August 18, 2026
The Aquila 28 Molokai Cuddy: A Dry Helm on an Offshore Cat
The Aquila 28 Molokai Cuddy puts an enclosed forward cuddy and a glassed-in helm on the same 30'9" offshore catamaran hull as the open 28 Mo…
Read the articleThe Aquila Molokai Series
Aquila's offshore fishing catamarans — 360-degree walkaround center consoles, open boat to overnighter
The run home is where a fishing boat gets judged. If you are tired of what a monohull does to you in a two-foot chop at the end of a long day, the Molokai line is Aquila's answer — every one of them is a 360-degree walkaround center console built on twin hulls.
We review four Molokai models, from the 30'9" 28 Molokai to the 48-foot 47 Molokai. Mercury outboards throughout, hull draft measured in inches with the motors up, and layouts that run from an open boat with no cabin at all to a queen island berth behind a full head.
The Molokai Lineup, Smallest to Largest
Every Aquila Molokai model we review in depth, in the order owners step up through the series.
Photo credit Aquila.
The Aquila 28 Molokai Cuddy is a 30'9" offshore catamaran with an enclosed forward cuddy — glassed-in helm, twin Mercury 150s, 150 gallons of fuel and two 94-gallon fish boxes.
The Aquila 28 Molokai is a 30'9" offshore center-console catamaran — 9'9" beam, twin Mercury 150s, 150 gallons of fuel, two 94-gallon fish boxes and a full 360-degree walkaround.
The Aquila 36 Molokai is a 38'2" offshore center console catamaran — double-stepped hulls, a carbon fiber hardtop, 508 gallons of fuel and a cabin with a head under the console.
The Aquila 47 Molokai is a 48'0" offshore center console catamaran — 1,048 gallons of fuel, a queen island berth with a full head under the console, carbon fiber structural bulkheads, and twin Mercury V12 600s or quad V10s.
Don't see the Molokai model you're after — or a brand-new launch? Request specs through Yacht Specs Direct.
Moving Up the Molokai Series
The step through the Molokai line is a step in how long you stay out, not just in length. The 28 Molokai and the 28 Molokai Cuddy share a hull, a 9'9" beam, 150 gallons of fuel and twin 150 HP outboards — across Aquila's published specs the two differ only on water capacity, 16 gallons on the open boat against 10.6 optional on the Cuddy, with the Cuddy adding a sheltered helm and a forward cabin with a bunk in it. Neither carries a cabin or a head as standard. They are day boats you can push a long way offshore.
The 36 Molokai is where an overnight becomes possible: 508 gallons of fuel, a cabin with a head, twin transom livewells and a 38'2" hull on an 11'9" beam. The 47 Molokai turns that into a boat you can genuinely live on for a night — a queen island berth, a full head with a shower, cabin air conditioning, 1,048 gallons of fuel, and a choice of twin V12s or quad outboards.
Pick on the nights, not the days. All four fish. Only the two larger ones let you stay.
Our Take
The Molokai boats are the least fashionable thing Aquila builds and the ones I find easiest to recommend. Nobody buys a center console catamaran for the dock. You buy it because a cat hull does not slam, and you find that out somewhere around hour six of a long day, when everyone else on the boat has gone quiet.
My pick comes down to one question: do you want to sleep out there? If the answer is no, buy the 28 Cuddy over the open 28 — the sheltered helm earns its keep the first time the weather turns, and the two are otherwise the same boat. If the answer is yes, go past the 36 to the 47. The 36 gives you a cabin with a head; the 47 gives you a queen berth, a shower and air conditioning, and that is the difference between sleeping aboard once to say you did and doing it all season.
One thing to go in clear-eyed about: the 28s are not trailerable in the ordinary sense. The beam is 9'9", over the 8'6" legal limit in the US, so a road move needs an oversize permit. Aquila publishes a trailering height, not a trailerable claim, and the difference matters if the plan was to keep it in the yard between trips.
Aquila Molokai Articles & Guides
Watch Our Aquila Molokai Reviews
Official Aquila Premieres
Videos courtesy of Aquila.
Which Molokai Fits Your Life?
Tell us how you plan to use the boat — guests, range, crew or no crew — and we'll give you the straight story on where in the Molokai series you belong, new or brokerage.
Explore All Aquila ModelsOr reach Tony directly: TS@MintedYachts.com · +1 (404) 805-9819