What to pack for Hawaii (State of)

Luggage and bags: Bring an extra light beach bag and squeeze it in in your travelling bag. I brought an extra light beach bag to put the bathing suit, beach towel, sunscreen and to put bottled water. I squeezed the beach bag on the side of our travelling bag. This is very convenient because we have a place to put our stuff when we go to the beach. It's light and easy to carry. I put some snacks in there, too. This bag is better than bringing my purse! It is also for safety reasons. I just left my purse in the hotel!

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Light clothes, t-shirts, cargo pants, capris and slippers. Everywhere, you can wear slippers - the Hawaiian style!

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Sunscreen

Photo Equipment: Digital cameras

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: Snorkelling gear so you don't have to rent. We bought our snorkelling gear at Costco for $29.00.

Luggage and bags: Bring a foldable bag for those trips to the ABC stores or grocery store. They're great for taking your lotions and towels down to the beach or for lugging souvenirs home on the plane, too.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Bring reef shoes if you're planning on snorkeling. That coral is sharp!!
Don't bother with anything in the least fancy. Formal in Hawaii means shoes and new(er) shorts and Hawaiian shirt.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Buy all your lotions (high spf!!), lip guard, etc. at home and bring it. This stuff is mighty spendy in Hawaii. Be sure to pack them in a sealed, plastic bag in case they leak.

Photo Equipment: Buy a disposable underwater camera if you plan on snorkeling. They work fairly well and you can get some great shots of the sea turtles and fish. Buy it at home..they're twice as much in Hawaii.

Luggage and bags: As light as possible...after 9 flights, 4 rental cars, and 4 accomodations, we learned that we packed too much stuff we didn't need.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Leave the suits and "dress up" clothes at home. Even when we went out for a nice dinner, it was very casual. You do need a couple of pairs of hiking shoes if you plan on doing a lot of hiking. We each took 3 pairs and only brought 1 home....

Photo Equipment: Lots of memory/film for your camera

Miscellaneous: Bug spray is a MUST....especially on Kauai

Luggage and bags: 1 carry-on bag for your camera/film etc.
1 suitcase

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: tank-tops, shorts, short sleve shirts, flip-flops, teva-type sandals, sneakers, light jacket (for night time)

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: the basics, there's two Walmart's on Oahu if you forget something :)

Photo Equipment: a good camera, underwater camera

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: beach towel, bathing suit, swimming gear, sunblock, sunglasses

Miscellaneous: Chances are you'll be in for a long plane ride like me. They served a lot of food/drinks on the planes I was on but just in case you might to bring a few snacks depending how long of a flight you have, ours was 8-9 hours one-way.

Miscellaneous: Oahu:

Arizona Memorial - In the early morning hours just before the Pearl Harbor attack, the Arizona was destroyed along with most of the crew, numbering over 2,300 casualties. Visitors can see the hulk of the ship and the oil still seeping from its engine.

Historic Honolulu - Visitors can grab a tour map and walk through the city and see the Aloha Tower, Iolani Palace, State Library, and Kamehameha statue.


Honouliuli Preserve - Offers spectacular views of central O'ahu and the Wai'anae coast and shelters more than 45 rare plant and animal species.
Interpretive Hike Through Honouliuli Preserve


(Contour Trail) - Nature Conservancy hike leaders who are knowledgeable in Hawaiian flora, fauna, and culture will guide you along this lower-elevation, mostly level trail located in the Wai'anae Mountains.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Avoid taking any clothing made from cotton.If your gear should get wet or if you do any laundry, it takes forever to dry.
Try to take clothing made from synthetic material like nylon,polyester, capilene or cool max.They are cooler, lighter and dry a lot faster.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Wear comfy shoes, slippers or flip flops would be advisable.

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: The hotels usually have a beach towel so don't worry about bringing one.

Miscellaneous: There's so many ABC store in Hawai'i, in evry corner you will see it.

Luggage and bags: No special bags for the plane trip, of course. Bring some day-packs for daily activities so you can carry beverages, munchies & sunblock. Most of the time, you'll be glad you brought extra drinks with you.

If you plan to snorkel, bring a mesh bag that'll fit fins & the rest of your snorkel gear to carry it to the beach. Most dive shops and a lot of sports shops carry them.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Of course, bring a couple of swim suits!

A lot of beaches in Hawai'i are rocky and have either lava rocks or coral in the water. So a good pair of water shoes are a must. Scuba shoes or booties work well too.

In Maui if you are taking a tour to the top of Haleakala, most likely your tour company will supply cold weather gear, so no need to pack it. But I did bring a pair of those geeky pants that you can zip off the legs to make shorts. I thought they worked well but my husband kept making fun of me. ;>)

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Always bring water resistant sunscreen when traveling to the tropics. I like the Coppertone Sport line - the ones in the blue bottles. I need an SPF of at least 25.

Photo Equipment: If you can rent or purchase an underwater camera or housing, go for it! Underwater disposable cameras only work well in very shallow water because they have no flash. You really need flash if you're any deeper than 5 feet. A lot of digital cameras have underwater housings made speicifically for that model, that you can buy online for about $200 or less. I think it's well worth the investment!

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: I like the grass or ratan roll-up beach mats for the beach. Don't pack one though. You can buy them at the ABC convenience stores for $1 to $2. Also, if you're staying in a condo or renting a house, we found that all of the rentals we stayed in had boogie boards, sand chairs and sometimes even snorkel equipment in a "goodie closet", free for guest use. Check with the owner to see what might be available for free so you don't have to pack it.