Hawaii Quiz
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163 free Hawaii trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
50 free Hawaii trivia questions with answers. Discover how much you really know about the Aloha State! Our Hawaii trivia quiz puts your island expertise to the test with challenging questions about history, culture, geography, and more. Whether you're a Hawaii enthusiast or just curious, this quiz will entertain and educate you.
30 of 163 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the state bird of Hawaii?
Nene
The nene, or Hawaiian goose, evolved from wild geese that strayed to the islands long ago; walking on lava far more than it swims, it has lost much of the webbing between its toes.
Q 02Which steady northeasterly winds keep Hawaii's climate mild for most of the year?
Trade winds
Trade winds blow from the northeast on most days and shape the islands: rain falls on the windward north and east slopes, leaving the leeward coasts sunny and dry.
Q 03How many main islands make up the Hawaiian archipelago?
Eight
Eight main islands make up the chain, and the state flag honors them with eight stripes, one for each island.
Q 04What year did Hawaii become the 50th U.S. state?
1959
Hawaii was admitted to the Union on August 21, 1959, becoming the 50th state, seven months after Alaska became the 49th.
Q 05What is the capital city of Hawaii?
Honolulu
Honolulu is both the state capital and the largest city in Hawaii, and roughly two-thirds of the state's residents live on its island.
Q 06Which Honolulu palace was the official residence of Hawaii's last two monarchs?
Iolani Palace
Iolani Palace, completed in 1882, was a royal home for little more than a decade; after the 1893 overthrow it served as Hawaii's capitol for almost 80 years before being restored as a museum.
Q 07Which monarch united the Hawaiian Islands into one kingdom?
King Kamehameha I
King Kamehameha I conquered island after island from 1795, and the last holdout, Kauai, joined in 1810 without a battle when its ruler agreed to serve under him.
Q 08What type of outdoor advertising is banned throughout Hawaii to preserve natural beauty?
Billboards
Billboards were driven out by The Outdoor Circle, a group seven Honolulu women founded in 1912 to plant trees and fight roadside advertising; the ban followed in 1927.
Q 09In Hawaii, which animal is the 'honu', a symbol of good luck often seen basking on beaches?
Sea turtle
Sea turtle is the meaning of honu; green sea turtles crawl onto beaches such as Punaluu to warm themselves in the sun, which is why they are so easy to spot in Hawaii.
Q 10Which Hawaiian volcano, the youngest on Hawaii Island, has been the most active since the islands were settled?
Kilauea
Kilauea is one of the busiest volcanoes on Earth, with only short pauses in recorded history; lava has resurfaced almost 90 percent of it within the last 1,000 years.
Q 11Measured from its base on the ocean floor, which Hawaiian peak is often called the world's tallest mountain?
Mauna Kea
Mauna Kea stands 13,803 feet above sea level, but more than half of it is hidden under the Pacific; from base to peak it rises about 33,500 feet, well past Everest's 29,032.
Q 12What is the official state fish of Hawaii?
Humuhumunukunukuapuaa
The humuhumunukunukuapuaa (reef triggerfish) was named state fish in 1985, lapsed in 1990 when the law expired, and was permanently reinstated in 2006. Its name means 'triggerfish with a snout like a pig.'
Q 13What does the Hawaiian phrase 'Mele Kalikimaka' mean?
Merry Christmas
Q 21Which Hawaiian island is known as 'The Forbidden Isle' because access is restricted?
Niihau
Niihau was bought from the Hawaiian kingdom by Elizabeth Sinclair in 1864 for $10,000; her descendants, the Robinson family, still own it and admit almost no outsiders.
Q 22Which French Polynesian island group is thought to have sent Hawaii's first settlers?
Marquesas Islands
The Marquesas Islands voyage was once dated to about 300 CE, but newer radiocarbon work suggests the canoes arrived far later, between the 11th and 13th centuries.
Q 23Roughly how far is Hawaii from the nearest continental coast?
About 2,400 miles
Merry Christmas became Mele Kalikimaka because Hawaiian has no r or s sound and never ends a syllable on a consonant; Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters recorded a song of that name in 1950.
Q 14Which loose, brightly printed Hawaiian dress has a name meaning 'cut off'?
Muumuu
Muumuu means 'cut off' in Hawaiian: the dress began as a shift without the high neck and long sleeves of the holoku gowns that missionaries introduced in the 1820s.
Q 15What is the Hawaiian state flower?
Yellow Hibiscus
The yellow hibiscus, or mao hau hele, grows wild in Hawaii's dry lowland forests, where grazing pigs, deer and goats and the loss of habitat have left it a threatened plant.
Q 16What natural disaster destroyed much of a historic Hawaiian town in August 2023?
Wildfire
The wildfire moved so fast that some residents escaped only by fleeing into the ocean, where Coast Guard crews rescued 17 people.
Q 17Which British captain, on his third voyage, made the first documented European contact with Hawaii in January 1778?
James Cook
James Cook returned the following year and was killed at Kealakekua Bay.
Q 18What name did the British explorer who reached Hawaii in 1778 give the archipelago?
Sandwich Islands
The Sandwich Islands honored John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, then First Lord of the Admiralty; the sandwich is named after the same earl.
Q 19Which Hawaiian goddess is believed to live in the Halemaumau crater?
Pele
Pele, goddess of volcanoes and fire, is said to have fled her sister Namaka from Tahiti; her body was destroyed but her spirit lives on in the crater.
Q 20Hawaii dominated the international trade in which crop until the 1960s?
Pineapple
Pineapple canning boomed in the early 1900s, but the industry shrank as planting moved to lower-cost countries overseas, and Del Monte, one of the big growers, quit Hawaii in the 2000s.
About 2,400 miles of open ocean separate Hawaii from the nearest continental shore, which is why so few plants and animals ever arrived and so many island species exist nowhere else.
Q 24Geologists worldwide use which Hawaiian word for smooth, ropy lava?
Pahoehoe
Pahoehoe probably takes its name from the Hawaiian for paddling, after the swirls on its surface; its rough, jagged opposite is called aa, from a word meaning to burn.
Q 25Which Hawaiian tradition is honored with a statewide celebration every May 1?
Lei
Lei Day began in the 1920s with poet Don Blanding, who wanted a day for the flower lei; a newspaper columnist suggested May Day and coined the slogan 'May Day is Lei Day'.
Q 26What is the meaning of the Hawaiian word 'mahalo'?
Thank you
Thank you is the modern everyday sense of mahalo; an 1865 Hawaiian dictionary defined the word only as wonder, admiration, praise and honor.
Q 27Which Hawaiian island is nicknamed 'The Valley Isle'?
Maui
Maui gets the name from the low, flat isthmus that joins its two volcanic mountain masses into a single island.
Q 28Along with Hawaii, which state was an internationally recognised sovereign nation before joining the US?
Texas
Texas was an independent republic from 1836 to 1845, recognised by the United States in 1837; Vermont and California also declared republics, but no foreign government recognised either.
Q 29What undersea volcano growing off the southeast coast of Hawaii Island may one day become a new island?
Loihi
Loihi, officially renamed Kamaʻehuakanaloa in 2021, is the only Hawaiian volcano still in its undersea building stage, where the weight of the sea keeps its eruptions from turning explosive.
Q 30Which reef break on Oahu's North Shore is famed for hollow winter waves and pro surf contests?
Pipeline
Pipeline, or the Banzai Pipeline, breaks over a shallow reef off Ehukai Beach, which throws its waves into the tubes that made it the best-known contest break on the North Shore.