HERE'S a LOOK at the BEST LODGING on MOLOKAI:
2 UNCONVENTIONAL & EXCITING SHERATON PROPERTIES --

(1) There's more to a Molokai diving vacation than blowing happy bubbles. Yes, there's the digs, amigos! The original MOLOKAI RANCH LODGE, a classic hunting lodgy 4-star luxury getaway, with a huge Great Room & massive log beams & buttresses, a chandelier & wood paneling Robert Redford might envy in his mountain retreat. The crystal-clear pool, glowing green lawns & indigenous-flora garden are something to behold, & the meals are more art than cuisine. We were treated like ohana (family) by all the staff & it felt so much like home after a few hours, we had to pry ourselves away to take the tours. Susan & I like to shake a leg on our tropical vacations, we're always moving, but we could see how easy it would be to melt into a lounge chair there at the Sheraton Molokai Lodge & just "veg" away a couple days to decompress from our city stress. Every hard-working man & woman needs a a Molokai vacation -- a week or two in a spot just like the Sheraton Molokai Lodge or the Kaupoa Beach Village ...

View of Molokai Lodge from the verdant garden.
© Copyright U.S. Dive Travel.

4-star Sheraton Molokai Lodge from the lush garden.
Premier room in the house is an amazingly comfortable
semi-circular unit atop the main building -- fit for a king.
© Copyright U.S. Dive Travel.

Lush gardens at poolside, Sheraton Molokai Lodge.
© Copyright Susan Hessburg, U.S. Dive Travel.

You can see the Pacific Ocean 8 miles
away across vast Molokai Ranch.
© Copyright U.S. Dive Travel.

(2) The actual Molokai Ranch property is enormous, spanning scores of square miles -- basically the entire western third of Molokai Island. Sheraton Molokai Lodge is only one part of this splendid Molokai Ranch. There's also the new & fascinating little corner of Hawaii called the KAUPOA BEACH CAMP, unique in the Pacific -- a cushy tent-bungalow village on the wild west end of the island. Also called Kaupoa Beach Village, this delightful enclave, framed on both sides by pristine pocket coves, offers 40 neatly built "tentalows." They are 100% comfortable, clean, right near the two clean beaches of tawny fawn-colored sand. These sturdy high-walled canvas bungalows, stretched over aluminum frames, are built atop spacious wooden platforms with a bathroom, huge hotwater shower & a private deck. The showers & toilets are super-clean & solar powered, designed impeccably for minimal impact on the earth. Big healthy wild turkeys strut the grounds like they own the place, & rare Hawaiian monk seals flop around happily all over the beaches, wherever they feel like planting their blubber. This is stylish tropical camping, amigos, & perfect for families with kids, big church groups, or a passel of dive shop buddies from Michigan. It's a cool new take on 21st century camping. We had an absolute blast at the Kaupoa Beach VIllage & we recommend it especially for big family groups, church retreats, synagogue groups or informal company getaways. This is unlike any beach camping we have done anywhere in the world -- so easy you almost feel guilty calling it "camping." The Sheraton Kaupoa Beach Camp is really something to see ...

Here are some pix from a trip back to Molokai Ranch in summer 2003.

Roomy queen bed & big pillows. © Copyright U.S. Dive Travel.

2 lounge chairs on spacious deck. © Copyright U.S. Dive Travel.

Catch some lazy Zs in the tentalow hammock.
© Copyright U.S. Dive Travel.

View of pocket cove from Kaupoa Camp, al fresco dining.
© Copyright Susan Hessburg, U.S. Dive Travel.