Hawaiian Name Finder

town · Molokaʻi

Kaunakakai

beach landing

kow-nah-kah-KYE

The main town of Molokaʻi.

Beach landing

The name is a contraction of Kaunakahakai, the beach landing — the place canoes were drawn up. The wharf is still the island's link to the rest of the state.

Molokaʻi has no traffic lights and no building taller than a coconut palm, by local ordinance rather than accident.

Kapuāiwa

Just west of town stands the Kapuāiwa coconut grove, planted in the 1860s for Kamehameha V, one of the last royal groves left in Hawaiʻi. Molokaʻi has deliberately resisted resort development, and the island's economy and character both follow from that decision.