Is your sunscreen legal where you’re going?

Sunscreen rules differ by island, county and country. Search any product to see where it’s allowed.

Have the label instead? Paste it into the ingredient checker

  • 988 products
  • 42 brands
  • 9 places with enforced rules

Laws last re-checked against their sources October 14, 2026.

Pick a destination

Sunscreen rules by location

Ingredient banUnited States

Hawaii (statewide)

2 ingredients restricted · since January 1, 2021

Mineral onlyUnited States

Maui County (Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi)

Only zinc oxide and titanium dioxide actives. · since October 1, 2022

Mineral onlyUnited States

Hawaiʻi County (Big Island)

Only zinc oxide and titanium dioxide actives. · since December 1, 2022

Ingredient banUnited States

U.S. Virgin Islands

3 ingredients restricted · since March 30, 2020

Mineral onlyOceania

Palau

Only zinc oxide and titanium dioxide actives. · since January 1, 2020

Ingredient banCaribbean

Aruba

1 ingredient restricted · since July 1, 2020

Ingredient banUnited States

Guam

3 ingredients restricted · since October 9, 2025

Ingredient banLatin America

Mexico: federal marine protected areas (e.g., Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancún & Punta Nizuc)

Guidance only · since August 2, 2016

Ingredient banUnited States

Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)

2 ingredients restricted · since July 1, 2021

Ingredient banAsia

Thailand (all national parks)

4 ingredients restricted · since August 4, 2021

GuidanceCaribbean

Bonaire (Bonaire National Marine Park)

2 ingredients restricted

GuidanceUnited States

U.S. National Parks with coral reefs (NPS guidance)

3 ingredients restricted

RepealedUnited States

Key West, Florida

2 ingredients restricted · since January 1, 2021

The short version

“Reef safe” isn’t a regulated term. Laws are.

No government defines “reef safe” or “reef friendly” on a label, so brands use it however they like. What is defined is the law in each place that restricts sunscreen: a list of banned chemicals (Hawaii statewide, the USVI, Palau) or a stricter mineral-only rule (Maui County and Hawaii County).

So instead of trusting the front of the bottle, we read the Drug Facts on the back of every product and check each ingredient against each law. Every verdict on this site is computed the same way, and every product links back to the page its ingredients came from.

Read the guide How we check

Most-regulated ingredients

What gets banned, and where

IngredientHawaiiMaui CountyHawaiʻi CountyU.S. Virgin IslandsPalauArubaGuamNorthern Mariana IslandsThailand
Oxybenzone✕✕✕✕✕✕✕✕✕
Octinoxate✕✕✕✕✕✓✕✕✕
Avobenzone✓✕✕✓✕✓✓✓✓
Octocrylene✓✕✕✕✕✓✕✓✓
Homosalate✓✕✕✓✕✓✓✓✓
Zinc Oxide✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓

Full comparison of every location and ingredient → · Sunscreen ingredients to avoid, and why →

Brands

Every product, checked

Alba Botanica

27 products · 9 mineral

All Good

17 products · all mineral

Attitude

25 products · all mineral

Australian Gold

37 products · 4 mineral

Aveeno

31 products · 15 mineral

Babo Botanicals

17 products · all mineral

Babyganics

18 products · 11 mineral

Badger

12 products · all mineral

Banana Boat

74 products · 12 mineral

Bare Republic

21 products · 15 mineral

Black Girl Sunscreen

15 products · 4 mineral

Blue Lizard

13 products · all mineral

CeraVe

14 products · 7 mineral

COOLA

46 products · 12 mineral

Coppertone

90 products · 12 mineral

EltaMD

25 products · 13 mineral

Equate

28 products · 1 mineral

Goddess Garden

11 products · all mineral

Hawaiian Tropic

48 products · 4 mineral

Hello Bello

10 products · all mineral

ISDIN

10 products · 8 mineral

Kinfield

4 products · all mineral

Kōkua Sun Care

3 products · all mineral

La Roche-Posay

26 products · 7 mineral

Little Hands Hawaii

5 products · all mineral

Mama Kuleana

1 products · all mineral

Manda

2 products · all mineral

Native

13 products · all mineral

Neutrogena

53 products · 10 mineral

Ocean Potion

23 products · 6 mineral

Panama Jack

38 products · 1 mineral

Raw Elements

14 products · all mineral

Salt & Stone

7 products · all mineral

Stream2Sea

19 products · all mineral

Sun Bum

45 products · 16 mineral

Suntribe

9 products · all mineral

Supergoop!

36 products · 7 mineral

Thinksport / Think

17 products · all mineral

Thrive Natural Care

3 products · all mineral

Trader Joe's

15 products · 3 mineral

up&up

34 products · 7 mineral

Vacation

32 products · 2 mineral