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I know there aren't any roads across the Pacific, obviously. But is there any possible way to drive a car to Hawaii?

Let's say you were attempting to drive to all 50 states in the U.S., is there a not too difficult way to get that same vehicle over to Hawaii?

pnuts
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jjeaton
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4 Answers4

19

According to Wikitravel, unless your car is amphibious (like the Aquada), you'll need to get it freighted to Hawaii.

Fortunately this seems fairly common, and a quick google search gives a few results, including this on Hawaii Car Shipping:

According to them it usually takes three to four weeks, you will need a variety of paperwork and (of course) shipping insurance. But it's certainly possible.

However, you won't be driving WITH it. It'll be being shipped. So that depends on your technicality rules for your challenge.

Unfortunately, as per the same Wikitravel link, the days when everyone arrived by boat are gone. The only way you can get there yourself by boat is by cruise ship from the western coast of North America, for example, and I'm not sure if any companies allow you to bring your own car, let along drive it onto the boat...

Mark Mayo
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There is a not-too-difficult way.

  1. Buy a boat large enough to transport a car.
  2. Drive your car onto the boat.
  3. Have the boat sail to Hawaii with your car on it. Depending on how strict your definition of driving is, you may want to stay on the car and/or keep it on at all time, for instance circling around the main deck. Bring enough gas.
  4. Once you have arrived in Hawaii, drive your car off the boat. Congratulations, you have driven to Hawaii.

If you are asking for not too difficult and not insanely expensive, well, that is another question.

Federico Poloni
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The correct answer is no, it is not possible to drive to Hawaii.

However, you can have your car transported there by freight (ship) and drive around the island you have it shipped to. Visiting more than one island with your car would incur additional charges.

If you're going for an extended stay you can ship other things in the container with your car. That is how many people do it when moving permanently to Hawaii.

NinjaBeetle
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Driving in my home state of New Mexico, I passed a fairly high-end expensive-looking car. It had Hawaii plates on it. I assumed the shipping charge would be relatively small compared to the cost of the car.

Slightly further along the highway I passed another car, this one looked to live up to a "beater" reputation as an older car with a rundown appearance. This car also had a Hawaii plate.

I would not have thought that it would be in any way cost effective to ship the second car to the US mainland. My assumption was that it would be more efficient to sell such a car in Hawaii and then purchase another after arriving.

Perhaps they got a discount for two cars.

Michael Richardson
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