Visit remote and quiet Molokai where new scuba diving spots are still discovered or Lanai with its luxury resorts, golf courses and excellent shore snorkeling.
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Molokai and Lanai are the two western islands that make up Maui County. Scuba diving here, especially the south of Lanai, is famous because of its lava caves and exceptional pretty light fall. Sunrays shine trough many porous caves creating disco looking chambers and ceilings filled with coral polyps. It also has archways, tunnels, coral heads and ridges with some of the most diverse marine life in the Hawaii Archipelago. The south of Molokai offers the longest barrier reef in Hawaii, but is still not fully explored and seldom visited by dive shops. Mokuhooniki Island in the east is the only region regularly visited by dive tours offering high current drift diving.
Molokai or the friendly island is the larger of the two where scuba diving is mostly done of its eastern sheltered side near the Pailolo Channel, near Mokuhooniki Island. It is a location which hasn't developed like its neighbors. It is an area for those who like quiet beaches, small towns and enormous steep sea cliffs. Kalaupapa National Historical Park used to be a colony of people with the disease leprosy until 1940 when treatments could cure them. You can hike through Kamakou Preserve spotting exotic plants, waterfalls and many endangered bird species. Molokai's biggest town Kaunakakai with less than 3000 inhabitants is the place to be for Papohaku Beach and Ka Hula Piko festival.
Lanai's history began in 1922 when James Dole bought the island and started a pineapple plantation on it making the Dole Company world famous. Supposedly Dole produced more than 70 percent of the pineapple production in the world during its top years. Nowadays Lanai, also named the secluded island, has transformed from agriculture into luxury resorts at Hulopoe and Manele Bay. It is known for its golf courses, white beaches, has some excellent back-country trails and offers pristine snorkeling and diving at its vibrant seafloor. Other attractions are the moon like landscape at a rock called Garden of the Gods and its cliff-lined west coast. Enjoy this touristy paradise.
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The best dive sites and top diving locations in Molokai & Lanai rated by divers since last year.
- First CathedralRated 10.0, 1 ratings
- Sergeant Major & MinorRated 10.0, 1 ratings
Editor: Lars Hemel Have fun breathing underwater, but breathing above water is even more important!
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