Arriving in Kalaupapa via Kalaupapa Airport sets you up perfectly, with the peninsula's history, sea cliffs, and shoreline a short walk away. Kalaupapa is a remote peninsula on the north shore of Molokai, cut off from the rest of the island by the tallest sea cliffs in the world. For more than a century it was a settlement for people with Hansen's disease, and today it is a national historical park. Visiting requires a permit and a guided tour, and visitors must be at least 16. The mood is quiet, moving, and deeply respectful.

What a visit to Kalaupapa includes: - Tour the settlement with a guide and hear the stories of the patients who lived here - See St. Philomena Church, where Father Damien served and is remembered - Learn about Mother Marianne Cope and the sisters who cared for residents - Look up at the green sea cliffs that rise nearly 2,000 feet behind the village - Walk the shoreline and watch for monk seals and whales in winter - Stand at the Kalawao lookout over the rugged eastern coast

There is no road down to Kalaupapa from topside Molokai, so most visitors arrive by small plane from Hoolehua or Honolulu. Above the cliffs, Molokai's main town of Kaunakakai, the Halawa Valley, and the Kalaupapa Overlook at Palaau State Park are all within an easy drive of each other on the island's single highway. Molokai itself is proud of staying undeveloped, with hot bread from Kanemitsu Bakery as its most famous treat. Come to Kalaupapa to learn, reflect, and see a landscape unlike anywhere else in Hawaii.