# It's hot on Maui in summer without air conditioning



## rickandcindy23 (Sep 10, 2015)

I thought we would melt this past few weeks.  The temperature hit 98 degrees several different days of our trip.  By 1 PM most days, it was already 89 degrees.

We just arrived back home on Sunday after two weeks in our home resort, which has no AC because the trade winds supposedly always keep it cool.   Well, not really.  The trades were not blowing more than about four days of the two weeks, and our unit faces West, directly oceanfront in West Maui, so it was hot!  

The five sliding doors facing west in our unit were ushering in the sunshine, even though they all have blinds and tinted windows, which we kept closed from noon on.  The sun really didn't come in until around 5 PM, but about 4 PM it was unbelievably hot in the unit, and we had to get out of there. 

The restaurants on Maui are almost all open air, and there were no breezes, so people weren't in those restaurants much.  It was simply too hot to even sit in the shade.  The stores were packed with people, as were the movie theaters.  

This was unusual for Maui because we have been in August and didn't get this warm.  The tropical storms were keeping the trade winds from blowing, and supposedly that was a lot of the problem.  We prayed for rain every day to cool things off.  

Was anyone else on Maui during this heatwave?  The lack of AC had me watching for last-minute weeks in units with AC, but Rick told me not to worry about it.  The nights were cool enough with the fans and the cooler temperatures.  

This was literally the first time we returned from Maui and weren't sad about leaving.


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## Luanne (Sep 10, 2015)

Hawaii during the summer without a/c is not something I will do.


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## artringwald (Sep 11, 2015)

We've been in Hawaii in the winter when it was too hot and humid to survive without AC. When the Kona winds get going, it's not that windy, and the humidity goes way up. It doesn't happen often, but we always make sure the resort where we go has AC.


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## Carlsbadguy (Sep 11, 2015)

I was in Maui the end of August and found it very hot. A lot of the local people were complaining how hot it was. We spent one day visiting a friend that lives up in the mountains in Kula and it was 15 degrees cooler there and we had a big rainstorm there.


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## topdog (Sep 11, 2015)

Yikes!  Cannot imagine it.  We felt hot even with air conditioned units going out to eat and such.


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## Conan (Sep 11, 2015)

We were at Maui Hill, thankfully air conditioned. 

Our murderously hot experience was the luau at the Wailea Beach Marriott. The selling point there is its oceanfront location. The program starts at 4:30 when the sun is still high, shining directly into the faces of the audience. 

The plus for us is the water is so warm this year, we could snorkel literally for hours without feeling the least chill. Anyway the fish didn't seem to mind.


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## Sugarcubesea (Sep 11, 2015)

I’m nervous that when we go in August of 2016 at SOK, that we will experience the same issue… My hubby is a big old baby and he will complain non stop if he is all sweaty and hot….ugh, should I worry?


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## bastroum (Sep 11, 2015)

We spend a lot of time in both Honolulu and Lahaina during the summer. This year, between June 12 and July 24, was the worst summer for heat and lack of trade winds in the 15 years we've been doing this. Maui was almost unbearable in July due to the lack of trade winds.


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## Sugarcubesea (Sep 11, 2015)

bastroum said:


> We spend a lot of time in both Honolulu and Lahaina during the summer. This year, between June 12 and July 24, was the worst summer for heat and lack of trade winds in the 15 years we've been doing this. Maui was almost unbearable in July due to the lack of trade winds.



Hopefully 2016 will contain better trade winds during Mid-August, when we will be there


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## klpca (Sep 11, 2015)

Can confirm. Summers can be brutal. We used to go to Hawaii to celebrate our anniversary - in late July. We finally had to give it up. One year we were on the Big Island when the temps were over 95 every day and the humidity was nearly as high. We kept driving over to the Hilo side because it was so much cooler. We do a lot of hiking in Hawaii and it was just too hot and humid.


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## riverdees05 (Sep 11, 2015)

We are going to be there the first part of June next year.  Hoping for good weather!


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## rickandcindy23 (Sep 11, 2015)

The gal (Donna) in the office at Hono Koa was saying something about the need for AC, but I am unsure whether the management company is considering it.  I love Hono Koa, but the management company is something else altogether.  We have fee increases every year and no real reason as to why.  I can only imagine what they would charge owners for AC units in those living rooms.  Don't get me wrong, the employees we deal with directly are great, but I have no idea who we can call to vote for AC.  We don't get the notices of HOA meetings or information about board members or anything like that at Hono Koa, so I assume Consolidated/ Soleil just runs everything and doesn't care about owners.  It sure seems that way.  

I guarantee that if AC is going in at any of the resorts, they will start with Sands of Kahana first, since it's the largest and most likely to stay Gold Crown.  Hono Koa will be down the list somewhere.  Gardens at West Maui does have AC, and we used to own there.


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## PamMo (Sep 11, 2015)

Yikes, Cindy! That heat sounds brutal! We're planning an extended stay in Hawaii next summer, and I felt silly cancelling a booking into a resort without A/C. This thread makes me think my wimpy decision was a good one. My husband can't live without A/C at night in the summer.


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## Luanne (Sep 11, 2015)

I think over the years the weather on the islands has changed.  We bought our timeshare at Maui Hill back in 1986.  Our first week was in June, we exchanged it and sized up to a week the end of August.  The first years we went we never used the a/c.  We got wonderful breezes that kept the unit very comfortable.  It's only been in the last 10 years or so that we've found it necessary to use the a/c.

The Kona area of the Big Island is one I would consider brutal without a/c.  We stayed in one place (twice) without a/c during the summer.  Never again.  We ended up staying out of the unit as much as possible, and this meant eating out a lot since it was too hot in the unit to cook.


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## luvmytimeshare (Sep 11, 2015)

On Maui and Kauai from Aug 9 to Sept 12.  The humidity has been terrible. In 12 years of coming to Hawaii it has never felt like this.  For the last week the ocean has been very rough and the water is cloudy with logs floating in it. Still LOVE Hawaii.


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## slip (Sep 11, 2015)

I read that it was the warmest and most humid July and August in Hawaii in
The last 30 years. They blamed it on the tropical storms taking away the trade
Winds. My resorts have AC but as I get older I'm having an easier time with
The heat but I know I would have had an issue with those temps and humidity.
Welcome home Cindy, you'll be getting snow soon enough.


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## mlpmd56 (Sep 15, 2015)

*A/C*

I am so glad to read these posts.  I have been wondering if I have been crazy and a wimp all these years.  I HAVE to have A/C.  I grew up in St. Louis, was a lifeguard all through high school & college in horrible heat and humidity.  I think I must have hit my limit/quota back then.  I am sorry to hear that folks did not have their usual fantastic Hawaii experience, however.  After hearing from Cindy, I am glad I refrained from trying to buy one of those Koa Units that I have been lusting after whenever they show up on Ebay.  Hona Koa has always fascinated me, reminds me of the Maui Schooner that I do own, but I was scared away by lack of air conditioning and the management company.  Even just calling Consolidated once in an effort to get information and ask about rentals convinced me I never wanted to deal with them as an owner.
So sad to hear how everyone was HOT!!!  We are all spoiled by our usual perfect Hawaii vacations......
Marcy


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## TFTG (Sep 17, 2015)

Just got back from Maui and it was very hot and humid.  It was very different from last year and previous years we've gone.  I asked a lot of the locals and they said it's been many years since its been like that.  Most likely the tropical storms and el nino weather pattern developing in the Pacific.


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## rickandcindy23 (Sep 17, 2015)

> After hearing from Cindy, I am glad I refrained from trying to buy one of those Koa Units that I have been lusting after whenever they show up on Ebay. Hona Koa has always fascinated me, reminds me of the Maui Schooner that I do own, but I was scared away by lack of air conditioning and the management company.



We have stayed at Hono Koa several years and never had this kind of weather, and in February-April the weather is perfect.  My mother-in-law is 87 and wears a sweater all the time.  

I guess we just picked the wrong summer to stay there.  Snorkeling in front of our unit has always been the goal for a summer stay.  The water in front of Hono Koa was choppy from the storms...

The management company is horrible and lacks communication skills, that's for sure.  Our friends have owned a Koa unit for about 10 years and have seen their fees go from $900 with taxes to $1579.13 this year.  Sorry about the exactness of the amount--it's just so aggravating I cannot help it.


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## PassionForTravel (Sep 18, 2015)

I've never understood the allure of Hawaii in the summer. We did it once, my son was a about 5 (he's 30 now). We were in Kona without AC and the first day we watched a movie about Volcano National Park. That night he woke up and was crying that the "hot hot lava" was coming to get him since it was so hot in the unit. It was hard not to laugh and be reassuring parents. We were so glad to get to Waikiki where we had AC.  

First and last time I did Hawaii in the summer. So much happier in Nov/Dec or March/April, usually we never turn the AC on, we have have the windows open enjoying the wonderful balmy breezes.

Ian


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## HenryT (Sep 18, 2015)

PassionForTravel said:


> I've never understood the allure of Hawaii in the summer. We did it once, my son was a about 5 (he's 30 now). We were in Kona without AC and the first day we watched a movie about Volcano National Park. That night he woke up and was crying that the "hot hot lava" was coming to get him since it was so hot in the unit. It was hard not to laugh and be reassuring parents. We were so glad to get to Waikiki where we had AC.
> 
> First and last time I did Hawaii in the summer. So much happier in Nov/Dec or March/April, usually we never turn the AC on, we have have the windows open enjoying the wonderful balmy breezes.
> 
> Ian



The allure of course is that for families with school-age children you can go on vacation without taking your kids out of school. The other two options (Spring Break and Christmas) can be a lot more expensive and if you want to go for 2 weeks without impacting school, the summer is your only option.

Of course I would never go in the summer if my unit did not have AC. I used to own a 2 bedroom unit at Sands of Kahana which did not have AC but I only went in the winter before my son was in school. Once he started school I sold the unit.

I will be in Hawaii next July for 2 weeks (Oahu and Big Island) but it will be AC all the way (HGVC Lagoon Tower and Kohala Suites).


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