The Friendly Isle · Island Guide

The Molokaʻi Guide

No resorts, no traffic lights, and that is a choice the community made. Come as a guest, not a customer.

Read this part before the listings. Molokaʻi has the highest proportion of Native Hawaiian residents of any island you can freely visit, and its community has repeatedly and deliberately turned down large-scale tourism — the cruise ships, the resort build-outs, the Molokaʻi Ranch development. There is no traffic light on the island and no building taller than a coconut tree. That is not underdevelopment waiting to be fixed. It is a decision, defended over decades, and the reason the island feels the way it does.

So the visitor posture here is different from anywhere else in the state. Molokaʻi is not set up to absorb crowds and does not want to be. Come if you want to spend quietly in a working town, eat where people eat, and buy from makers who live there. Do not come expecting to be hosted. Ask before photographing people or houses. Do not turn up uninvited on Hawaiian Home Lands, and take the "kapu" and "no trespassing" signs literally — on this island they are not decorative.

Kalaupapa, on the north peninsula, is where the Kingdom forcibly exiled people with Hansen's disease from 1866 — thousands of people, taken from their families. A small number of former patients still live there. It is a National Historical Park with access controlled by permit, the mule trail has been closed for years, and it is not a sightseeing stop. Saint Damien and Saint Marianne Cope did their work there. Treat it as what it is: a place people were sent to die, and some are still at home.

Practically: Kaunakakai is the town, and essentially everything below is on or just off Ala Malama Street. Ferry service from Maui has been suspended for years, so you fly in, usually via Honolulu. Bring cash. Nothing is open late, and Sunday is quiet.

What's in this guide

10 researched Molokaʻi businesses — 3 where to eat, 3 coffee & bakeries, 4 shops & omiyage.

Towns covered: Kaunakakai · Molokaʻi

We don't sell tours on Molokaʻi — nothing on this page earns us a commission.

Where to eat on Molokaʻi

Fine dining, plate lunch, poke, and the trucks worth pulling over for.

Kaunakakai

Molokai Burger

Verified open 2026-08-12 · source

A locally oriented burger restaurant serving made-to-order burgers, fried chicken, fries, shakes, and local plates, with dine-in and drive-through service.

Address: 20 Kamehameha V Highway, Kaunakakai, HI 96748
Phone: 808-553-3533

Kaunakakai

Paddlers Restaurant and Bar

Verified open 2026-08-12 · source

A casual restaurant and full bar offering local dishes, American food, and multicultural Asian-fusion cuisine, with live music and dancing.

Address: 10 Mohala Street, Kaunakakai, HI 96748
Phone: 808-553-3300

Kaunakakai

Molokai Pizza Cafe

Verified open 2026-08-12 · source

A locally owned and operated cafe serving pizza, seafood, burgers, chicken, ribs, pasta, salads, desserts, and other plates for dine-in or takeaway.

Address: 15 Kaunakakai Place, Kaunakakai, HI 96748
Phone: 808-553-3288

Coffee & bakeries on Molokaʻi

Morning stops — including farms that roast what they grow.

Kaunakakai

Hula Bean Cafe

coffee_shop

Verified open 2026-08-12 · source

A coffee cafe in Kaunakakai serving coffee and other cafe items.

Address: 35 Mohala St, Kaunakakai, HI 96748
Phone: +1 808-553-5183

Kaunakakai

Hoʻāla Café

coffee_shop

Verified open 2026-08-12 · source

A Molokaʻi coffee business presented through its official profile as a café offering coffee and pop-up service.

Molokaʻi

Ho'ala on Wheels

coffee_shop

Verified open 2026-08-12 · source

A mobile Molokaʻi coffee business operating under the Ho'ala brand.

Phone: +1 808-213-8047

Shops & omiyage on Molokaʻi

Local makers, and the gift stops worth the detour on the way to the airport.

Kaunakakai

All Things Molokai by Something For Everybody

Verified open 2026-08-12 · source

A locally focused shop featuring Molokai-made apparel, accessories, jewelry, stickers, bags, soaps, local food, and other goods from local makers.

Address: 61 Ala Malama Ave, Kaunakakai, HI 96748
Phone: +1 808-553-3299

Kaunakakai

Molokai Art From The Heart

Verified open 2026-08-12 · source

A cooperative gallery retailing original work by Molokai artists and crafters, including paintings, photographs, jewelry, hardwood items, garments, household linens, books, and other gifts.

Address: 64 Ala Malama, Kaunakakai, HI 96748

Kaunakakai

Kaunakahakai General Store

Verified open 2026-08-12 · source

A locally focused general store curating food, goods, gifts, gear, fashion, home goods, snacks, and Hawaiʻi-made products, with an emphasis on Molokaʻi and Hawaiʻi-owned brands.

Address: 75 Ala Malama St., Kaunakakai, HI 96748
Phone: +1 808-553-3648

Kaunakakai

HIFinest Molokai

Verified open 2026-08-12 · source

A local Molokai shop selling Hawaiʻi's Finest apparel and related lifestyle goods.

Address: 61 Ala Malama Street, Unit 2, Kaunakakai, HI 96748
Phone: +1 808-560-0003

Straight about what this is: 10 Molokaʻi businesses, each verified open from its own page in August 2026. That is a small list because Kaunakakai is a small town, not because we stopped early — and we would rather show you the handful we checked than pad it with places we did not. We carry no bookable Molokaʻi tours and earn nothing from anything on this page.

Plan your Molokaʻi days with Nani

Tell our concierge your dates and pace and she'll build the route around them — using this same Molokaʻi directory, not a generic list.