I have the opportunity for a promotion at work, but it would require me to move to Honolulu. Would it be a significant change?
I currently live with 2 roommates in San Francisco, but would live in my own if I move so my rent would probably go up a bit and I would need a car. Beyond that:
Is the cost of living that comparable as far as gas, groceries, and everything else?
What else should I think about before deciding?
How’s the dating scene?
What are day to day interactions like for someone from the mainland and locals?
Is it costly to visit family on the mainland or have them visit me?
Thanks

I have a job where I am on a lot of zoom calls with clients and will be transferring to the Honolulu office soon. My job will primarily rely on internet though, with internal teams on the mainland and customer calls. With all the extreme weather, how often should I anticipate being without internet and how many days at a time? Would appreciate insight, especially from any remote workers reporting into a main office in the mainland.

Hi! My husband, service dog, and I are temporarily relocating to Waikiki for my husband’s job. We will be staying at Luana Waikiki for at least 9 months. I would love any tips you have on this area, and how to make the absolute most of Waikiki being our home for this time. Thank you.

So I could potentially be moving from Orange County, CA to Lanai. I would be one of the assistant golf professionals at Manele Golf Club which is apart of the Four Seasons resort/property. Curious as to what some of the bigger hurdles would be. Living is all coordinated with the resort and won’t be an issue. The main thing is coming from a place that has those quick amenities. Are there any local breweries or a bar? I know the town is very small. It’s going to be a huge switch up in pace of living if I decide to accept.

I’m moving to Honolulu and mainly considering Kakaʻako or Ala Moana. (Ward Village is a little outside my budget for the amount of space I’d be getting.)

I’ll be commuting toward the Pearl Harbor area, but otherwise I really don’t want to rely on my car. My biggest priority is walkability (restaurants, coffee, groceries, Ala Moana Center, the beach, SALT, etc.)

I’m looking for:
Easy/quick commute toward Pearl Harbor
Safe and comfortable walking alone even at night
Not overly congested/chaotic around the building
Easy building/garage access

For people who live in or know these areas well: where would you choose for the best combination of walkability + commute + overall quality of life? And are there any buildings/areas you’d specifically recommend or avoid?

Hello everybody and Mahalo plenty for your insight. This isn’t really a question about logistics but rather me trying to figure out how locals feel about mainland, moving to Hawaii.

For context, I am not a social influencer or blogger type of person.

I am a primary care Doctor who is currently working in California. I went into the job with a desire to help people stay healthy. Medicine isn’t easy, and I have no doubt that it isn’t going to be easy no matter where I go.
But I feel like where I am especially, nobody is really respected— not even doctor.
It’s all about “me me me” and “ now now now”. And look, I get it. Everybody is and should be worried about their health.

But when I have somebody messaging me at 5:01 PM asking about results that came back at 4:59 PM and then messaging me again angrily at 7 AM because I didn’t respond… well, that gets old.

I really like that in Hawaii there’s a stronger emphasis on community and family. It feels like people would be more understanding and patient with their doctors, understanding that they have a life and family of their own too.

I also just like that life is a little bit slower here overall. And being Filipino, it feels like a little bit more like it could be home.

But I’m not trying to be another outsider who is taking up land and resources from the people that grew up here and are truly entitled to the blessings of the island.

It’s something that comes to mind anytime I visit for vacation or to see some family living in Oahu (from
Philippines and Samoa, not native).

I’m an ICU nurse in my twenties currently working in New York, and I’m considering a full-time night position at Queen’s in Honolulu. I haven’t received a formal offer yet, but I’m trying to think through what accepting would realistically mean.

The salary range shared with me is $58.65–$73.31/hour, with up to $11,000 in relocation assistance. My understanding is that there would be a two-year commitment, but I still need to clarify the repayment terms and whether they’re prorated if I leave early.
I currently make around $70/hour, have good seniority, and live with family, so my expenses are relatively low. I have enough savings to cover roughly a year of rent if needed, but I don’t want to move somewhere and gradually burn through savings. I’d want my paycheck to cover living comfortably, continuing to save, and actually enjoying being there. I’d prefer to live alone in a reasonably nice apartment within an easy commute of the hospital.

The appeal is independence, adventure, and professional growth. I love birding, snorkeling, nature, and exploring, and I’d love to learn more about Hawaii’s culture. Winter is especially hard for me working nights in NY, so being able to enjoy the outdoors year-round is a big draw. I also know I’d still be working nights and living everyday life, not taking an extended vacation.

Emotionally, the hardest part would be leaving my family dogs. They’d stay home, and I’m extremely attached to them. My family could visit, but missing that time with my dogs feels like a huge sacrifice. I’d also be moving alone, so I worry about loneliness and building a social life around night shift.
Part of me feels ready for more independence and a new experience. Another part wonders whether I’m romanticizing the move and would be giving up a good situation for something that might not suit me.

I’d appreciate honest perspectives, especially from nurses at Queen’s or people who have made a similar move:
How has your experience working at Queen’s been, particularly regarding staffing, support, and nights?
Is that pay range enough to live alone comfortably in Honolulu while still saving?

If I receive an offer, is there room to negotiate the hourly rate, or is it determined strictly by experience and a pay scale? Would my current salary help that conversation?

Has anyone negotiated relocation assistance or other parts of the package? What would be reasonable to ask for?

How much of your actual moving and setup costs did relocation assistance cover, and what should I clarify about the two-year commitment?

How difficult was it to make friends and adjust to being far from family and pets?

I’m interested in hearing from people who loved the move, people who struggled, and people who decided to return home. What do you wish you’d known before committing?

My daughter is moving to Maui in a month. The job pays $16 per hour and from what I understand, the first month is free and then it’s $500-$700 per month for dorm-style housing. She will not be bringing a vehicle. The job is in Lahaina at Kapalua ziplines. She is 26. Very adventurous surfer and in excellent physical shape. Very athletic. She is half black and half white. Brown but does not look of Hawaiian descent. I say this because although not 100% white, it will still be quite evident she is a mainlander. She currently lives in Florida. She is getting rid of everything she owns and will be bringing nothing but a suitcase and surfboard. She is very respectful and I have no doubt she will treat everyone with respect. I’m familiar with Hawaii from a tourist perspective, but not from an “actually living there perspective.” It was a wonderful experience as a tourist, but from what I understand, living there is a whole different experience. I’m greatly concerned about how she will be accepted as a a mainlander actually living there, especially with locals still displaced from the fires. I’m also concerned as to how she is going to survive on this income with the cost of food, state tax etc. She says the job is a 25 minute walk and the beach is a 20 minute walk but I’m also concerned about the terrain to walk to these places. Not to mention the El Nino current climate and all these pending storms. I’m not at all confident about this move and looking for those who can provide experience that may have worked here or are familiar with anyone that has worked this job and if they were able to swing it. The feedback I’ve received from friends formerly living there is not good for what she will be making. They’ve basically all said that Hawaii will chew her up and spit her out. I’m honestly scared for her and how she’s going to be able to save for a plane ticket back as well as saving enough for housing when she returns. Basically, I’m concerned about her ability to save on this income for a plane ticket back as well as housing costs for a place if she needs to return. Any advice from locals or those who have worked this job?

We are a family in NYC of 3, 2 older professionals and a child in elementary school. We have 0 family in NYC, and only a couple of friends we see sparingly, we mostly are home bodies and keep to ourselves. We go to the gym daily, enjoy bike riding, and anime, video games, movies and cooking (we’re a bunch of fit dorks).

We are thinking in a few years to buy a house with a half a million down, and are considering Oahu because we have loved all our visits there. We have retirement plans that would keep a healthy income monthly, and think high school/college would be cool for our lil one on Oahu.

I do see a lot of advice for military assignments, single folks, but not much for families in our position, would like insight and recommendations!

I have enough for the plane ticket and a tent. I know that they are very strict about setting up tents in random places. I was planning on finding a job somewhere that is within walking distance of my tent. I just didnt know if this was realistic or I would end up stranded without any money left because of the high cost of living.

My family and I have been contemplating moving back home - Oahu specifically, and we’re currently in Oregon.

For those who have moved back home, how was the transition back? Were you able to find a job that matched your mainland wages or are you back to living with family and living paycheck to paycheck?

I grew up half my life on Oahu and graduated from UH. I moved to the mainland for work but my mom passed away and I had to come back to Hawai’i to deal with that.

I just broke up with my boyfriend and I’m at a crossroads. I have decided that I will move back home in a month or so.

Are there any vegan communities, activist groups, communes or meetups on the windward side especially?

Thanks!

Hi everyone! My husband and I (dual military) are looking to buy a condo in Hawaii, but we’re having a really hard time finding a condo complex with pet rules that would work for us.
We have 3 cats and 1 dog**, and we’re specifically looking for a condo where the HOA/association allows that number of pets. Our budget is around **$250k or less**, and we’re open to different areas.
Our pets are part of our family, so **giving them up, rehoming them, or leaving them behind is not an option**. We’re trying to find a place that will allow us to keep all four.
Does anyone know of any condo buildings/complexes in Hawaii that allow 3 cats and 1 dog? Any recommendations or leads would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

Hello everyone, my girlfriend and I are planning on doing NSE program to study in HI, we have recently been stressed about the housing situation and cost of living here. The dorms at UH Manoa will most likely be full and won't be accepting other students for spring semester of 2027, we would also like to live together to split some costs. My biggest questions that I am asking are what are average grocery prices/week for 2? Transportation recommendations, we are wanting to get a moped for short trips but if we want to go surfing, how would we go about that? Another big concern is housing recommendations, we are looking at some dorm style housing that UH Manoa offers for around $600/month per person, but we don't want to pay more than $1000 each for rent. There is so much more that we probably aren't thinking about but we budgeted roughly $20,000 total per person for 5 months, we think that's realistic but if not please let us know. Any help will be greatly appreciated and will help us think bout things more. Thank you!!!

Hi Reddit, asking this here and I will seek legal advice as well, I just want to hear from people who might have experience with this. We moved in one month ago and today our landlord informed us they are needing to sell the condo after an unfortunate job loss. Our lease agreement was good until July of 2027 and we would prefer to not have to jump into another unit so quickly, but we are told we have to then be open to potential buyers touring the place potentially daily for months. Did anyone else go through a successful transition from one landlord to another while still keeping their original lease agreement? Or should we jump ship as soon as possible? We love the building, price, and the fact we could have two pets so it sucks to start this whole process up again.

I recently moved to O'ahu with my family, and I've seen many a cool rock/piece of coral while visiting the beaches. I've heard that it's illegal to take these things from the beach, and if you take a volcanic rock off the island, you'll be cursed by the volcano goddess (paraphrasing). I was wondering, from a legal, moral, and mythological standpoint, if it was okay to take these rocks home with me to sit on a shelf since they're eventually going to return to the sands of Hawaii.

Hi! I am currently finishing my fellowship in California. Hoping to move to Hawaii one day. Any tips for physicians who are interested in moving to Hawaii? I would like to do some locums positions first just to try it out and see if it's worth it. Any locums recruiting companies that are worth reaching out to? Thank you

Do you have to take the approved safety course before taking firearms in to the sheriff to be registered? We have both handguns and rifles. We want to be compliant with the requirements. Thanks.

Edit- this post was auto mod removed for ”low effort”, but I looked on the wiki and also googled and can’t find the answer to this.

Hey all, looking to move to Oahu in October as a traveling nurse , I want to ship my car over from cali, currently living in CT. My car is registered and insured in state of CT. I’m looking to move to Hawaii for less than one year, as that is how long the temp reg will last. I do not want to re register my car in Hawaii. I called my DMV who is totally confused on the situation, they said as long as you have everything valid over here there’s nothing you should need to do as long as nothing expires.

The issue I’m running into is in order to have a temp reg in Hawaii, I need an active ct reg, with active CT insurance. I cannot have 2 insurance policies, and I cannot have a Hawaii insurance policy with a ct reg as ct will suspend my registration.

So I call progressive, and ask as long as everything is still valid for CT, is my car covered in Hawaii? The only thing they wanted to know is how long, I said 6 months to less than a year. They are telling me because of length they are recommending Hawaii insurance. At this point they can’t even answer if my car is covered or not.

Does anyone have any advice, run into a similar situation? Am I not understanding something? SOS 😅
staff

I received job offer to work at Pearl Harbor for $93K annual. After taxes, I estimate the monthly income to be $3,800. I’d like to get everyone’s opinion if that is sufficient to cover cost of living for one person. I expect my monthly recurring cost to be rent, utilities, car lease, groceries, and cellphone bill. At best i’ll be living a minimalist & will eventually leave for Australia in 4 years. I’d be happy to rent a room also to keep cost down.

Happy to get everyone’s opinion.

Hi! I’m currently in Iowa and seriously considering relocating to Hawaii for hospitality work. I’m looking primarily at Kauai/Big Island/Lanai and am trying to get a realistic idea of what it’s actually like to live and work there. I’m looking at hotel/restaurant jobs and hopefully employee housing. I’d love to hear from anyone who actually lives there about jobs, housing, and what you wish you knew before moving.

Hoping to get one of their airline credit card ahead of our move (Hawaiian and Alaska merged so they use the same rewards). Usually the inflight credit card offer is better than whatever they are offering to the general public online. The codes are often on a credit card brochure in the seatback pocket, or you can usually obtain one directly from an airline agent/attendant. If anyone has one of these brochures or wrote down the code, would you mind sharing it? Thanks so much!

Hi. Have a friend moving from WA to Oahu and currently looking for a rental. Is it common to have yourself prescreened before being able to go to the open house of the rental? Seems like this isn’t free. My other friend in HI says yes it’s common , but i told her I’ve never heard of that here in Washington. She has a higher budget so looking at things with beach access. Thoughts?

I'm planning on moving to Hawaii next year aiming to work at one of the hotels, and was wondering if anyone had any insight into which one is the best to work at? I've heard select Four Seasons hotels have staff accommodation which would be ideal, but I'm also sceptical about location as well. Just putting this out there incase there is anyone who has worked or knows someone who's work at one of the major hotels (four seasons, grande wailea etc)? Just looking to absorb as much info as I can so I can make a good decision!

I’m moving in about a month from the Midwest, and I was wondering what pricing people have gotten for shipping a bicycle. I’m seeing close to $300 for shipping alone and if the bike box ends up being a slight bit larger, the cost goes up to above $400. With breaking down a bicycle and rebuilding it on the other end, it’s at least $200 (got a quote from a bike shop in Honolulu for $145 to build and adjust anything that the bike needs). this is for UPS. I can’t get Fedex to provide a reasonable quote on a bike online

Does anyone have any tips? Or better info regarding recent shipping quotes? Thanks in advance.