Hawaii Dive Bar Guide

Should this whole Scoundrel’s Field Guide thing somehow explode in popularity, traffic and revenue, we’ll make the immense sacrifice to do a better job of covering Hawaii with more on-the-ground dive bar investigation. Until that time, the recommendations below serve as beacons to those who need a quick, air conditioned layover between beach and volcano.

Conventional wisdom continuously points to Smith’s Union Bar in Honolulu as the state’s best dive bar representative, making the December 2025 news that the bar would close after 91 years when its ‘supplies ran out’ all the more depressing. Even still, Smith’s Union Bar is the prototypical Hawaii dive bar, just far enough out of the unrelenting spotlight of the state’s tourism industry to cater to true Hawaii locals. 

Nevertheless, it is worth wedging a slice of what actual Hawaiian life is like into a trip to one of the state’s islands and the local neighborhood dive bar is of course our preferred mechanism to do just that. Honolulu hosts its fair share of divey drinking options, but the recommendations below will grow (we promise) to provide a better, more well-rounded set of cross-island destinations to include in any Hawaiian vacation itinerary.