Hawaii is paradise — but beneath the resorts and beaches lies an abandoned landscape shaped by disease, war and the collapse of the sugar and pineapple plantations that once defined the islands' economy. A leprosy colony on a peninsula sealed off by the world's tallest sea cliffs, where patients were exiled for over a century. WWII coastal batteries carved into volcanic ridges. Plantation towns emptied when the last mill closed. Here are 5 of the best abandoned places in Hawaii, selected from our Abandoned Places Map USA — 5,000+ GPS locations across the United States.
Why Hawaii Is a Hidden Gem for Abandoned Buildings & Urban Exploration
Hawaii's urbex landscape is unlike anywhere else in America — the tropical climate accelerates decay dramatically while the volcanic geology and island isolation create dramatic settings for abandonment. The islands' history of plantation agriculture, military fortification and the tragic history of Kalaupapa's leprosy exile create abandoned sites of extraordinary emotional and historical weight, though many require special permission or difficult access to visit.
1. Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement – 1866 Exile Colony Beneath the World's Tallest Sea Cliffs, Molokai (Known Location)
From 1866 to 1969, the Kalaupapa peninsula on Molokai — isolated from the rest of the island by 1,600-foot sea cliffs, among the tallest in the world — was where the Kingdom of Hawaii and later the US government forcibly exiled over 8,000 people diagnosed with leprosy (Hansen's disease). Torn from their families and sent to live and die in isolation, the patients built a community that Father Damien, later canonized as a saint, famously served until his own death from the disease in 1889. The settlement's churches, hospital buildings, homes and cemeteries remain, some still cared for by the last surviving residents who chose to stay after the isolation law was lifted. Now a National Historical Park requiring a permit to visit. One of the most historically significant and most emotionally powerful abandoned places in Hawaii.
🔗 Learn more: Wikipedia – Kalaupapa
2. Coco Palms Resort – 1953 Iconic Kauai Hotel Destroyed by Hurricane Iniki 1992, Elvis Filmed Blue Hawaii Here, Kauai (Known Location)
Opened in 1953 on Kauai's east shore, the Coco Palms Resort was the most glamorous hotel in Hawaii — a coconut grove setting where Elvis Presley filmed the finale of Blue Hawaii in 1961, and where Hollywood stars and honeymooners stayed for four decades. Hurricane Iniki devastated the resort in September 1992; it never reopened. For over 30 years the ruins have sat amid the coconut palms — the lagoon, the chapel where Elvis's film wedding took place and the decaying hotel structures overgrown with tropical vegetation. Multiple redevelopment attempts have stalled. One of the most cinematically famous and most photographed abandoned places in Hawaii. Best viewed from public roads and the adjacent areas.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Best Abandoned Places in the USA →
Abandoned Places Map USA 🇺🇸
Explore All 5000+ Locations →3. Abandoned Oahu WWII Coastal Battery – 1940s Gun Emplacement Carved into a Volcanic Ridge, Bunker Tunnels Still Accessible (Exclusively on Our Map)
After Pearl Harbor, Oahu became one of the most heavily fortified places on Earth — coastal artillery batteries, pillboxes and bunker systems were carved into the island's volcanic ridges to defend against the anticipated Japanese invasion that never came. A surviving 1940s coastal battery retains the concrete gun emplacements, the observation posts and the tunnel systems bored into the volcanic rock, with commanding views over the Pacific approaches the guns were built to defend. The combination of WWII military architecture and dramatic Hawaiian ridge-top scenery makes this one of the most spectacular abandoned places in Hawaii. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
4. Abandoned Hawaii Sugar Plantation Mill – 1890s-1990s Sugar Processing Complex, Rusting Machinery and Smokestack Still Standing, Big Island (Exclusively on Our Map)
Sugar built modern Hawaii — the plantation economy that dominated the islands from the 1850s through the late 20th century drew immigrant labor from Japan, China, the Philippines, Portugal and Puerto Rico, creating Hawaii's multicultural society. When the last Hawaiian sugar mills closed in the 1990s-2010s, unable to compete globally, they left behind rusting industrial complexes across the islands. A Big Island sugar mill retains its towering smokestack, the crushing and processing machinery frozen in place and the mill buildings weathering in the tropical climate. The surrounding plantation camp housing tells the story of Hawaii's immigrant labor history. One of the best abandoned places in Hawaii for plantation era industrial photography. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
5. Abandoned Lanai Pineapple Plantation Town – 1920s-1990s Dole Company Town Infrastructure, Plantation Camp Buildings Still Standing (Exclusively on Our Map)
For most of the 20th century, the entire island of Lanai was a single pineapple plantation — Dole owned the island and operated it as the world's largest pineapple plantation, with Lanai City built as a company town to house the plantation workers. When pineapple production ended in 1992, much of the plantation infrastructure was abandoned. The plantation camp buildings, processing structures and company town architecture retain the distinctive character of Hawaii's plantation era — single-wall wooden construction, corrugated metal roofs and the multicultural community layout of a 20th-century Hawaiian plantation town. One of the most historically complete plantation-era abandoned places in Hawaii. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
Safety Tips for Urban Exploration in Hawaii
- Respect sacred and permitted sites: Kalaupapa requires a permit and holds deep significance — never attempt unauthorized access; respect all Hawaiian cultural and historical sites
- Tropical hazards: flash floods, falling coconuts, feral pigs and rapidly deteriorating trails are real dangers — always check conditions and carry water
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person and let someone know your location
The urbex code applies everywhere: "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints."
❓ FAQ – Abandoned Places in Hawaii
What is the most historically significant abandoned place in Hawaii?
Kalaupapa on Molokai — a leprosy exile settlement isolated beneath 1,600-foot sea cliffs where over 8,000 people diagnosed with Hansen's disease were forcibly sent between 1866 and 1969. Father Damien served the community until his own death from the disease in 1889. Now a National Historical Park requiring a permit to visit, it is one of the most emotionally powerful historical sites in America.
What happened to the Coco Palms Resort?
The 1953 Kauai resort where Elvis Presley filmed the finale of Blue Hawaii was devastated by Hurricane Iniki in September 1992 and never reopened. The ruins have sat amid the coconut grove for over 30 years — including the lagoon and the wedding chapel from the Elvis film — with multiple stalled redevelopment attempts. Best viewed from public roads.
Why did Hawaii's plantations close?
Hawaii's sugar and pineapple plantations, which dominated the islands' economy from the 1850s through the late 20th century, could not compete with lower-cost production in other countries as global trade expanded. The last sugar mills closed in the 1990s-2010s and Dole ended Lanai pineapple production in 1992. The plantation closures left behind mill complexes and company towns across the islands and ended the economic system that had defined modern Hawaii.
🎯 Summary
Hawaii's abandoned buildings range from a leprosy exile colony beneath the world's tallest sea cliffs to the resort where Elvis filmed Blue Hawaii, destroyed by a hurricane, and the sugar and pineapple plantation towns that built Hawaii's multicultural society before closing forever. Each of these 5 abandoned places in Hawaii captures a different layer of an island chain whose paradise conceals a history of disease, war and the plantation economy that shaped everything.
