Jet lag in Hawaii usually lasts about 2 days from the West Coast and about 4 days from the East Coast, because flying west lets your body clock shift later, roughly 1.5 hours a day. The trip home is the harder one: flying east, your body clock moves only about an hour a day, so the return from Hawaii to New York can take 5 or 6 days.
Hawaii doesn't use daylight saving time, so the gap changes with the season. Enter your route into the jet lag calculator for your own numbers.
Free toolJet Lag CalculatorDays to adjust, plus a shift-before-you-fly schedule.What is the time difference between Hawaii and the mainland?
Hawaii is 3 hours behind the West Coast and 6 behind the East Coast from March to early November, and 2 and 5 hours behind in winter. Hawaii stays on Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time all year, while most of the mainland moves its clocks. In 2026, daylight saving time runs from March 8 to November 1.
| Your home time zone | Mar to early Nov (mainland on DST) | Early Nov to early Mar |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific (Los Angeles, Seattle) | 3 hours | 2 hours |
| Mountain (Denver) | 4 hours | 3 hours |
| Arizona (Phoenix) | 3 hours | 3 hours |
| Central (Chicago, Dallas) | 5 hours | 4 hours |
| Eastern (New York, Atlanta) | 6 hours | 5 hours |
How long does jet lag in Hawaii last?
Going there, about 2 to 4 days. Coming home, about 2 to 6 days. These use the calculator's rule of thumb: about 1.5 hours a day when your body clock shifts later, and about 1 hour a day when it shifts earlier.
| Home time zone | To Hawaii, summer | To Hawaii, winter | Home, summer | Home, winter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific | 2 days | 2 days | 3 days | 2 days |
| Mountain | 3 days | 2 days | 4 days | 3 days |
| Arizona | 2 days | 2 days | 3 days | 3 days |
| Central | 4 days | 3 days | 5 days | 4 days |
| Eastern | 4 days | 4 days | 6 days | 5 days |
That matches early estimates from real travelers, cited in a jet lag review: about 92 minutes a day after westward flights and 57 minutes after eastward ones. The "home" columns assume you fully adjusted to Hawaii time.
Flying to Hawaii: a night-by-night plan
After landing, get daylight through the afternoon and evening, stay up to at least 9:00 PM, and expect to wake very early for the first few nights. These tables assume a home routine of 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM.
The light plan is built around your body clock's low point, its sleepiest time, about 3 hours before your usual wake-up. Light in the hours before the low point pushes your clock later, which is what you want. Light in the few hours after it pulls your clock earlier, the wrong way.
Los Angeles to Hawaii, summer (3 hours)
| Night | 11 PM feels like | Body clock low point | Light plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Night 1 | 2:00 AM | 1:00 AM | Daylight all afternoon and evening, dim until about 5:00 AM |
| Night 2 | 12:30 AM | 2:30 AM | Keep it dim until about 6:30 AM |
| Night 3 | adjusted | 4:00 AM | Morning light now helps |
New York to Hawaii, summer (6 hours)
| Night | 11 PM feels like | Body clock low point | Light plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Night 1 | 5:00 AM | 10:00 PM | Daylight all afternoon, low lights after 10 PM |
| Night 2 | 3:30 AM | 11:30 PM | Daylight into the evening |
| Night 3 | 2:00 AM | 1:00 AM | Keep it dim until about 5:00 AM |
| Night 4 | 12:30 AM | 2:30 AM | Keep it dim until about 6:30 AM |
| Night 5 | adjusted | 4:00 AM | Morning light now helps |
From the East Coast, expect to be wide awake at 3 or 4 AM for the first couple of nights. Stay in bed with the lights low, and wear sunglasses for a sunrise walk before the "keep it dim" time.
Short trip? Stay a little early on purpose
On a week-long trip from the East Coast, you can stop partway: sleep about 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM Hawaii time and keep your early mornings. That puts your body clock's low point around 2:00 AM Hawaii time instead of 4:00 AM. Coming home in summer, you then have about 4 hours to make up instead of 6, roughly 4 days of jet lag instead of 6, and it takes about a day less to settle in when you arrive.
Why is the flight home from Hawaii harder?
Because flying east asks your body clock to run earlier, and it resists that. East vs. west explains why. On top of that, many return flights are red-eyes that land in the morning after a short, broken night, and plenty of people go straight back to work.
Surviving the red-eye home
Sleep as early in the flight as you can, aim for whole 90-minute cycles, and protect yourself from bright light on arrival until your body clock's low point has passed.
| Example flight | Lights out | Wake after | Land |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honolulu 10:00 PM to Los Angeles, 5.5 h | 10:30 PM Hawaii time | 2 cycles, 1:45 AM Hawaii (4:45 AM LA) | 6:30 AM LA |
| Honolulu 5:00 PM to New York, 10 h | 9:00 PM Hawaii time | 3 cycles, 1:45 AM Hawaii (7:45 AM NY) | 9:00 AM NY |
Both use the site's sleep math: 15 minutes to fall asleep, then full cycles, so you wake before the descent rather than mid-cycle.
Your first days back on the mainland
Get daylight after your body clock's low point, not before it, and keep evenings dim. Bright light before the low point can push your clock later, the wrong direction, and slow the whole thing down.
From Hawaii to Los Angeles in summer, your low point is about 7:00 AM on day 1, so stay out of bright light before then and get daylight from 7 to 11 AM. After that, morning light as soon as you're up; you should be adjusted by day 4.
Hawaii to New York, summer (6 hours)
| Day | 11 PM feels like | Body clock low point | Light plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | 5:00 PM | 10:00 AM | Sunglasses until 10 AM, then daylight to 2 PM |
| Day 2 | 6:00 PM | 9:00 AM | Dim until 9 AM, then daylight to 1 PM |
| Day 3 | 7:00 PM | 8:00 AM | Dim until 8 AM, then daylight to noon |
| Day 4 | 8:00 PM | 7:00 AM | Morning light as soon as you're up |
| Day 5 | 9:00 PM | 6:00 AM | Same |
| Day 6 | 10:00 PM | 5:00 AM | Same |
| Day 7 | adjusted | 4:00 AM |
A few more things help:
- Keep your normal wake-up time, even after a short night.
- Nap briefly, early. A 20-minute nap before about 2 PM is fine. A long late nap makes the next night harder.
- Stop caffeine early. You'll want a big coffee after a red-eye. A double espresso has about 126 mg; for a 10:30 PM bedtime it should be done by about 10:45 AM. See how much caffeine is in espresso, or check yours with the caffeine calculator.
If the vacation also let your bedtime drift late, resetting your sleep after vacation covers the rest.