How to Hop Between the Hawaiian Islands

Between most of the islands, you fly. One passenger ferry runs in the whole state, between Maui and Lānaʻi, and the only other passenger ship between islands is a week-long cruise. Most visitors never hop at all: in 2025, 1,426,855 people who flew in, about 15% of air arrivals, went to more than one island. No official body says how many islands a trip should take, and the travel guides that offer a number say one or two.

To add a day rather than a hotel, one tour listed here plans for it. Wasabi Tours Hawaii’s Big Island day costs from $276 as of October 2026 and is rated 4.9 from 486 reviews. Guests staying on Oʻahu should book a flight that lands at Kona by 7:20 a.m. and leaves after 8:45 p.m.; the tour picks them up at Kona Airport. Flights are not included, the tour takes no one under 5, and itineraries can change and closures are not refunded. Kīlauea has not fountained since 25 August 2026, and the volcano observatory cannot say when it will again, so plan on steam vents, the Halemaʻumaʻu and Kīlauea Iki crater lookouts and a short walk on the crater rim in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

Who flies between the islands

Hawaiian Airlines has belonged to Alaska Air Group since September 2024, and since 22 April 2026 every Hawaiian-branded flight carries Alaska’s AS code instead of HA; the bookings still say Hawaiian. Its Boeing 717s fly about 140 inter-island flights a day between Honolulu, Kahului, Kona, Hilo and Līhuʻe, and from 3 October 2026 Alaska-branded 737s add three daily round trips between Honolulu and Kahului. Southwest still serves the same five airports and sells fares into 2027, though it has cut inter-island capacity; reports disagree on how much.

From 3 October 2026 Hawaiian’s inter-island check-in and bag-drop cutoff is 50 minutes before departure, up from 30; at Honolulu it stays in Terminal 1, Lobby 3.

Hawaiian does not fly to Lānaʻi or Molokaʻi. Mokulele flies nine-seat Cessna Caravans, and Lānaʻi Air uses Honolulu’s charter terminal at 100 Kaulele Place, not the main terminals.

The one ferry: Maui to Lānaʻi

Expeditions sails between Māʻalaea Harbor on Maui and Mānele Harbor on Lānaʻi three times a day each way: from Māʻalaea at 6:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., and from Mānele at 8:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. The crossing takes about 1 hour 10 minutes. A non-resident adult pays $66 each way and a child $34 (Maui Now, September 2026). Reservations are required, you check in 45 minutes before departure, and two bags plus a carry-on travel free.

As a day trip it works if you plan the land side. The 6:30 sailing arrives about 7:40 and the last boat back leaves at 5:30 p.m., roughly nine and a half hours on the island. Hulopoʻe Bay, which has no lifeguards, and the Puʻu Pehe overlook are a walk from the harbor. Lānaʻi City is about 8 miles away and needs a pre-booked shuttle, taxi or rental, which is why HTA’s 2026 plan for Lānaʻi finds that most day visitors stay around Hulopoʻe.

The ferry moved from Lahaina to Māʻalaea after the August 2023 fire and has not gone back, though stale Lahaina timetables are still online. Lahaina itself is being rebuilt; as of October 2026 HTA asks visitors to respect posted signs, stay out of restricted areas and not photograph fire-affected sites. Maui County plans to take the route over around mid-2027, so the operator and fares may change.

There is no ferry to Molokaʻi. The last one, the Molokai Princess, stopped in October 2016, and the county puts the earliest new service at 2029; a Lahaina to Kaunakakai timetable that still turns up online is out of date. No ferry links any other pair of islands either.

The cruise

Norwegian’s Pride of America, the one cruise ship based in the islands, sails a seven-day round trip from Honolulu with calls at Kahului, Hilo, Kona and Nāwiliwili on Kauaʻi; NCL’s older brochures list overnights at Kahului and Nāwiliwili. She was sailing in 2026, and DBEDT counted 80,478 visitors who flew in to board her between January and August. That is four islands without repacking, seen at port-call pace. Act 96’s 11% tax on cruise fares is blocked in court and not collected.

How many islands in one trip?

There is no official number. HTA, the counties and the National Park Service publish no recommended number of days even for the Big Island or Kauaʻi, let alone a number of islands. DBEDT does show how people travel: the average visitor in 2025 stayed 8.66 days, about 15% of those who flew in saw more than one island, and visitors to Kauaʻi and the Big Island spent about a week on each (our arithmetic on DBEDT’s figures).

The guides that give a number keep it small. Condé Nast Traveler quotes Kaʻiulani Blankenfeld of the Fairmont Orchid advising one or two islands per trip, and U.S. News tells travelers on a tight budget to stick to one. Each move means a flight and a new room, and the room can cost more: Maui County’s average hotel rate in 2025 was nearly twice Oʻahu’s (the cheapest island has every island’s rate). With a week, the averages point to one island, or two joined by a single flight.

Pairs that work

One caution first. As of early October 2026, after Hurricane Lowell, every Kauaʻi state park except part of Wailua River is closed, and Holo Holo Charters, whose Port Allen boat runs to the waters off Niʻihau, cancelled all tours through 10 October. Air tours are flying on limited schedules; Kauaʻi and Niʻihau have the details.

• Oʻahu and Maui: three airline brands and under an hour in the air.
• Maui and Lānaʻi: the one pair you can do by sea, on the ferry or a day boat.
• Molokaʻi: a flight from Honolulu or Kahului. HTA’s 2026 plan for the island asks for prepared, respectful visitors and guided access where it is needed; Hālawa Valley is guided only. Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi have no link to each other by sea or scheduled flight.
• Oʻahu with the Big Island or Kauaʻi: several Honolulu flights a day to Kona, Hilo and Līhuʻe.
• Maui and the Big Island: Southwest daily, Mokulele twice a day between Kona and Kahului.
• Kauaʻi and the Big Island: possible, usually with a change in Honolulu.

One base, one more island for a day

Two tours listed here add a second island without a hotel change:

Prices, ratings and review counts from our October 2026 data check; operators use seasonal pricing, so treat them as the shape of the market, not a quote.

Every island page has its own featured tour: Oʻahu, Maui, the Big Island, Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi. Where each island sits is on the islands map.

Sources: the airlines, Expeditions, Maui County, HTA and DBEDT; tour details from the listings. Checked October 2026.