Out-of-the-Way Places in Hawaii

06/27/08 - 10:34 AM EDT

David Armstrong

Once privately owned by the Dole Food Co., which grew pineapples there, Lanai remembers its heritage with a July 3 Pineapple Festival in Dole Park, Lanai City. Local food, music, crafts and the history of Lanai's pineapple plantations are on the agenda.

The neighbor island of Molokai recently cut back its offerings to tourists. Determined opposition by local residents prompted the owners of Molokai Ranch, a 60,000-acre spread where cattle had been raised for generations, to shut down this past spring. The owners also closed an 18-hole golf course and shuttered two of the island's three full-service hotels.

The recently renovated Hotel Molokai is now the island's only full-service hotel, but visitors can rent condos and time-shares in the town of Kalaupapa.

Molokai is the least developed major Hawaiian island, due in part to the presence of a treatment center for quarantined victims of Hansen's disease (leprosy) from 1866 to 1969. Present-day Molokai is thus best enjoyed by adventurous travelers who don't need or want much in the way of creature comforts.

Exploring the countryside on horseback is a popular choice, and a mule-back ride down the 1,700-foot cliff to Kalaupapa National Historical Park is another challenging choice. All-terrain vehicles also help visitors reach otherwise inaccessible parts of the island. The Lahaina Cruise Co. rents out vehicles and local guides are available for hire.

Malibu Country Mart

Nearby Maui offers many modern comforts, though it has its share of adventure travel, too. One recently developed activity is ziplining: You strap yourself into a nylon harness and zip along a wire strung high above Maui's now-fallow pineapple fields, the wind in your face, tree-covered terrain in your eyes. Kapalua and Haleakala are popular places for ziplining; several vendors offer the service.

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