Why you might think locals in Hawaii are rude to you reason #1: They aren’t as cheerful as the people who picked you up at the airport.

The personal hotel chauffeur service that picked you up at the airport were probably the happiest, cheerful people. They brought leis for you and your visiting family members, and greeted your late night flight arrival with a cheerful smile. This is because they were paid to do so. Locals in Hawaii may come across as rude just because they are not paid to greet you with leis and flowers 24/7. This is our home. We don’t go hiking for the sake of pleasing others and educating those who are new to the islands. We go hiking because we take our dogs there every Saturday with our families. This is our home. So if it seems like Hawaii are locals are rude to you, just remember that this is their home, and you are a visitor. Not all locals are paid to keep tourists happy. Most are not.

Why you might think locals in Hawaii are rude to you reason #2: They see a lot of tourists all the time.

Locals are accustomed to seeing tourists around the island. Just like in any community, tourists are really easy to identify. The awkwardly vibrant Aloha shirts, cheap straw hats, and fake shell necklaces usually give it away. It’s ok, they can’t help it. But, locals are used to seeing this all over the place so they are not interested in pleasing every tourist they see. Hawaii is one of the most-visited tourist destinations in the world, so there’s a lot of tourists here at any point in time. Summer time is high time, but any other point in the yea also sees a lot of tourists. So, Hawaii locals are not interested in pleasing all of the tourists they see in public all the time. They just want to go out to the grocery store, not have to provide driving directions for parking lots all the time. They just want to go to the beach, not have to run in and rescue uneducated tourists who dove into dangerous waters.

locals in Hawaii

Tourists atop Diamond Head pillbox hike overlooking Kapiolani Park and Waikiki
. . . . aaahhh TOURISTS . . . . by Prayitno / Thank you for (12 millions +) view is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Image may have been resized or cropped from original

Why you might think locals in Hawaii are rude to you reason #3: Expectations are different from reality.

Those who are not native to the Hawaiian Islands probably hold an idealistic, unrealistic expectation of locals. Most envision the idea of locals wearing flower leis and sewing grass skirts for work, and eating pineapples for dessert. That’s not always the case. It’s actually never the case. Hence, locals may come across as rude just because they are not meeting commercial expectations of what it looks like to live in Hawaii. People who live here work full time 40 hours a week, staying busy with kids’ soccer games on Saturdays and hula competitions on Fridays. We live “normal,” lives unlike what most think. Life in Hawaii is an amazing experience, but it’s not perfect all the time. There’s traffic, high taxes, and expensive living standards. Expectations for living in Hawaii can be very different from the reality of it.

locals in Hawaii

Sometimes it’s not all rainbows in Hawaii.
Raindrops by racruth is licensed under CC0 1.0. Image may have been resized or cropped from original.