1. Kalaaupapa on Molokai was once a leper colony. Now it has about 7,000 inhabitants.
2. Oahu draws more visitors than any other island of Hawaii. You thought it was the Big Island, didn’t you?
3. The Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters, the five vowels and 7 other consonants: H, K, L, M, N, P and W. It also has a symbol called ‘okina (‘), which, funny enough, begins with an okina. Also, every word in the Hawaiian language ends with one of five vowels.
4. The world’s largest (and, coincidentally, the most active) volcano is the Kilauea volcano—it’s been going strong for 600,000 years.
5. The Big Island is getting bigger by about 42 acres each year due to the continuous eruption of the Kīlauea Volcano.
6. In the 1960s, astronauts trained for moon voyages by walking on Mauna Loa’s hardened lava fields. It resembles the surface of the moon.
7. It is rude to refer to the locals as “natives” or “Hawaiians”. Only people with Hawaiian ancestry can legitimately be called “Hawaiians.” People of non-Hawaiian ancestry are simply called ‘locals’, even if they were born and raised in Hawaii.
8. Even McDonald’s and Burger King serve Spam in Hawaii.
9. Hawaii was originally called the Sandwich Isles. This is what Captain James C. Cook named the islands in 1778 in honor of his patron the Earl of Sandwich.
10. In Kealakekua Bay there is a 5,682-square-foot area that was deeded to England for a monument to Captain James Cook.
11. Tourists take volcanic rocks from the Kilauea volcano, but every year the Hawaii National Park rangers receive a lot of these rocks back with the claim that they were bad luck from Pele, the goddess of fire, dance, lightning, volcanoes and violence.
12. Surfing was invented thousands of years ago by Polynesians who first settled in Hawaii. Their boards weighed more than 150 pounds and measured up to 20 feet.
13. By law, you may only have one alcoholic drink in front of you at a time.
14. Hawaii became the first state in the union to legalize abortion – three years before Roe v. Wade.
15. Hawaiian shirts are a product of the 19th century and began when missionaries gave the Hawaiians plain shirts to cover their bare chests. The Hawaiians painted the shirts to make them more attractive.
16. Despite what you saw on Hawaii Five-0, the longest-running police drama until Law and Order, there is no statewide police force (or statewide DMV) in Hawaii. They are managed by each county government.
17. Hawaii has the longest average life span in the nation and the fifth longest in the world.
18. The high life expectancy could be correlated with the state’s healthcare system: they insure more than 90 percent of their residents, focus on preventive care and since 1975, businesses have been legally required to insure employees who work over 20 hours per week.
19. Molokai’s north shore is home to the world’s largest sea cliffs. They are more than 3,000 feet high.
20. It snows in Hawaii, but only at the very summits of the three tallest volcanoes: Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea and Haleakala.
21. Hawaii is the only US state with a tropical rain forest.
22. Hawaii was the first state to outlaw billboards, back in 1927.
23. Hawaii is the only state in the nation that grows coffee, vanilla beans and cacao.
24. The wettest spot on the earth (or so it is called) is Waialeale Mountain. It averages an astounding 488 inches of rain per year.
25. Everything they say about a vacation to Hawaii being the perfect “getaway” is pretty accurate. Hawaii is 2,390 miles from California and over 3,850 miles from Japan.
26. Iolani Palace, in Honolulu, is the only royal palace in the United States. It was illuminated with electric lights four years before the White House became illuminated.
27. Haleakala is the world’s largest dormant volcano. It forms more than seventy-five percent of the Hawaiian Island of Maui. It’s crater is 3,000 feet deep, 7.5 miles long and 2.5 miles wide, which is big enough to hold Manhattan. It’s HUGE.
28. About 200 of the 680 types of fish in Hawaiian waters can be found nowhere else in the world.
29. Hawaii’s longest waterfall is Kahiwa Falls at 2,165 ft.
30. The largest contiguous ranch in the United States is in Hawaii. The Parker Ranch near Kamuela has about 480,000 acres of land.
31. Only two types of mammals are native to Hawaii: the hoary bat and the monk seal.
32. There are no snakes native to Hawaii. The Brahminy blind snake is the one snake that lives in Hawaii; it was imported from the Philippines, is harmless and is about the size of an earthworm.
33. There are no seagulls, pelicans, robins, or hummingbirds in Hawaii.
34. The state fish of Hawaii is the humuhumunukunukuapua’a, also known as the reef triggerfish. Also, that’s one of the longest words in the Hawaiian language. Like that wasn’t obvious.
35. Kauai is the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands – over six million years old – and by law, no building is allowed to be taller than a palm tree.
36. When you picture Hawaii, you probably imagine a white sand beach. They also come in yellow, red, green and black.
37. Hawaii is the widest state in the United States, but as far as landmass is concerned, it would take 40 Hawaii’s to make up one Texas.
38. The Wailua River is the only navigable river in Hawaii.
39. Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world if measured from its base on the ocean floor to its summit. The 4,200 meter high summit houses the world’s largest observatory for optical, infrared, and submillimeter astronomy.
What’s your favorite fun Hawaii fact? Tell us in the comments below!
