Coconut Post
Moloka‘i’s Post-a-Nut program ships coconuts – and aloha – across the globe
by Ariella Nardizzi
photograph by Alamy/Craig Ellenwood
At the Ho‘olehua Post Office on Moloka‘i’s west side, coconuts mingle with padded envelopes and Priority Mail boxes in a plastic mail bin, waiting their turn to travel the world. Tourists cluster around a long table, hunched over their chosen nuts. Sharpie markers squeak across shells as shakas, hibiscus blooms, rainbow fish and the occasional wobbly “Aloha!” take shape on the coconut’s rough ridges.
Thanks to the island’s famously quirky Post-a-Nut program, these hand-decorated husks will soon be signed, stamped and delivered straight to a loved one – no box required.
The idea sprouted in 1991, when the remote Ho‘olehua Post Office, serving Moloka‘i’s population of about 7,000, faced possible downsizing. Determined to keep postal services alive on the island, postmaster Margaret Keahi-Leary dreamed up a solution that some thought was half-cracked. It worked. Today, thousands of coconuts ship out each year, and the office’s main source of revenue has turned this humble outpost into one of Moloka‘i’s most unexpected visitor attractions.
Residents occasionally drop off coconuts from their own backyards, but most customers are encouraged to bring their own. Choosing wisely matters. Lightweight, smooth-sided coconuts are easier to decorate and cheaper to mail. No flat rates here.
Inside the post office on Pū‘ē‘ēlua Avenue, Sharpies and art supplies cover the counter. Visitors decorate one side of the coconut while stickers, addresses and postage go on the other. When the artwork is finished, the postmaster weighs the nut, calculates postage and adds an agricultural inspection stamp certifying it is leak- and bug-free.
Shipping typically runs $20-$30, depending on weight and destination, and delivery can take up to two weeks. Still, the coconuts get around. China. The South Pole. Countless mailrooms unprepared for what lands on the sorting belt.
“Imagine what mail carriers are thinking on the other side of the world when they deliver a coconut in a blizzard,” said Anuhea Kaai, the postmaster who has overseen the program at Ho‘olehua for the past four years.
Some of Kaai’s favorite customers are the ones who return year after year, eager to mail off yet another tropical keepsake. A post office may not top most vacation itineraries, but this one has earned the detour. On Moloka‘i, even the mail comes with a little aloha.
