Molokai Outdoor Activities

Great time stand up paddle boarding and kayaking with Claire. Now where are the pictures???

I waited too long to reserve transportation while on my day trip to Molokai. The only rental car place, Alamo, was booked solid, and all the other places I could find online had gone out of business.
I called Molokai Outdoors the day before my trip and was astonished that I could get a Nissan Xterra for the day. The vehicle wasn’t pristine since it had been returned late the night before, but that’s about what I expected on an island like Molokai. I almost didn’t get my driver’s license back because it got left on the copy machine when we went outside to get the vehicle, but thankfully I remembered to grab it on my own. The staff was a bit flustered and distracted by a family that had ridden back to the office from the ferry with us, only to find out they had booked a vehicle with a different company and needed to go somewhere else.
The rates were reasonable, and overall I was very satisfied. Thanks, Clare!

I found Molokai Outdoor Activities (MOA) on the Internet when researching my trip Kalaupapa. I had trouble finding good info regarding the actual trip into Kalaupapa & much of the info said it was an extremely challenging hike. Because of this, I was looking for options to hike in & fly out. I found that MOA provided a package like this. I called to ask about it & the person didn’t know anything about the tour or prices & said someone would call me. I waited over a month & then I just sent an email on 8÷7÷12. In addition to the tour, I had found that the owner of MOA, Clare, also rents a room at her house & a vehicle. Since I was looking to do this trip cheap, I included a request for a reservation for the room & car. Shaera responded that the tour I found & its price were correct & confirmed that Clare’s room & car package was available for my December dates. She would confirm with Clare & get back to me. On 8/​10, I received a response that the tour could be booked with the pilot, but that she had been unable to contact Clare. We corresponded back & forth & I asked the best way to book & pay & she said over the phone, so I called & gave her my info on ⁸⁄₂₈. That day, she said she had received mixed messages & it was possible that Clare’s room & car may not be available after all, but she hadn’t gotten a concrete answer. I told her I’d find other accommodations & I booked a B&B & car. Throughout this, she was very friendly, apologetic & helpful & even sent emails with suggestions for places to stay, etc.
On 9/​15, Shaera wrote to let me know that if I hadn’t found a room or car yet that now Clare MIGHT be able to rent the room because she hadn’t found anyone to house swap with, so if I wanted to stay there, to check with her when it got closer. She came across as embarrassed, but she wanted to make sure I’d found a place to stay. She was very sweet & probably the highlight of my experience with this company.
My confirmation email came from Clare, vs the generic email acct I’d been corresponding with Shaera on, so on 12/​5, I responded to that email to confirm that everything was in place. After no response a week later, I forwarded it to the generic email & received a response from Esther answering my questions & confirming my tour. I later sent an email explaining that I would like to use a different credit card for my tour & should I call or give it to them on Friday, but before I received a response to that email, all hell broke loose.
The evening before my flight to Molokai, I got a voice mail saying to call ASAP. That’s it. No one answered any of the numbers at that time. I left messages everywhere, but was in a panic because all I knew was there was some sort of problem & I was catching a plane to get there first thing the next morning. When I was able to get to a computer, I found that «due to maintenance the air carrier that we use will not be able to accommodate your hike & fly on Friday the 28^th. I can recommend Makani Kai as another airplane that can possibly do your flight…» I responded that I didn’t understand why they didn’t make arrangements since I basically contracted with them to act on my behalf to set this up. It seems that if there is an option they should have handled that & if there was additional cost then let me know THAT. One response I got to that was that I hadn’t «Checked» that option on my reservation. I have no idea what they were talking about, but I made my reservation over the telephone.
I finally received a response that they booked me with another flight, but I had to work out my own shuttle, which after working to get through to them ALL DAY once we arrived on Molokai, I finally did (don’t expect great cell service in the Outback; which is why I made all of my arrangements made before I left.) They sent my ORIGINAL credit card info to another co to give to another company, so not only do a bunch of people have my credit card info, but they never bothered to read my email saying I needed to use another one; now I get an overlimit fee on my credit card that they used. THANKS!
The whole thing was a big hassle. It was stressful when I was supposed to be relaxing. In the long run, it worked out. Our shuttle driver was funny & nice, but he didn’t provide any of the trail info that the confirmation told me we’d get so we felt a little lost. We hiked in to Kalaupapa, paid the $ 100 for our tour/“permit”, & then flew out with a lovely pilot on a tiny plane from a cool airport; those reviews separate.
Overall, I’d not recommend MOA. The owners of our B&B said they received many complaints about MOA from other guests & they recommend going straight to the Mule Ride Co for booking into Kalaupapa. Me, I say do what we did. Park at the airport, pay someone or hitch to the trailhead, hike down, pay for your tour at the bottom ($ 50pp), bring your own lunch & then fly out. You can book your flight for around $ 76pp each way. With that hike out, you may want to consider this!