Resource

What to Pack for Hawaii With Kids

Pack two swimsuits per person, a rash guard for every child, mineral reef-safe sunscreen, your own car seats, and one light layer for evenings. Buy beach gear, groceries, and bulk sunscreen after you land, and confirm what the resort already provides – cribs, high chairs, beach chairs, and toys – before you pack a single one of them.

By Kristin Vetter · Last updated August 2026 · Checkboxes below are for your own use and stay on this page.

Clothes, per person

Two swimsuits per person (one is never dry)
One light layer for evenings – it's cooler than people expect upcountry
One long-sleeve rash guard per child, which replaces half your sunscreen problem
Reef walkers or water shoes if you have a lava-coast island on the itinerary
One nicer outfit per person for a single good dinner

Sun, honestly handled

Reef-safe mineral sunscreen (zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) – see the note below
Wide-brim hats, and a spare because one will blow into the ocean
Aloe or after-sun for the day somebody miscalculates
Sunglasses with a strap for kids under eight

For the water

Your own snorkel masks if anyone is fussy about fit – resort rentals rarely fit small faces
Puddle jumpers or Coast Guard-approved life vests for non-swimmers
A dry bag for boat days

Buy on arrival instead of flying with

Beach toys, sand buckets, boogie boards – buy at a big-box store near the airport, donate or leave them
Sunscreen in volume (it's heavy and it's confiscatable in carry-on quantities)
Groceries, water, snacks, and breakfast supplies – a first-day grocery run pays for itself twice over
Diapers, wipes, and formula, all widely available

The resort probably provides these – confirm, then don't pack them

Cribs or pack-and-plays (ask which one; they are not the same for sleep)
High chairs in the restaurants and often in the room
Beach towels, beach chairs, and umbrellas
Basic beach toys at the pool or beach hut
A bottle warmer, a stroller, or a sound machine at many properties, on request

Leave at home

Hair dryers and irons
Heavy shoes beyond one pair of sneakers
Six days of outfits per child – laundry exists and condos have washers
A packed schedule

Documents and logistics

Your own car seats (rental inventory is inconsistent and slow)
Insurance card copies and your pediatrician's number
One printed copy of the itinerary, because phones die
Any prescriptions in original packaging

Reef-safe sunscreen

What the law says, and what to actually buy

Hawaiʻi restricts the sale of sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate. In practice that means the sunscreen in your bathroom cabinet may not be legal to sell here – and more importantly, it's the wrong thing to put in water your children are swimming in.

Buy a mineral sunscreen whose active ingredient is zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. Lotions work better than sprays on wet skin and don't blow back at you on a windy beach. For kids, a long-sleeve rash guard does more work than any bottle: it covers the surface area you'd otherwise be reapplying to every ninety minutes.

"Reef-safe" is not a regulated claim, so read the active ingredients rather than the front of the bottle.

Want the printable checklist?

A one-page PDF you can hand to whoever is packing. Or DM me the word PACKING on Instagram and I'll send it there instead.

Next: how to plan the whole trip →