# Time of Year for Big Island?



## JulieAB (Mar 7, 2015)

We're planning for Kings' Land in Waikoloa and wondering what time of year to go.  We're not bound by school schedules, and we prefer things less crowded.   We'd like it to be warm enough for the beach (we're from AZ and used to warmth!). We went to Waikiki in July and crowds were manageable and weather was perfect.

I was also hoping to get good flight deals and seem to remember October is low season, but DH doesn't want to wait that long and prefers something mid-year.  Thoughts?


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## DeniseM (Mar 7, 2015)

Weather and rain:  http://www.hawaiigaga.com/WeatherGuide.aspx#maui

You are going to get cooler temps, and more rain, in the winter.


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## Luanne (Mar 7, 2015)

I always any time of year in Hawaii is the best time. 

If you want to avoid crowds, although we'd go during the summer and never found the Big Island to get terribly crowded, and don't want to wait until October, how about April or May?  Just be sure to avoid Spring Break.


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## SmithOp (Mar 7, 2015)

April/May and Sep/Oct is gold season for HGVC Hawaii properties, we like May before school is out.  We went in March once and saw a lot of whales breaching and tail slapping from the Waikoloa beaches.  Just watch out for the triathlons, Waikoloa gets crowded the week leading up to the races, Lavaman and Ironman.  We hit Lavaman the last week of March, never seen so many fit people in one place.  I was fun to wander through the crowds and watch the event but the traffic was bad, they close off half the road for the running and biking.  Ironman is in the fall in Kona, they bike up to Waikoloa and return.


Sent from my iPad using the strange new version of Tapatalk


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## MuranoJo (Mar 8, 2015)

We went to King's Land in mid September a few years back, and the weather (and water) were wonderful.  Crowds were down, too.


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## tompalm (Mar 8, 2015)

Sep/Oct would be a lot warmer for the beach. The ocean water is definitely a lot warmer than Apr/May. Either of those times are good. Just make sure you avoid any period that the kids are out of school and the crowds will be smaller. There is a period when Fall break occurs around the end of September, but usually you can figure out that period because the airfare will be higher.


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## BocaBoy (Mar 8, 2015)

tompalm said:


> Sep/Oct would be a lot warmer for the beach. The ocean water is definitely a lot warmer than Apr/May. Either of those times are good.



A "lot" warmer?  Come on, the air and water temperatures differ by only a few degrees throughout the year.  September/October is very slightly warmer than April/May.  We always go to Hawaii in the winter and the water is warm and very comfortable.


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## DeniseM (Mar 8, 2015)

BocaBoy said:


> *Location: Minnesota* A "lot" warmer?  Come on, the air and water temperatures differ by only a few degrees throughout the year.  September/October is very slightly warmer than April/May.  We always go to Hawaii in the winter and the water is warm and very comfortable.



My guess is that the perception of "warm" is far different for someone from Minnesota vs someone from Hawaii or AZ.


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## slip (Mar 8, 2015)

I was going to respond to that too but thought the same thing Denise said.
It reminds me of people from New York and LA don't usually complain about the
Traffic in Kapaa on Kauai.


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## DeniseM (Mar 8, 2015)

Our heat was out for 10 days this winter, and the temperature in the house was in the low 60's for days.  

I was freezing, but my DH who is from PA said, "You know, we really don't need to run the furnace in the winter, we are doing fine without it."  NOT!


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## Jim Bryan (Mar 8, 2015)

Been several times during May. Usually stay the whole Month or most of it. It's nice then.


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## Luanne (Mar 8, 2015)

And I hate to mention it, but the last time dh and I were on the Big Island which was beginning September, it was miserable.  It was hotter than I ever remember it being.  We were staying 2 nights in Volcano, then 5 nights in Kona.  We swore we'd never go back during the summer, or early September again.  We much prefer March.


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## Ralph Sir Edward (Mar 8, 2015)

From a South Texas native's perspective...

The ocean's never going to be very warm. Upper 70's in September, lower '70s in Feb. (As a comparison, temp get into the mid-to-upper 80's, at Padre Island in September. Thar's warm water, buckaroo...)

Air temp will range from upper 60s to mid-to-upper 80s in Feb, mid 70s- to around 90 in September. If the winds stop, (and they do a few times a year), all bets are off. I've been in 100+ temps. (Just like Texas in July...)

Kohala get about 5-8" of rain a year.

(Kona's patterns are different. The old Texas joke about weather is "wait 5 minutes and it'll change". The Hawaiin equivalent is "walk 5 feet and it'll change". The OP asked about Kohala.)


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## Harry (Mar 8, 2015)

We go every February. Unlike Mauai and Kauai I can not recall many days we were unable to be on the beach in the south or west parts of the island. Hilo and volcano get much more rain.

Harry


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## BocaBoy (Mar 8, 2015)

DeniseM said:


> My guess is that the perception of "warm" is far different for someone from Minnesota vs someone from Hawaii or AZ.



Maybe so, but my point was the difference in Hawaii temps between the various times of the year is very small.  Difference in warmth between Minnesota and Hawaii is irrelevant to that issue.  And by the way, summer highs in the Twin Cities are very similar to Hawaii temperatures, and we are more likely to have days in the 90's.  We do know what warm feels like.


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## tompalm (Mar 8, 2015)

Luanne said:


> And I hate to mention it, but the last time dh and I were on the Big Island which was beginning September, it was miserable.  It was hotter than I ever remember it being.  We were staying 2 nights in Volcano, then 5 nights in Kona.  We swore we'd never go back during the summer, or early September again.  We much prefer March.



This is probably the best advice and September is one of the hottest months.  Also, the west side of the big island is the hottest place to be.  So, I vote for May being the best time to go.  

Hawaii temps are from the ocean temp and the ocean current that moves from Alaska, to California and then to Hawaii.  So, the snow melting in Alaska during the summer causes the coldest water.  But that cold water doesn't arrive in Hawaii until December and the warmest water hits about July, August and September.  The water temp might only change about 6-10 degrees, but it makes a difference when diving or jumping in.  So, if skin diving everyday off the beach is your thing, maybe go when it is a little warmer.  But, if you are used to cold weather, than it is probably not a big deal.  My brother in law from Los Angles does a lot of surfing in CA and thinks the water here is great all the time.  I don't think it is worth dealing with the hot weather on the west side of the island to be here in September.  May is a lot nicer.


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## tompalm (Mar 8, 2015)

Here is a list of cold water in the islands.  Looks like the coldest water hits in January  

http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/all_meanT.html

Hawaiian Island Coast

Location	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC
Honolulu
Oahu Island	76	76	76	76	78	79	80	80	81	81	79	77
Hilo
Hawaii Island	72	72	71	72	72	74	74	75	75	75	74	73
Kahului
Maui Island	76	75	75	76	78	79	79	80	80	80	78	77
Kawaihae
Hawaii Island	78	77	77	78	79	80	81	81	80	81	80	78
Mokuoloe, Oahu Island	73	74	74	75	77	79	79	80	80	78	76	74
Nawilinii
Kauai Island	77	77	77	78	79	81	82	82	83	82	80	78


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## cgeidl (Mar 11, 2015)

*No trade winds*

What makes mid September seem stifling hot is the often absence of any tradewinds on the Kona Coast. We have experienced this twice and would not go to Kona at that time of year


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## Luanne (Mar 11, 2015)

cgeidl said:


> What makes mid September seem stifling hot is the often absence of any tradewinds on the Kona Coast. We have experienced this twice and would not go to Kona at that time of year



We were also on Maui right before going to Kona and it was hotter, and more humid, there than in the past.  I think it was just a "bad" week.


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## loosefeet (Mar 12, 2015)

I much prefer Spring to Fall.  Have been there every time of year-love all seasons, but September can be muggy and shorter days.  Spring was warm, but quite tolerable, occ needed a wrap if a breeze.  Sometimes it will rain.  That's the tropics!


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## rfc0001 (Mar 12, 2015)

JulieAB said:


> We're planning for Kings' Land in Waikoloa and wondering what time of year to go.  We're not bound by school schedules, and we prefer things less crowded.   We'd like it to be warm enough for the beach (we're from AZ and used to warmth!). We went to Waikiki in July and crowds were manageable and weather was perfect.
> 
> I was also hoping to get good flight deals and seem to remember October is low season, but DH doesn't want to wait that long and prefers something mid-year.  Thoughts?


September-Thanksgiving and beginning of early December are slow times.  Jan-Feb and May are next slowest.

Keep ocean/air temperature comments in perspective -- anywhere else in the world ocean temps in the high 70s and air temps of 90 would be perfect weather -- there truly is not bad weather any time in Hawaii -- been dozens of times throughout the year and never one had consistently bad weather.  Ocean was a bit rough in December in Kauai FWIW.


Jim Bryan said:


> Been several times during May. Usually stay the whole Month or most of it. It's nice then.


Exception is Golden Week in Japan (April 29-May 5)


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## BocaBoy (Mar 14, 2015)

rfc0001 said:


> September-Thanksgiving and beginning of early December are slow times.  *Jan-Feb* and May are *next slowest*.



February a slow time in Hawaii?  NOT!


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## rfc0001 (Mar 14, 2015)

BocaBoy said:


> February a slow time in Hawaii?  NOT!


*Next* slowest -- March-April is spring break season, May is Golden Week, June-August is Summer.  Sept-early Nov is definitely the slow*est*.  It's relative.  I certainly would recommend Jan-Feb over Mar-Apr. or beyond.


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## klpca (Mar 16, 2015)

Our wedding anniversary is in late July. The first time that we were on the BI for our anniversary the weather was absolutely perfect. The water was in low 80's, air temps were in the mid to upper 80's. Trade winds were blowing. It was magical. We decided to go the next year at the same time. OMG - hot and humid like I couldn't believe. We drove our convertible around with the ac on full blast, but eventually had to put the top up. We figured that the hot weather was a fluke (we're optimists like that) so we went back a few more times for our anniversary. I'm here to tell you that in our somewhat limited research, July is hot and humid. This is confirmed by my uncle who lives in Kohala. For years he told us that we were nuts to visit in the summer. He was right.

I vote for fall - although my uncle also tells me that the sharks go to "scratch their bellies on the sand" in the fall and that we shouldn't snorkel then. I think of that advice every time we snorkel in November.  So far so good....


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## DeniseM (Mar 16, 2015)

Feb. (weeks 5-8) is high season - nearly as busy as July.

Hawaii Travel Demand Index:


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## tompalm (Mar 19, 2015)

DeniseM said:


> Feb. (weeks 5-8) is high season - nearly as busy as July.



That is a nice chart Denise.  My only thoughts are that is the timeshare demand and not the actual travel or total demand on rooms.  I know for a fact that Spring Break is the most busy time for the airlines and the hotels and for Waikiki year after year.  The timeshares are all full too.  There is a three or four week period that is best to avoid.  Maybe a lot of the folks coming over rent hotel rooms and they don't show up on your demand chart.  Summer is the definitely the highest demand for families and that is why the timeshare demand is so high during the summer months.


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## Jim Bryan (Mar 20, 2015)

Never been to Japan.


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## Blues (Mar 20, 2015)

One reason that Sept - Nov is a slow season is that is also hurricane season.  We went once in Nov and got torrential rain.  Went last Oct and after a week on the BI we went to Maui for a week, but had to leave after 5 days because of a predicted hurricane.

-Bob


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## cgeidl (Mar 24, 2015)

*Demand Chart doesn't make sense*

Only three weeks of 52 are below average demand. Shouldn't about half be below average. Also timeshare demand doesn'necessarilly align with the other non time sharing travelers  travel demand usage.


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## topdog (Mar 24, 2015)

We were there last year late Sept early Oct.  No trade winds unfortunately, but the water was perfect, just right, A++


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