ALOHA!
So you are planning your first trip to Hawaii… or you are thinking about it!
Do you need a passport for Hawaii?
No, you don’t NEED a passport to travel to Hawaii if you’re an American flying domestically within the United States.
Americans can freely travel within the United States to all 50 states.
Hawaii is a part of the United States.
So this means that Americans can travel freely to Hawaii.
Hawaii includes Oahu (Honolulu, Waikiki), the Big Island (Kona), and Kauai, among other islands.
So you don’t need a passport to go to Honolulu, Oahu, Kauai, Kona, the Big Island, or other Hawaiian islands.
So, once you know that you don’t need a passport to go to Hawaii, it seems rather obvious.
Why would you need a passport for travel to another state in the US? ðĪŠ
I will extremely embarrassingly confess that I was one of those people who asked if I needed a passport for Hawaii. ð ðŦĒ
Before my first trip to Hawaii as an adult, I remember asking my mom (who had recently returned from a trip to Hawaii) if you need a passport to go to Hawaii. ð ð ð ðŦĒðŦĒðŦĒ
I mean, you’re literally going to an extremely remote spot in the middle of the grand Pacific Ocean, so it means that you might need a passport, right?! ð After all, you don’t need a passport for the US territories in the Caribbean, but you do need a passport for the US territories in other areas of the remote Pacific! (US territories in the Caribbean include Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. US territories in the Pacific include American Samoa and Guam.
Side note: Did you know?! There is such thing as a transpacific cruise!
But actually, nowadays asking whether or not you need a passport for Hawaii doesn’t become as much of a ridiculous question, because you might actually be in a situation where you DO want to take your passport for travel to Hawaii! In what situations?! ð
This becomes more of a matter of “do you need a passport to fly domestically within the United States” (the answer isn’t as obvious as you may think!), not so much about “what do you need to fly to Hawaii specifically.”
Can you travel to Hawaii with just your driver’s license?
Yes, you can use your driver’s license to fly to Hawaii instead of a passport.
Well, depending on the type of driver’s license you have, you may not be able to fly to Hawaii using your driver’s license starting in 2025!
Starting in 2025, a passport is still not required for Hawaii, but you may WANT to use a passport to go to Hawaii as your ID of choice.
But for now in 2023, and in 2024, you can travel to Hawaii with just your driver’s license, and you don’t need a passport for Hawaii.
So yes, you can go to Hawaii without a passport.
For travel to Hawaii in 2025 and beyond, if you don’t already have a passport, and don’t have future plans to travel internationally, then it may be easier to apply for another form of documentation to fly to Hawaii (and the rest of the United States) rather than apply for a passport.
Note that if you do want a passport for Hawaii, it’s best to allow up to 3 months to get the passport! Even an expedited passport application can take over a month! See current passport processing times.
Starting in 2025, you will need a REAL ID for air travel to Hawaii.
You do not need a REAL ID for air travel to Hawaii in 2023 or 2024.
But you do need a REAL ID for air travel to Hawaii starting in 2025.
Most recently, it was going to be that starting in May 2023 you need a REAL ID for air travel to Hawaii and the rest of the United States. But this has since been changed to 2025!
At that time, it will not even be possible to fly anywhere within the US using only a standard driver’s license.
The timeline for REAL ID implementation has been delayed a number of times, so check for current updates.
You might actually NEED a passport to go to Hawaii in 2025 and beyond…?!
Currently in 2023, if you are flying within the United States, it’s enough to show a standard driver’s license as a legitimate form of ID that will allow you to get through TSA security to board a plane to Hawaii.
If you are flying to Hawaii in 2025 and beyond, you need to make sure your driver’s license is REAL ID compliant in order to fly to Hawaii (and the rest of the US).
If you don’t have a REAL ID driver’s license in 2025, then you will need to have something that will allow you to travel domestically within the US, and that includes Hawaii.
If you don’t have a REAL ID compliant driver’s license, but you do have a passport, you may find it easiest to just fly to Hawaii with your passport.
If you don’t have a passport already, or some other form of acceptable identification, then you can look to get a REAL ID driver’s license.
It’s possible to get a driver’s license that will be accepted for domestic travel, but it may be a separate step you need to take in order to get a REAL ID driver’s license. So, you should google something like “real id california” or “real id michigan” to see what it’s like for your state.
If you live in certain border states, then you may know about the enhanced driver’s license. An enhanced driver’s license allows you to travel to Canada without a passport. (Passports are otherwise required for Americans to travel to Canada.)
In some states, an enhanced driver’s license will also allow you to travel domestically by flight without the need to apply for something else.
According to the TSA, if you have an enhanced driver’s license from Michigan, Minnesota, New York, or Vermont, then you have a REAL ID driver’s license. If you have an enhanced driver’s license from Washington, then you do NOT have a REAL ID driver’s license. See current info.
So if you have an enhanced driver’s license from Michigan, Minnesota, New York, or Vermont, then you can fly to Hawaii with just your driver’s license now and in the future!
For all other states, if you have a REAL ID driver’s license, then you can also fly to Hawaii with just your driver’s license now and in the future.
Driver’s license renewal is a good time to upgrade your driver’s license if you can! So look into it now so you’ll know if there’s something extra you can do the next time you need to renew your license!
And that’s a bit about what identification you need to fly to Hawaii!
More for planning your trip to Hawaii:
- Best things to do in Hawaii
- Tips for flying Southwest Airlines that you NEED to know!
- Maui vs Big Island
- Hawaii’s biggest tourist hub: Things to do in Waikiki
- Things to do for your first trip to Oahu (Honolulu, Waikiki)
- Things to do for your first trip to Maui
- Things to do for your first trip to the Big Island
- Things to do for your first trip to Kona
HAPPY FLYING TO HAWAII WITH OR WITHOUT YOUR PASSPORT!
ð Watch the transpacific cruise playlist to go day-by-day on the 25-day transpacific cruise from California to Hawaii and beyond! Click the little list icon in the upper right corner to skip ahead to different days! Read about the transpacific cruise from California! (There are also round-trip cruises to Hawaii from California.)
ð Explore the Hawaiian islands map on google maps!
