MOLOKA'I, BIRTH PLACE OF HULA

The fifth largest and least developed of the Hawaiian Islands, Moloka'i is only 20 minutes by air from Hawaii's most populous islands, Oahu and Maui. Here there are no buildings taller than a palm tree. Even the island's hotels and condominiums blend with the rural countryside.

Peaceful and uncommercialized, Moloka'i rewards visitors with such scenic wonders as the world's highest sea cliffs rising majestically to meet the clouds along the north coast, one of the world's great wilderness regions; Papohaku, Hawaii's largest white sand beach, stretching three miles along the western coast; waterfalls cascading from nearly 2,000 feet to the sea; and rain forests with plants and birds found nowhere else on earth.

Moloka'i is an island where the past and present mingle, where the traditions of the Hawaiian culture have been preserved and are yours to share. Moloka'i is the traditional birth place of the hula. Here, tradition holds, the goddess Laka first danced the hula, then traveled throughout the Hawaiian Islands teaching others the graceful movements and chants that have been passed down through generations to today's kumu hula (hula teachers).

At the same time, Moloka'i can satisfy the most energetic traveler with an amazing variety of sports, tours and outdoor adventures.

For golfers, there's the 18-hole championship Kaluakoi Golf Course. Tennis is available at various locations around the island. Watersports enthusiasts will find a complete slate of activities to choose from including sailing, kayaking, surfing snorkeling, skin diving, and sportfishing. Explore Moloka'i's "outback" on horseback or mountain bike, or with custom tours operated by local guides.

Moloka'i is a hikers' paradise. There are mountain, valley, and shoreline hikes to choose from, with trails leading to spectacular scenic overlooks, historic sites and secluded forest pools.

Historic Kalaupapa, an isolated peninsula jutting rom the north coast and cut off from the rest of the island by a 1,600-foot cliff, is now a National Historical Park. Kalaupapa is the site of Father Damien's ministry to Hansen's Disease sufferers in the late 19th Century.