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Maui Information
| Maunaloa |
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Island of Molokai: Maunaloa
Current Real Estate Stats
When Molokai was formed, Maunaloa was created first by volcanic activity, a tableland at the western end of the island rising to 1,381 feet.
Hula is said to have been born on the slopes of Maunaloa, at Kaana, where the goddess Laka learned to dance. According to legend, the goddess traveled throughout the archipelago and brought hula with her wherever she went. Every spring the annual Molokai Ka Hula Piko festival commemorates this birth.
Up past Hoolehua Airport, the Maunaloa Highway (Hwy 460) runs through former pineapple fields which are now dry grassy plains and ends at the former Dole Pineapple plantation camp town of Maunaloa. The town was built by the Libby McNeill Pineapple Company in 1923.
Maunaloa town pretty much died when pineapple was phased out. The Dole plantation closed down completely in 1976 and severe unemployment resulted. At the time, Dole returned almost 10,000 acres of land that it had been leasing to Molokai Ranch, the largest landowner on Molokai (with holdings that comprise almost a third of the island).
The Ranch began a commercial haying business, and, later, opened a number of ecologically sensitive adventure camps in the area, as well as an African and Indian wild-life park preserve set among ravines and dry scrub plains. The animals in the Molokai Ranch Wildlife Park are part of a breeding program for zoos and game preserves. The park began tours when the Kaluakoi resort opened in 1977. All of these things helped provide much-needed jobs.
During this period as well, the town was discovered by artisans and crafts people, and in windy Maunaloa, Hawaii's only kite factory was born. The main street was converted into crafts shops and such.
Now, the town is being reincarnated as an upscale version of itself. The big news is that KFC and the Colonel's chicken has come to Molokai.
South from Maunaloa town, at a rocky point on the west side of Lono Barge Harbor is Hale o Lono (House of Lono) Beach, where every year, in October, the Molokai-to-Oahu outrigger canoe race starts. Canoe paddling clubs from all over the state practice year-round for the race which has attracted clubs from all over the world. It ends at Magic Island in Honolulu's Ala Moana Park. The crossing of the 25-mile wide Kaiwi Channel is considered one of the most challenging open ocean competitions in the world.
The luxurious Kaluakoi Hotel and Villas opened in 1977 on 6,800 acres down near the northwestern tip of the island. The hotel fronts Kepuhi Bay, where long, wide, white sands drop off sharply into deep, treacherous waters, and you have to watch out for the golf balls from the golf course that runs along the beach.
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Information is believed to be accurate but should not be relied upon without verification.
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