Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [386]
In the 1990s the ranch operated a small wildlife-safari park, where tourists snapped pictures of exotic animals, and trophy hunters paid $1500 a head to shoot African eland and blackbuck antelope. Rumors abound of how local activists, long resistant to the type of tourist-oriented development that has all but consumed neighboring Maui, made life so difficult for the ranch that the safari park was shut down.
Beginning in 2001, the current owners of Moloka’i Ranch, the Singapore-based Moloka’i Properties, began a campaign to revitalize the holdings. They developed plans to reopen the Kaluakoi Hotel (and did reopen the golf course) and transfer the title to cultural sites and recreational areas amounting to 26,000 acres to a newly created Moloka’i Land Trust, essentially turning it into public land. It would also have given up the right to develop another 24,000 acres of its own lands.
But there was one small detail…what Moloka’i Properties wanted in return: the right to develop 200 one-acre lots on pristine La’au Point into a luxury subdivision marketed to multimillionaires. Most locals had an immediate and negative reaction to this. It was the 1970s all over again. Signs saying ‘Save La’au Point’ sprouted island-wide (and can still be seen).
Despite numerous community meetings and plans, Moloka’i Properties got nowhere as the residents of the Hawaiian island with the highest unemployment thumbed their noses at the promise of hundreds of resort and service jobs.
In 2008 Moloka’i Properties essentially took its toys and went home. It pulled the plug on all its operations, laid off dozens, closed its hotel and golf course and furthered the ghost-town feel of Maunaloa and the Kaluakoi resort area. Only a last-minute rescue by Maui County kept the water running.
With the global economy in the dumps, it’s unlikely that Moloka’i Properties will be back anytime soon with new development schemes. Meanwhile, local activists have floated fanciful schemes to buy up Moloka’i Ranch without identifying where the hundreds of millions of dollars needed might be found.
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Well that was then (the late 20th century) and the now is rather bleak. The resort was closed years ago and is in a state of advanced decay. The golf course died when Moloka’i Ranch pulled the plug in 2008. Those fairways are now returning to nature. Meanwhile the condo complexes do their best to put a good face on the situation as the individual owners try to play up the quiet aspects of the complex in their efforts to market their vacation rentals. Surrounding house lots have sold very slowly, although a few large mansions lurk behind walls along the beaches.
As with the rest of the west, you’re best off bringing a picnic from Kaunakakai and enjoying the beautiful beaches. Everything is accessed off a good road that branches off Hwy 460 at the 15-mile marker and curves its way down to the shore.
Sights & Activities
Kawakiu Beach
The northernmost of Kaluakoi’s beaches is also the best. Kawakiu Beach is a broad crescent beach of white sand and bright-turquoise waters. It’s partially sheltered from the winds that can bedevil the beaches to the south and when seas are calm, usually in summer, Kawakiu is generally safe for swimming. When the surf is rough, there are still areas where you can at least get wet. On the southern side of the bay, there’s a small, sandy-bottomed wading pool in the rocks. The northern side has an area of flat rocks over which water slides, to fill up a shallow shoreline pool. Spindly kiawe trees provide shade. Outside of weekends, you may well have the place to yourself.
To get there, turn off Kaluakoi Rd onto the road to the Paniolo Hale condos, but instead of turning left down to the condos, continue straight toward the old golf course. Where the paved road ends, there’s space to pull over and park. You’ll