That power is still palpable on Molokai, which is often referred to as the "Most Hawaiian Island" because it has the largest percentage of native Hawaiian residents in the state.

A scant 264 square miles in total, Molokai can be driven tip to tip in a couple hours. Its main town, Kaunakakai, spans three blocks and offers no traffic lights or fast-food restaurants. Instead, you'll find unparalleled natural beauty and a much-storied past. North Molokai's Kalaupapa peninsula — hemmed in on one side by a 1,500-foot pali (cliff) and on the other side by the blue Pacific — was established as a place of exile for people suffering from Hansen's Disease (then known as leprosy) in 1866. Joseph De Veuster, a.k.a. Father Damien, would arrive here in 1873, devoting the last 16 years of his life to providing comfort before he, too, died of the disease at age 49. Today a small group of former Hansen's patients still choose to live in Kalaupapa of their own free will, occasionally guiding visitors through their secluded community. East of Kalaupapa is Kahiwa Falls, at 1,750 feet the highest sea cliff in the world. Meanwhile, to the West, the goddess Laka is said to have given birth to the art of hula somewhere near Maunaloa. For this Molokai is often referred to as "Ka Hula Piko" — literally, "the navel of hula" (or figuratively, "the center of the dance").