After his release, Nāwahī's health deteriorated from the tuberculosis he had contracted during his imprisonment in the damp cells of Oahu Prison. On the recommendation of his doctor to seek a change of climate, he and his wife left Hawaii for a trip to San Francisco, California to improve his health. They left Honolulu aboard the steamer "Alameda" on August 20, 1896, along with the families of Edward C. MacFarlane and Hermann A. Widemann, both influential royalists and former cabinet ministers of Liliʻuokalani. "The Independent" optimistically noted, "When our friend Joe comes back he may be able to hail a popular government in Hawaii". The trip did not have the expected outcome. On September 14, 1896, Nāwahī died in San Francisco, from tuberculosis. According to Silva, his last words were to his wife Emma, apologizing for "taking her so far from the '"äina" and from her family and friends, to deal with his death alone in a foreign place."