally, I was happy just hanging out on the east end on the beaches and walking trails with a stack of good books most of the time. |
manoakua
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'Redemption' states the case well: your question is too broad, since (as 'Redemption' points out) "The best Hawaiian island" is a very subjective matter based upon personal preference.
Today Hawaii offers many things to many people, but ever since the United States annexed the islands and the missionaries 'Christianised' them, America's steam-roller culture has succeeded in created a Jeckle/Hyde character that neither suits nor pleases Hawaiian-blooded island locals (kama'aina kanaka maoli). Although most of the islands now offer the usual tourist thrills, activities, and adventures (including but not limited to water sports, mountain biking, wining & dining, nightclubs, nightlife, et al), you should first decide what you wish to find, once arrived. Of the main islands, Hawaii, Kauai, Oahu, and Maui are the best bets for those who wants a mix of everything, but since they are also overrun by haole malihini (outsider) influences to varying degrees, you won't find much genuinely authentic traditional Hawaii culture there. Yes, you'll find great beaches, there will be many places to play the 'see and be seen' game all young single people enjoy, and still much natural beauty that has yet to be turned into suburbs and parking lots, but you won't find much of a vestige of the ancient culture. What you will see on those islands in terms of the old 'Hawaiian culture" is mostly an extravaganza type show put on for tourists by actors and dancers who do that sort of thing for a living. As such, it's great for both the young crowd out simply for a good time and the older set (in loud aloha shirts, floral mu'umu'us, and clad in Bain de Soleil tans) who are mainly interested in gorging on too much food and drink.
There's good surf available on all the islands, if you are a local and know where to go and what the local rules are, and there are even (cringe) known hangouts for gays and people of that persuasion on most of the four islands mentioned above.
My personal preference reflects the comments already made by 'Fogjazz49' on the delights of beautiful, old fashioned Molokai. I have a place in the Kamiloloa Heights area, just east of Kaunakakai and have maintained a serious interest in traditional Hawaiian culture for many years. Despite the fact that I am not kanaka maoli and accidentally discovered in beautiful, serene, peaceful Molokai the perfect blend of the 'modern' old culture (30s style lifestyle) I have studied, I prize the Molokaiians' strong desire to maintain the island as it is and resist unnecessary changes. Molokaiians are almost uniformly against development of the sort that has progressively ruined Hawaii, Kauai, Oahu, and Maui. Of all the islands, only Ni'ihau has escaped the ravages of modern mainland pop-culture better than Molokai, although Lanai has also resisted change to a certain extent.
Today, excepting Ni'ihau, Molokai has more full and partially blooded Hawaiians than any other island and the whole island is really almost a sort of extended 'ohana (family), in a certain sense. With a land mass measuring only 10 by 35 miles, a limited number of paved roads, a speed limit of 45 mph, and formed by the ancient outflux of three adjacent volcanic eruptions, Molokai is one of the very last truly beautiful and largely untouched natural paces left in the Hawaiian archipelago. The population of about 9,600 people is clustered mostly around the central community of Kaunakakai (about 4,000 population), with a couple of other small settled areas (Ho'olehua, Kualapu'u, Moana Loa) in the central highlands, east and west ends.
Molokai has gained the dubious rep of being 'The Friendly Island', a phrase you'll hear often when the island is described, but this is and was mostly the work of slickly astute Hawaiian State Public Relations people. The truth of the matter is that Molokaiians have grown a bit tired of that (admittedly well deserved) stereotype, since more often than not, mainland tourists have occasionally brought their poor manners, frantic manic behavior, and pushy natures to the island, causing a lot of culture-stress for the locals who are in fact now only willing to be as friendly and good natured as you are to them. In other words, if you bring your Wall Street attitudes, cell phone obsessiveness, and real estate investment expectations with you to this simple, unhurried and relaxed island, you will likely get a lot of serious 'stink-eye' (hostile glares and bad vibes) real soon!
For a couple of good examples whereof I speak, visit:
http://groups.google.com/group/Hoolu-komo-la-kaua-a-Molokai?lnk=oa&hl=en
The history of Molokai in the recent century has been dominated by the Molokai Ranch (as mentioned by 'fogjazz49'), but to really explain why that is you need to do a lot of reading up on Hawiian history since the abdication of Queen Liliuokalani
(http://www.uic.edu/depts/owa/history/liliuokalani.html). Suffice it to say that the Molokai Ranch is a dominant influence on the island, since the ranch owns about a third of all the property on it. The story of the interaction between the people of Molokai and the ranch over water rights is the stuff of stories worthy of John Steinbeck (were he to have been there at one time or another).
Still, despite the contentiousness of the ongoing water battle, arguments over whether or not Molokai should continue as part of Maui County (it is under Maui's administration) or not, and the never ending local reactivity towards real estate development of any magnitude, Molokai has the natural sort of charm and serenity that long ago disappeared from haolefied Oahu, Hawaii, and Maui. From the sere western end (most of it Molokai Ranch property) to the 4000+ foot volcanic lushness on the eastern end of the island, Molokai offers a great variety of beautiful scenery to enjoy and many places to chill out and center.
Traditionally, Molokai was protected from the dominance of the other islands' Ali'i (nobles) by its reputation as a great and powerful religious place with much mana (spiritual power). The local kahunas were feared for their reputed ability to 'pray' their enemies to death, such was their spiritual prowess. Today, a number of sacred Heiau (ancient holy sites) still exist on the island that are profoundly respected and protected by the locals; these may be visited with a guide and providing one shows proper respect once there, but Hina help (and Ku have mercy upon) the poor bugger who kicks a temple stone absent-mindedly!
On the northern side of the island the Makanalua Peninsula, with Father Damien's former leper colony settlements at Kalaupapa and Kalawao, are cut off from easy access to the rest of the island by the 3000+ foot sheer precipices that constitute the highest sea-cliffs in the entire world. The seas and surf conditions there are formidable even in good weather, but in winter are almost entirely off limits to even skilled surfers, such is the constant exposure to the prevailing currents that they face. Still, in fair weather, the north island area can be a place of indescribable beauty, existing today as it has for centuries before.
As fogjazz49 mentioned, the lush, wet east end of the island has perhaps the best coastal scenery and climate for those who want both beauty, privacy, and space. Amazingly, almost all of the many long, sandy beaches to be found on the island are rarely frequented. On the dry, semi-desert west end, one of the longest and most beautiful of these beaches (three-mile-long Papohaku Beach) is virtually deserted year-round. With stunning, but often dangerous surfing conditions, you are guaranteed complete privavcy on this breath-taking beach, no matter where you go in it.
On the east end, with the unique natural beauty of such places as famous Halawa Bay, the many ancient artificial fish-ponds, or Murphy's Beach (among many), visitors to Molokai who are unfamiliar with this somewhat secluded island find themselves boggled by the beauty of what they see there.
While the east end (Mana'e) Pu'u O Hoku Ranch mentioned by fogjazz49 is indeed beautiful and serene, it isn't as cheap (in fact it's quite 'up-scale', like Molokai Ranch's Lodge on the west end)as many other accomodations to be found here and there across Molokai. Probably the best place to stay on Molokai for a reasonably priced first visit is The Molokai Hotel, just east of Kaunakakai. With lanai rooms in Polynesian style duplexes fronting the south coast, it is both reasonable, unpretentious, and relaxed, with a reasonably good local-style restaurant on site. There are many more delightful discoveries to be made on Molokai, of course, but you simply have to go there to really understand what a wonderful, hidden refuge Molokai is from the tourism-overrun status-quo of the other islands.
As mentioned before, if you are young, single, and looking for a possible variety of suitably attractive members of the opposite sex, Molokai is probably not for you, since it has a very old fashioned, simple Hawaiian family style atmosphere. They roll up the streets at sundown and you won't find a single nightclub, singles bar, or conventional tourist hang-out on the entire island.
On the other hand, if you seek rest, escape, and or peaceful, serene refuge from the madness that is the mainland, and the manic mating rituals that characterised the other island's popular tourist watering holes, Molokai is for you. It is, in my opinion, one of the best kept secrets of all Hawaii.
For some information on such things as ghostly 'Night Marchers', and other strange phenomena related to the ancient Hawaiian rituals and supernatural beliefs, tune in to:
http://webs.lanset.com/aeolusaero/Articles/Mayday_Cafe--May_05--white_raven.htm
Finally, aloha nui loa! |
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