What to Wear in Hawaii - Don't Make The Same Mistake I Did

Oh man oh man is packing for Hawaii fun and stressful all at the same time! I am so excited that you are here and thinking about actually traveling to Hawaii. Or maybe you already have a trip schedule and in that instance Yay! Congratulations!!!! You will have to tell me all about it in the comments below!

Now this really is a bit of a trick question. What to pack for Hawaii? I am saying that only because it depends on what you want to do there. Now with that being said, you are on my page which is alot about adventuring, being outdoors, and so forth so, I am going to lean towards that a bit. I won’t be addressing fancy dinners or things like golfing so if that is your thing, this article might not be for you.

When I went to Maui I was so dang excited, but I had no idea what to pack. I as nervous. This was my very first time in Hawaii and I had no idea what the whether was like there. So I packed a dress, jeans, a tank top, workout clothes, jeans, long sleeves, and a down jacket. Basically, I packed a little bit of everything just in case I needed it. Well my friend, that was definitely the wrong thing to do.

Once I got there I realized I packed the wrong things. You see Hawaii is humid. You are going to want to wear loose clothes, comfy clothes, clothes that won’t rub too much on your skin. For me, I had things like jeans! Let me tell you I didn’t wear a pair of jeans once during that trip.

So, I wanted to save you from the mistakes I made while packing for my Maui trip. Again, it all really depends on the activities that you are going to do. For me I wanted to hike, road trip, hang out by the ocean, and explore the little towns.

Here are the things I would pack next time I go to Hawaii:

What to Wear in Hawaii

Workout clothes

Specifically sport shorts and sports bras. I was wanting to wear my workout shorts every single day. They were comfy, and swishy, and dried easily. They didn’t stick to me at all. They were amazing!

You will also want workout clothes for any time you are thinking about hiking. You see Hawaii is warm and humid. You are going to sweat a lot. If you wear jeans while hiking you are going to regret it. Your skin will chaffe a little and it will just be uncomfortable the entire time.

You want to enjoy your hikes and adventures, not think about how much you wish you would have been wearing something other than jeans.

Dresses

For me I love T shirt dresses or boho dresses. Something a bit more flowy, comfortable, and cute. Unfortunately, during my first trip to Maui I only brought one dress and it was a long sleeve dress. Ya, way wrong decision here. So, I ended up going to target and buying two more dresses.

Shorts

I only brought one pair of jean shorts for a 9 day trip. That was the way wrong decision. I actually had to borrow my friends shorts. (insert face palm here). I wish I would have brought jean shorts and non jean shorts. You see, jean shorts are good and I love them, but I was really wanting some sort of sport short or cotton shorts. I linked some examples below of what I wish I would have brought plus the sport shorts linked above.

Now, if I am going to buy jean shorts I typically get mine from American Eagle.

Tank Tops

Tank tops are a must! I kinda feel this goes without saying. I mean you are going to Hawaii after all. The thing you are going to want to consider is how easily you burn. If you are a person that burns easily you might want to bring a light weight cover up.

One Long Sleeve Cover Up

I am obsessed with Flannels so I brought a flannel. I mean they are cute, functional, and comfy.

You are going to want to bring some sort of long sleeve cover up because of the sun and the potential of getting sun burned.

When I went to Hawaii I went with my best girl friend. We rented a jeep and had the top off the entire time. Now that is alot of sun and she burns very easily. Let’s just say that flannel got a whole heck of a lot of use.

Now, if you don’t like flannels, or you think it is going to be too warm, I would suggest bringing some sort of lightweight cover up.

Make sure to check out this article all about How To Style A Flannel

Hats

Hats are a must in Hawaii especially if you are going when it is going to be sunny and warm. You will get burnt and be wishing you brought yourself a hat. Sometimes hats are hard to travel with so what I typically do is wear my wide brimmed hat in the airport and put my ball cap clipped to my backpack / carry on bag. It seems to work pretty darn well and that way I always have my hats.

Now, I would definitely say bring a ball cap hands down if you are going to have to choose. For me, I have pretty thick curly hair, so my hair always ends up covering my ears which means I don’t have to worry too much about my ears getting burned.

Your other option is to buy a hat once you get to Hawaii :)

Sandals for all occasions

I only brought my Birkenstocks for my first adventure to Hawaii. I realized shortly after that , that I should have brought hiking sandals. Now if you don’t want to bring multiple sandals and are trying to pack light I would suggest hiking sandals that will go with multiple outfits. My favorites are Tevas.

If you are curious about hiking sandals check out this article on The Best Hiking Sandals For Women

Tennis Shoes for Hiking

You are definitely going to want to bring your tennies. If you are hiking or planning on walking around a bit, tennies are a must. I love my Altra’s, Barefoot Merrels, and my New Balance tennies. They are small and compact easy which leaves more space in your bag for other important things.

Swim Suit Options

Now this was actually something that I got right! It was awesome :) You are going to want to bring a few different swim suit options for a couple reasons. The first being that you might be in a certain kind of mood for a certain kind of swim suit. The second is because you might want a tanning swim suit versus a functional swim suit for scuba diving. The third is because you are most likely going to use a swim suit every day. With that, your swim suit won’t dry over night so you are going to want a nice dry one for your next day :)

I bought a whole bunch of swim suites from Aerie this year. I love them. They are high wasted, and fully functional, plus they are super cute :) Other swim suites I have seen people buying this year are Cupshe, Shein, and Roxy swim suits. Now with that being said, I haven’t tried any of these brands other than Aerie.

So there you have it my friends! All the different things to wear in Hawaii. Now, make sure to check out the post all about the Ultimate Hawaii Packing list. This will help you with literally everything else you are going to want to pack when traveling to Hawaii.

Have you ever been to Hawaii? Do you have any suggestions on other things to wear in Hawaii that I didn’t mention? Make sure to comment below and let me know :)

Wishing you nothing but amazing adventures!

Bess