Most mainland clocks turn back on Sunday, November 1, while Hawaii keeps its clocks as they are. There’s nothing new there. But legislation passed by the House this year could give Hawaii a choice: keep its current time or move every clock forward permanently. For visitors, that could mean winter sunrises after 8 a.m., sunsets after 7 p.m., and a different time relationship with the mainland year-round.
On July 14, the House passed the Sunshine Protection Act by a 308-117 vote, advancing legislation that had been stalled when we last covered Hawaii’s daylight saving debate in November 2025. The bill is now in the Senate Commerce Committee, so nothing has changed for upcoming trips to Hawaii. But the legislation includes a specific provision allowing states already exempt from daylight saving time, including Hawaii, to keep their existing clocks or adopt the new time standard.
A winter sunrise at 8:18 a.m. on Kauai.
We checked Lihue’s January sunrise and sunset figures to see what advancing Hawaii’s clocks would actually look like. On January 15, sunrise is about 7:18 a.m., and sunset is around 6:15 p.m. If Hawaii adopted the one-hour advance, those would become 8:18 a.m. and 7:15 p.m., with precisely the same amount of daylight.
Imagine heading out at 7 a.m. for an early airport departure, a boat excursion, or a hike and finding that sunrise is still more than an hour away. The other side could be far more appealing, however, especially for visitors who like lingering at the beach, taking an evening walk, or enjoying dinner outdoors while there’s still daylight. Sunrise-dependent tours could adjust their departure times, but anyone with a fixed early-morning schedule would experience a noticeably darker start to the day.
For many Hawaii visitors, the hours around sunrise and sunset are among the most memorable parts of a vacation. Moving the clocks wouldn’t create more time for either, but it would rearrange those experiences around the hours used for flights, reservations, meals, and on-island activities.
Your time difference with home could become permanent.
For travelers from California or New York, another change is possible. After the mainland turns its clocks back Sunday, California will be two hours ahead of Hawaii and five hours ahead of New York. When daylight saving time returns next spring, those differences will increase to three and six hours, something we deal with every year and have covered repeatedly as Hawaii stays off the mainland’s clock.
Under the House-passed legislation, most of the mainland would remain on daylight saving time year-round. If Hawaii kept its present clocks, California would stay three hours ahead and New York six hours ahead, even in winter. If Hawaii advanced its clocks, the differences would remain two and five hours year-round.
That changes when visitors call family, coordinate plans with people back home, or try to work remotely during a Hawaii trip. We’ve experienced that confusion ourselves. When daylight saving time began in March 2022, Rob’s phone started ringing at 6 a.m. with birthday calls from mainland friends. Eliminating the seasonal change would remove that particular complication, although the time difference itself wouldn’t disappear.
Why Hawaii’s representatives opposed the change.
Both Ed Case and Jill Tokuda voted against the Sunshine Protection Act, according to the official House voting record. Honolulu Civil Beat reported that Case argued Hawaii would be better served by staying closer in time to the mainland throughout the year, especially for families and businesses communicating across time zones. Tokuda also cited concerns about the longer mainland time difference, along with medical recommendations favoring permanent standard time over permanent daylight saving time.
The choice of time zones wouldn’t be made in Washington alone. Hawaii law sets the state’s time at ten hours behind Greenwich, so moving Hawaii’s clocks ahead would require addressing that law. The federal proposal would give Hawaii the option, but wouldn’t require the state to use it.
Hawaii has actually changed its clocks before, despite its longstanding reputation for refusing to follow the mainland. On June 8, 1947, while still a territory, Hawaii advanced its clocks by 30 minutes, changing from ten and a half hours behind Greenwich to the ten-hour difference we use today. This was a permanent adjustment, not the seasonal daylight saving change Hawaii later rejected.
If Hawaii eventually faces this choice, we’d be interested in what visitors think. On your next winter Hawaii vacation, would you rather have more daylight before those early-morning activities, or a sunset that arrives an hour later on the clock?
By Rob and Jeff, Beat of Hawaii.
Some of the most meaningful parts of Hawaii are the ones visitors walk right past without knowing they are there. We’ve spent nearly 20 years finding them firsthand for BOH as full-time Hawaii residents reporting on travel, culture, and island life, and telling you what they mean for your trip. Join us →
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
