12 Fun Facts about Hawaii

More than six million people visit Hawaii every year. Adventure seekers and nature lovers flock to the islands to enjoy the state’s sun-soaked beaches and striking volcanoes. Amid the landscapes, you can kick back and watch hula dancing or get your adrenaline pumping while surfing or ziplining.

Across the islands, the number of activity opportunities seems endless. You can visit many times and still see something new. Before you visit, here are 12 fun facts about Hawaii.

1. Most of its islands remain unvisited.
2. You can see cold snow and warm sand on the same day in Hawaii.
3. Hawaii is a land of geographical superlatives.
4. The Hawaiian language is critically endangered.
5. The Hawaiian religion still influences life today.
6. You need to watch what you grab in Hawaii if you want to avoid bad luck.
7. Hawaii is a fantastic destination for people who are afraid of snakes.
8. Several Hawaiian islands have their own color and flower.
9. Hawaii has its own place in time.
10. Many famous movies were filmed in Hawaii.
11. Hawaiian royalty once embraced cutting edge technology.
12. A former Hawaiian resident made presidential history.

Fun Fact about Hawaii #1: Most of its Islands Remain Unvisited

Overall, Hawaii has 137 islands extending across more than 1500 miles. Six of the major islands are popular traveler destinations. Many of the rest are rarely, if ever, visited by tourists. The common travel stops are:

• Kauaʻi
• Oʻahu
• Molokaʻi
• Lānaʻi
• Maui
• Hawaiʻi

Hawaiʻi is also called the Big Island and is by far the largest in the archipelago. It’s similar in size to the state of Connecticut and is home to Volcanoes National Park. It’s also the youngest major island, formed about 600,000 years ago. The oldest major island is Kauai, which is almost six million years old.

Hawaii’s populated islands are quite isolated from the rest of the world. They are located about 2,000 miles from the U.S. mainland and nearly 4,000 miles from Japan. Hawaii is the only U.S. state outside of North America and is home to 1.4 million people. They primarily live on the six most-visited islands.

A seventh island called Niihau has the fewest number of residents. It’s also called Hawaii’s “Forbidden Island.” Niihau has less than 200 residents and is off limits to outsiders. The only people allowed are Robinson family members who manage the island, U.S. Navy personnel, government officials, and invited guests.

The northwestern Hawaiian islands are uninhabited and are known as the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. They’re a protected conservation center and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Conservation zones around the islands stretch across 200 nautical miles to provide protection for submerged reefs, sunken islands and marine life. Overall, Papahanaumokuakea covers more than 580,000 square miles, which is bigger than all of America’s national parks combined.

#2/ You can see cold snow and warm sand on the same day in Hawaii.

The Big Island is unusual because it has 10 climate zones. This includes humid tropical and arid, but it also includes some snow on the Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa volcanoes. The Haleakala Volcano on Maui also gets some snow dustings.

This means travelers can enjoy a warm morning on a sandy beach. Then they can take a hike to see snow on a mountaintop in the afternoon. There aren’t many places where you can do that.

#3/ Hawaii is a land of geographical superlatives (which may make you reconsider what you thought you knew).

You’ll nearly always get the same answer if you ask someone to name the world’s tallest mountain. Mount Everest is the common response, but technically it’s not correct.

Mount Everest has the highest altitude. However, scientists have declared Mauna Kea as the tallest mountain. How is that true?

If you measure Mauna Kea from the ocean floor to its height above sea level, it’s taller than Mount Everest. The famous mountain on Nepal’s and China’s border rises 29,032 feet. In comparison, Mauna Kea is only 13,796 feet above sea level, but it also extends about 19,700 feet below the sea. Add that together and the mountain is a whopping 33,496 feet tall.

This isn’t the only superlative Hawaii can claim. The area of Ka Lae on Hawaii island is the southernmost point in all the 50 states. It’s commonly known as South Point.

Despite what many people think, Hawaii isn’t the most Western state though. Alaska takes the claim for that. Alaska’s Attu Island is the United States’ most western point.

#4/ The Hawaiian language is critically endangered.

Hawaiian and English are the official languages in the state of Hawaii. However, it’s estimated that there are only about 2,000 native Hawaiian speakers.

Because of its limited use, UNESCO has classified Hawaiian as a critically endangered language. The decline in language speakers began in 1896 when English was established as the official language in Hawaiian schools.

Officials tried to turn the tide by adding language immersion preschools in 1984. In these schools students were taught the Hawaiian language in hopes they’d carry the knowledge into their adulthoods.

Hawaiian was an oral language that was passed down through songs and poems. In  the early 1800s Christian missionaries created a Hawaiian alphabet with 12 letters. It includes the five vowels, seven consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p and w) and the ‘okina symbol that’s written as a single quotation mark. It indicates a glottal stop.

The most common word you may hear in Hawaii is “Aloha.” It combines “Alo” for spirit or presence and “ha” for breath, so the word means much more than hello. Aloha is a way of sending positive energy – a breath of life.

The language has been used to name many island locations. One example is the Kilauea Volcano in Volcanoes National Park. Kilauea means “spewing.”

The language was also used to create the state motto, which is Ua Mau ke Ea o ka Aina i ka Pono. This means, “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.”

#5/ The Hawaiian religion still influences life today.

Indigenous religious beliefs in Hawaii also faded after the arrival of Christian missionaries. In the 1800s some Hawaiian religious traditions were banned. Leaders spoke out against the “worshiping of idols,” which included elements in nature.

Still some religious traditions survived. Today, Hawaii is like other U.S. states with a mixture of religions practiced by its people. This includes some native Hawaiians who follow the traditional Hawaiian religion.

This religion is polytheistic and animistic. Its beliefs center on the presence of spirits in nature, such as the tides, the sky and volcanic activity. The religion has four key gods:

• Kāne – the creator and god of light
• Kanaloa – god of the ocean and winds
• Kū – god of war
• Lono – god of agriculture

The religion also has hundreds of other deities. They generally fall into two categories:

• • Akua – primarily gods of nature, such as snow, light, and the sea
  • ‘Aumakua – ancestral protective gods

#6/ You need to watch what you grab in Hawaii if you want to avoid bad luck.

The Hawaiians’ indigenous beliefs and their general respect for nature has led to some island rules. One of the biggest ones is a law forbidding the taking of lava rocks. Many people believe that if you grab rocks or sand from nature and take them home, you’ll have bad luck.

In fact, the staff at Volcanoes National Park regularly receives letters from people apologizing for taking a rock. The writers will include the rock they took in their envelopes since returning it is the only way of stopping the so-called Pele’s curse.

Pele is the goddess of fire and volcanoes. It’s said the lava rocks and sand are her children, and that she was infuriated when a traveler took a lava rock as a souvenir. She responded by placing a curse on the rock.

This led to the widespread curse that brings bad luck to anyone who removes a rock from the islands. Many Hawaiians consider the rocks sacred, and they’ll bring gifts to a volcano in hopes of getting good luck.

That said, many Hawaiians also believe the story of the curse was made up by park rangers to discourage tourists from taking rocks.

Regardless, nature is revered in Hawaii, so it’s wise to leave everything the way you found it. This shows respect for the Hawaiian belief that even inanimate objects have a life force or mana, so you should leave it be.

#7/ Hawaii is a fantastic destination for people who are afraid of snakes.

Hawaii is the perfect place for people with ophidiophobia. Yes, it’s a great word for a spelling bee, and it means an extreme fear of snakes.

Hawaii has no native land snakes. The only snakes you may find on land are tiny nonvenomous Brahminy Blind Snakes. They hitched a ride to Hawaii from the Philippines. To prevent other invaders, there are strict laws against snake ownership.

Rarely, Hawaii’s native yellow-bellied sea snake will be seen slithering through the water. But generally you’re unlikely to encounter a snake.

As an added bonus, Hawaii is considered rabies free. The state also doesn’t have squirrels and pet gerbils and hamsters are banned. But you can see many species of birds in Hawaii, along with whales, dolphins, Hawaiian Monk Seals and sea turtles.

#8/ Hawaii has its own place in time.

If you live in the United States, you’re familiar with the continental time zones. You may have friends and family living in the four main zones – Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific Time.

Hawaii though is in the class of its own with a time zone that it only shares with a small portion of Alaska. These areas are located in the Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zone.

However, Hawaii doesn’t observe daylight saving time, so during certain times of year the state is in a time zone of its own and will be on Hawaii Standard Time. Because of this, the state is two to three hours behind the Pacific Time Zone depending on the time of year.

#9/ Several Hawaiian islands have their own color and flower.

Hawaiians treasure the fauna and flora that are abundant across the islands. To pay tribute, eight of the islands have an official flower and a color based on that plant. One exception is the island of Ni’ihau that uses a shell rather than a official plant or flower.

Seven of these islands are inhabited. The eighth one called Kahoolawe is a small uninhabited island near Maui. Here are the official designations:

#10/ Many famous movies were filmed in Hawaii.

The scenery in Hawaii is a dream for many film directors, so numerous movies have been partially filmed on the islands. This includes:

• South Pacific (1958)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
• Avatar (2009)
• Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
• The Jurassic Park movies (1993 – 2022)

#11/ Hawaiian royalty once embraced cutting edge technology.

Hawaiian royalty once led the Kingdom of Hawaii and lived in beautiful royal palaces. Three of these palatial homes have been restored and turned into museums.

One of them is the Iolani Palace in Honolulu. One fun fact about this palace is that it was wired for electricity in 1886. That’s five years before the White House was wired. So Hawaiian royalty certainly embraced the technology of the time.

#12/ A former Hawaiian resident made presidential history.

Former President Barack Obama is the only president who was born outside the continental United States. His birth in Hawaii added the Aloha State to a list of 21 states where presidents were born.

15 presidents were born in either Virginia (8) or Ohio (7). States with four or more presidents are New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

President Obama is only one of two presidents born west of Texas and Nebraska. The other one is Richard Nixon, who was born in California.

The good news is Hawaii is one place where you can forget about politics and relax!

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There you have it: 12 Fun Facts About Hawaii.