Any reader done Moloka'i boat/drive?
 

We are headed to Maui late November. Interested in booking the Maui Princess boat over and 5-6 hour car rental excursion for a day trip to Moloka'i for our family of five. Anyone have experience doing this? With this operator?
Any of you driven around Moloka'i? Can we view the famous sea cliffs on a drive, or must we have a boat or plane? Any sights we must see?
Thank you for your kind replies.

ttt

Molokai is a very quiet but interesting island that I think is worth visiting. The problem with taking the Maui Princess is that you only have 5 to 6 hours and that is just barely enough time to do a quick drive the length of the island, with little time for stops. The East side of the island is very green and lush and the west side is very arid. The sea cliffs overlook Father Damien's leper colony, and the best way to see the cliffs is to take a mule ride down into the leper colony (but that is an all day trip). If you can't fly in or stay overnight then you will just have time to have a quick look around Molokai.

We flew to Molokai using interisland airline. I think you can only see the sea cliffs by boat or plane, not on a drive. If you like hiking, check out Nature Conservancy (nature.org). They have specific scheduled hikes on certain dates: Moomi (sand dune) and Kamakou Preserve (lush jungle scenes,etc. You can drive to the overlook of Kalaupapa Valley and see Phallic Rock. Or if your kids are older than 17, you can book a mule hike to visit the Hansen colony. Drive to the east side to see the waterfalls (forgot the name). All this cannot be done with a ferry trip though. For 5-6 hours, I'd recommend seeing the West beaches: Papohaku (sp ?), wide, long beach with no one else around, visit the Kaunakakai town, maybe drive to the east side but you will have to rush.
Cathy

I think the Molokai Princess is a fun one day excursion, definitely go for the rental car over the van tour. The boat ride over and back is scenic but you wont see the draamtic sea cliffs. On Molokai you will have time to drive from end to end with a detour up to Kalapaupa Lookout. If you stop to swim and snorkel
you will not be able to cover a lot of gorund. The Sheraton is a lovely hotel, worth checking out. I also like the funky Hotel Molokai. The town of Kauanakakai is like stepping back into the 50's--- cute but you wont want to spend a lot of time there.

I took the trip in February so as an added bonnus the boat ride also doubled as a whale watching trip.

Thanks to all for the well thought out advice. My children are all under 9 years, so we cannot take the mule ride, enter the colony or fly a charter along the sea cliffs. Still conflicted over whether a day trip, with 5-6 hours on the island, makes sense.