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On isolated Molokai, relax far from Hawaii’s well-worn tourist paths

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Isolated Molokai has long lured the intrepid off Hawaii’s well-worn tourist paths. The 260-square-mile island, home to just 7,000 residents, is proudly and fiercely resistant to change. If you can embrace the dearth of man-made attractions and adjust to the slow-paced way of life, you might find yourself relaxing and joining the locals as they wave at passersby.

The tab: I spent $926 for a three-day, two-night adventure, including accommodations, meals and inter-island airfare from Kailua-Kona and would do it again in a heartbeat.

From LAX, United, Delta, Virgin America and Hawiian offer connecting service (change of planes). Restricted round-trip fares begin at $756, including taxes and fees.

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The bed

Most visitors choose a home stay on Molokai, but this time I tried my luck at the island’s only hotel: Hotel Molokai (1300 Kamehameha V Highway, Kaunakakai; [877] 553-5347. From $170.) Rooms in the ’60s-style Polynesian bungalows can be stuffy — there’s no air conditioning — and lack a cellphone signal, but otherwise have everything you need for a home base. Its Hale Kealoha restaurant serves residents and visitors and features nightly Hawaiian-style entertainment, often starring the owner and head chef.

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The meal

Dining out on Molokai means limited hours and fried plate lunches, pasta and burgers. But there are highlights. If you can ignore the fight-or-flight response that kicks in while walking to the Kanemitsu Bakery’s not-so-secret window along a darkened alleyway in after-hours Kaunakakai, you’ll be rewarded with a plastic-bag bounty: piping hot bread rounds halved and slathered with your choice of butter, cream cheese, cinnamon, strawberry or blueberry spread or a combo of all five (follow the alleyway to the right of 79 Ala Malama Ave. Hot bread is sold from 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays; inside bakery open 5:30 a.m-5 p.m. Wednesdays-Mondays, cash only). It’s hands-down the best thing I ate on Molokai.

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The find

There’s something comforting and hopeful about kites, especially if they’re colorful and hand-sewn. Visitors to the Big Wind Kite Factory (120 Mauna Loa Highway, Maunaloa; [808] 552-2364, basic kites from $35, windsocks from $25-$65), on a windswept stretch of western Molokai, can watch employees stitch the owners’ patterns on several dozen creations daily. My favorite is a diamond-shaped windsock fashioned to look like a Humuhumunukunukuapuaa, Hawaii’s reef-dwelling state fish.

The lesson learned

Most of Molokai’s rewards must be earned, and many of my favorite moments were unplanned. Flash-flood warnings twice canceled a Halawa Valley jungle hike (Adults $60, $35 for kids). To fill the time, I took a dry, dusty walk along a rental-car-impassable track on the northern coast to catch a glimpse of the sacred sand dunes at Moomomi Preserve. On my final day, the 3 1/2-mile round-trip hike to Halawa Valley proved worth the wait. Our small group forded a thigh-high river to reach gushing falls and hidden temples in the valley. Along the way we heard stories about Molokai’s oldest settlement from its longest still-resident family.

travel@latimes.com

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