Guide Collections Laws Updated July 7, 2026

Weird Hawaii Laws Still on the Books

Honolulu skyline with tropical shoreline and high-rise buildings

Weird Hawaii Laws Still on the Books

Collection - Laws

Hawaii's capital region in Honolulu, where state lawmakers wrote unusual laws ranging from the billboard ban to the Aloha Spirit statute.

Quick Answer

Weird Hawaii Laws Still on the Books

  1. 1

    Four Hawaii weird-law claims check out: a statewide billboard ban, the Aloha Spirit statute, a ferret ownership ban, and a reef-safe sunscreen rule.

  2. 2

    The billboard ban is the oldest of the four. Hawaii outlawed billboards in 1927, decades before any other state tried it.

  3. 3

    Pele's Curse, the idea that stolen lava rocks bring bad luck, is a modern myth invented in 1946, not an ancient Hawaiian belief.

Unusual Laws in Hawaii That Are Real

A billboard ban dating back to the 1920s and a law naming an actual state of mind anchor the Unusual Laws in Hawaii that check out against the real code. Each one remains active today.

Hawaii Banned Billboards in 1927

Hawaii Banned Billboards in 1927

Law
Hawaii law lets counties prohibit billboards and outdoor advertising devices anywhere within their borders, and every county has done so.
Meaning
Large roadside advertising structures that are common on the mainland are essentially absent across the islands.
Reason
A local beautification group called the Outdoor Circle pushed the territorial legislature to pass the ban in 1927, arguing that billboards would damage the natural scenery Hawaii's tourism economy depended on. It made Hawaii the first place in the country to ban billboards outright.
The Aloha Spirit Statute

The Aloha Spirit Statute

Law
Hawaii law defines the "Aloha Spirit" as a coordination of mind and heart, expressed through kindness, unity, agreeableness, humility, and patience, and directs the legislature, governor, and judges to give it consideration while carrying out their official duties.
Meaning
State officials are formally asked to weigh a defined cultural value alongside the law itself when making decisions.
Reason
Lawmakers added the statute in 1986 to preserve a Native Hawaiian philosophy as an official part of state government, not just a tourism slogan.
Ferrets Are Banned Statewide

Ferrets Are Banned Statewide

Law
Hawaii bans importing, owning, or breeding ferrets anywhere in the state.
Meaning
A pet that's legal in nearly every other state can trigger fines and confiscation in Hawaii, regardless of how tame or well cared for it is.
Reason
Hawaii is rabies-free, and officials treat any new predatory mammal as a risk to native birds and other species found nowhere else on Earth, on top of the disease concern.
The Reef-Safe Sunscreen Law

The Reef-Safe Sunscreen Law

Law
Hawaii bans selling or distributing sunscreen containing oxybenzone or octinoxate without a prescription.
Meaning
Many popular drugstore sunscreen brands sold on the mainland can't legally be sold in Hawaii unless they're reformulated without those two ingredients.
Reason
Lawmakers passed the rule in 2018 after research linked both chemicals to coral reef damage, making Hawaii one of the first places in the world to restrict sunscreen ingredients for environmental reasons.

Weird Laws in Hawaii We Couldn't Verify

Not all Real Hawaii Laws You Won't Believe hold up once you go looking for the actual code section. A coin-in-the-ear claim and a bird-annoying ban are two of the most repeated, and neither has a citation attached anywhere.

Close-up of a person flipping a coin in low light

It's illegal to put a coin in your ear in Hawaii

Claim
Hawaii law bans putting a coin in your ear.
Why We Couldn't Verify It
No statute matching this claim has ever been located, and the stories behind it don't even agree with each other. Some trace it to King Kamehameha in 1847, others to an order destroying old Hawaiian coins around 1900. Researchers who have gone looking for an original source have come up empty.
Tropical birds gathered in a green public park setting

Annoying the birds in a Honolulu park is illegal

Claim
Honolulu has a specific ordinance against annoying birds in its public parks.
Why We Couldn't Verify It
No ordinance number or code section using this exact language has surfaced. Honolulu does regulate conduct in its parks generally, but nothing ties this specific claim to a real, citable rule.

Strange Hawaii Laws That Are Myths

A cursed lava rock is the most famous Strange Hawaii Laws myth of all, and a coconut-tree height limit on Kauai turns out to be a colorful nickname for something more ordinary.

Dark volcanic rocks on a dramatic Hawaiian shoreline

Pele's Curse: taking a lava rock brings bad luck

Myth
Anyone who removes a lava rock from Hawaii will suffer years of bad luck from the volcano goddess Pele.
Reality
Historians trace the curse to 1946, when a park ranger at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park invented the story to stop tourists from pocketing volcanic rock. It has no roots in actual Hawaiian mythology. Removing rocks from a national park is genuinely illegal under federal regulations, with fines up to $5,000, but that has nothing to do with any curse.
Tall coconut palm trees against a tropical sky

No building on Kauai can be taller than a coconut tree

Myth
Kauai law specifically caps building height at the height of a coconut palm.
Reality
Kauai's actual building code sets a real height limit, generally around 30 feet for homes and roughly four stories for larger structures, but the code never mentions coconut trees. The phrase is a nickname that stuck, not the law's real language.

Why Hawaii's Four County Governments Write Their Own Rules

Palm-lined government building representing one of Hawaii's four combined city-county governments
With no incorporated cities anywhere in the state, each of Hawaii's four counties writes and enforces its own local code alone.

Hawaii has no incorporated cities at all, an arrangement unique among U.S. states. Its four inhabited counties, Honolulu, Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai, each function as a combined city-county government with nobody above them to coordinate local code. That's why Kauai's building height limit and Honolulu's park rules were each written in isolation, with no statewide review process to catch overlap or resolve an odd rule against a neighboring island's version.

Key Facts

1 Honolulu was the first major U.S. city to fine pedestrians for looking at their phones while crossing the street, under a 2017 law with fines up to $99.
2 Hawaii's cave protection law, passed in 2002, makes it illegal to break or deface stalactites and other formations inside the islands' lava tube caves.
3 The sunscreen ingredient ban pushed manufacturers to reformulate products specifically for the Hawaii market, and Maui County later went further by requiring mineral-only sunscreen.
4 Hawaii has zero incorporated cities, a distinction it shares with no other state in the country.
5 The Aloha Spirit statute lists five specific Hawaiian values by name: akahai, lokahi, oluolu, haahaa, and ahonui.

Quick Answers

Is it true that Hawaii banned billboards?
Yes. Hawaii law lets counties ban billboards outright, and all of them have. The rule dates to 1927, making Hawaii the first place in the country to outlaw billboards.
What is the Aloha Spirit law in Hawaii?
It's a real 1986 statute defining the Aloha Spirit through five Hawaiian values and directing state officials to consider it while carrying out their duties. It's a genuine part of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, not just a slogan.
Can you legally own a ferret in Hawaii?
No. Ferrets are banned statewide because Hawaii is rabies-free and treats any new predatory mammal as a threat to native species found nowhere else on Earth.
Is Pele's Curse a real Hawaiian legend?
No. It dates only to 1946, when a park ranger invented the story to stop tourists from taking lava rocks. It has no basis in traditional Hawaiian belief, though removing rocks from a national park is a real, separate federal offense.
Is the Hawaii sunscreen ban real?
Yes. Hawaii bans selling sunscreen containing oxybenzone or octinoxate without a prescription, a 2018 law meant to protect coral reefs from chemical damage.
Is the coin-in-your-ear law in Hawaii real?
No confirmed statute has ever been found. The claim has multiple competing origin stories that don't agree with each other, which is usually a sign that no such law ever existed.

Sources

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.
Found an error? Report it here.

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