Hawaii also causes jetlag and wasted travel time.
And yes the issue is due to the dateline.
From the US, one can get a direct flight to Hawaii, and travel time is nowhere near like flying to Asia, or Maldives, etc.
From California to Hawaii is only a two hour time difference, while to e.g. Maldives it is a 13 hour time difference.
Plus travelling East to West is much easier to adjust. Travelling east causes more problems than travelling west because the body clock has to be advanced, which is more difficult for the majority of humans than delaying it. Most people have an endogenous circadian rhythm that is longer than 24 hours, so lengthening a day is less troublesome than shortening it.
As far as the dateline, the Chazon Ish zt"l was the gadol hador, and paskened for the Mirrer Yeshiva to keep Shabbos on Sunday in Japan. Following this, Shabbes is on Saturday in Hawaii. Also, the view of the Chazon Ish is most significant, as it is reflected in the opinion of the Rishonim (Kuzary and Ba'al Hamaor).
(Speaking of the Chazon Ish, there was a case of a child with a brain tumor, and the neurosurgeons were reluctant to operate, till the Chazon Ish drew a diagram
http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=21194&pgnum=504 )