When is the best time (weather) to visit hawaii?

[krmlaw]

Would love your thoughts ... trying to plan our 1st trip.

 

[Luanne]

Again, depends on what kind of weather you're looking for. Summer will be warmer, all day. Spring and Fall will be warm during the days, but cooler in the mornings and evenings. You can probably find a "typical" weather chart on one of the online weather sites to get an idea of temps year round.

 

[BevL]

I personally can't imagine going to Hawaii in the summer - I go there to beat the rain and cold we have here on the west coast.

We've been in the spring, February or March, for the last three years out of four. Temps in the low 80s most days, some days might be a bit overcast but warm, warm, warm. I'd be looking at getting away from some east coast winter, if I had the choice.

 

[bobmcgraw]

Weather depends not only on the time of year but which island and what part of the island you are one. Pay attention to all three factors.

My favorites are spring and fall. Not as cool and wet as the winter and not as hot and crowded as the summer.

These are also the "low" seasons in Hawai'i, except for things like spring break, Thanksgiving, etc.

If you want to see whales, go in late fall or early spring.

Using my own personal preferences as a guide, my recommendation is April/May or Late September/October/Early November.

Kaua'i - North shore if you love lush, beautiful jungle and can tolerate regular rain, East shore if you want a mix of rain and a central location, South shore if you want sun. Tropical scenery and good beaches are present in all three.

Maui - Southwest shore - Wailea if you want dry climate (desert-like), lots of sun and great beaches, Northwest shore - Lahaina/Ka'anapali/Kapalua if you want nice beaches but a slightly wetter climate (not bad though) and some historical and entertainment dimensions.

O'ahu - North shore - eclectic and laid back, tropical. Southwest shore - (from what I have read. Haven't stayed there) Ko'olina - developing into more resortish, more sunny. Notice I did not recommend Waikiki? Nice to visit for a day or two but not for an entire stay, in my opinion.

Big Island - only been there once so can't speak to it in detail but Kailua-Kona to Waikoloa is dry, baby. South of Kailua-Kona gets more tropical. Hilo is definitely tropical.

Hope that helps.

 

[cgeidl]

Depends on what part of the island

We lived on Oahu for 18 months long ago and go every year.Spring and fall work best for us- better weather,less crowds, and easier air tickets and prices.
To some extent the winter can have lenghthy rainy sessions in ares especaiil on the North side lie Princeville so you roll the dice going then. The summer can feel very hot if the tradewinds stop.Nut cooler than our summer Phoenix weather.

 

[krmlaw]

omg i didnt realize how complicated it was for picking locations as well. we definately want sunny as possible ... and Im thinking october or november.

 

[BocaBum99]

My favorite time is February on Maui when the whale population peaks. The week prior to President's week is great because it's before the crowds get there. In addition, February probably has the highest variance from mainland temperatures. So, Hawaii feels the best relative to home for many who live is rough winter locations.

Otherwise, there really isn't a bad time to go to Hawaii unless there is a prolonged weather system that causes an extended period of constant rain. This winter was like that.

In the Winter the big waves are on the North Shore. In the Summer, it's calmer on the Na Pali Coast so that you can take a Zodiac boat into the caves.

It's also hottest in Aug, Sept, Oct. If you go in those months, make sure you get a unit with Air Conditioning.

 

[DeniseM]

omg i didnt realize how complicated it was for picking locations as well. we definately want sunny as possible ... and Im thinking october or november.

November is the start of the rainy season - if you want more sun, stick with October or earlier. It is possible to get a whole week of rain during the rainy season. Now when you look at a weather forecast for Hawaii, it will probably forecast rain every day year round, but don't panic. Although it's the norm to get a brief sprinkle every afternoon or at night even during the summer, the true rainy season is only Nov. - March.

With a 2 week trip you could do 2 islands (which we don't do any more but is nice when you are test-driving the islands.)

In a nutshell-

Oahu - has Pearl Harbor and tons of history, but it also has 75% of the population of the state. Honolulu is very urban with lots of shopping and night life.

Maui - the hardest exchange. The Ka'anapali Beach area is very resorty and nearby Lahaina is great for shopping and night life, but it's not urban like Oahu. Famous for the road to Hana, and Haleakala - an extinct volcano. I also like Maui because you can visit 2 other islands from Maui - Molokai and Lanai.

The Big Island of Hawaii - it has a lot of interesting things to see (like the active volcano) and has great snorkeling, but it was too barren for us. I don't think there are any timeshare resorts on the beach, because much of the coast is actually rolling lava beds which haven't had time to degrade into sand.

Kauai - My favorite island - laid back with less development than Maui or Oahu. Dry and sunny on the Poipu end and cool and lush with more rain on the Princeville end. Great beaches and Wiamea Canyon - the Grand Canyon of Hawaii.

Lanai - Relatively undeveloped except for 2 high end resorts and a small local town and a fancy golf course (no timeshares.) A fun day trip from Maui via catamaran.

Molokai - Really undeveloped - and the most Hawaiian of the islands. No resorts, no fine dining, no shopping. (They had a few, but all have closed.) There is a nice TS - the Ke Nani Kai. Oh yeah, and a leper's colony! We spent a week there and found it fascinating, but since there is no tourist infrastructure, you need to research and plan your trip. Also, a great day trip from Maui.

Click on the link under my name for my webpage and trip reports for Maui, Kauai, and Molokai.

 

[LisaRex]

I've traveled to Hawaii in November, April and July. The most rain we ever had was in November and that was just one day. In April '04 we never saw any rain in Wailea, but people in Kaanapali had non-stop rain.

Weather is very odd in Hawaii. Each island has microclimates based on its own unique geography. Maui has something like 7 different microclimates all on the space of an island that you can literally traverse in one day. Wailea, one of the major tourist areas, is desert like and your best chance of escaping rain, because the mountain Haleakala acts as a barrier.

Personally, I'd avoid scheduling my vacation around the weather prospects. Hawaii is beautiful year round and you'll never be able to predict the weather. Even if you have rain, unless it's a huge squall (which occasionally happens) there will be someplace on the island you can drive to to avoid it. Or you can just go about your business in the rain. We've hiked in the rain, swam in the rain, hot tubbed in the rain. Life is what you make it.

 

[jlr10]

We have travelled to Hawaii in September, October, November, July, and August. We experienced the most rain in a week in July in Kona (the lava desert.) We experienced the least rain in November in Princeville. Heaviest rainstorm was in August on Maui. Hurricane Iniki devestated the islands on September 11th. All of those experiences are not the standard weather patterns, with the exception of Iniki (Hurricane season June-November.) So although you can use weather patterns as guide remember that weather can be unpredictable.

That being said the best times, IMHO, if you have no children, are shoulder seasons April/May/early June, September/October/November. The weather is usually more mild, the crowds are less (except holiday times ie: Spring Break, Memorial Day,etc.) and the air fares are much lower during those times.

But I have found that even bad weather in Hawaii beats good weather at home. It is Hawaii! In the interest of more research we are planning a trip for May. We will keep you posted.

 

[slabeaume]

We like going in FEb./March. We know that the weather then WILL be better then back here in St. Louis!

 

[BocaBum99]

We have travelled to Hawaii in September, October, November, July, and August. We experienced the most rain in a week in July in Kona (the lava desert.) We experienced the least rain in November in Princeville. Heaviest rainstorm was in August on Maui. Hurricane Iniki devestated the islands on September 11th. All of those experiences are not the standard weather patterns, with the exception of Iniki (Hurricane season June-November.) So although you can use weather patterns as guide remember that weather can be unpredictable.

That being said the best times, IMHO, if you have no children, are shoulder seasons April/May/early June, September/October/November. The weather is usually more mild, the crowds are less (except holiday times ie: Spring Break, Memorial Day,etc.) and the air fares are much lower during those times.

But I have found that even bad weather in Hawaii beats good weather at home. It is Hawaii! In the interest of more research we are planning a trip for May. We will keep you posted.

Your observation about weather being milder in the shoulder seasons is incorrect. The hottest months of the year are July, August and Sept. Oct is also very hot. The mild months are Dec-April when the lows get into the 60's and the highs are in the low 80's. From Mid-June until Nov, you need to have air conditioning to be comfortable in the afternoons.

 

[jlr10]

Your observation about weather being milder in the shoulder seasons is incorrect. The hottest months of the year are July, August and Sept. Oct is also very hot. The mild months are Dec-April when the lows get into the 60's and the highs are in the low 80's. From Mid-June until Nov, you need to have air conditioning to be comfortable in the afternoons.

Sorry for the confusion. I did not mean the mildest time of year. I meant milder than the heat of summer months or the rain of winter months. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[krmlaw]

ok, looks like october or summer might be best for us. unfortunately with my job i cant travel january to june.

 

[LisaRex]

ok, looks like october or summer might be best for us. unfortunately with my job i cant travel january to june.

Note that everything from airfare to rental cars are higher in the summer because that's high season (when the kids are out of school). If I had to choose between October and the summer, without a doubt I'd choose October.

And if you're looking for an exchange, October should be a cinch compared to the summer.

Good luck. You'll love Hawaii.

 

[DeniseM]

I'd go with October too - still great weather, fewer people, and cheaper.

 

[Werner]

Keep in mind that weather, even in Hawaii, is always a statistical crap shoot. One week's experience during any season could be completely "unseasonal". We have been to all the major islands on 4 trips these past 5 years, including Kauai all 4 times. All the islands have wetter north and east shores where the local terrain and tradewinds create showers. They all have drier and sunnier south and west shores that are in the rain shadow of the island's central mountain or mountains.

However, there is more at work than local weather effects. In the summer the temperatures are, on average, only 3 or 4 degrees warmer than in winter but note the "on average". In summer, the dominant wind is a mild trade wind from the northeast. Both the north shore and south shore beaches are "usually" calm in summer, calm enough that small boat activity like kayaking and zodiacs run almost every day on the northern Na Pali coast of Kauai.

This biggest difference between summer and winter is wind strength and direction which affects water activities. In winter there are enormous weather systems that move across the pacific that bring wind, chilly temperatures and often, torrential rains. If you happen to be in Hawaii when one of these disturbances passes through it can be dreary. Storms in the North Pacific create enormous waves that are tracked by the local weathermen to alert the surfing community that "Jaws" is coming to the northern shores. Ocean activities like kayaking, snorkeling, beaching are limited to rivers or to protected beaches like 'Anini or Salt Pond or Poipu on Kauai and bigger tour boats get pounded by the heavy seas more often.

Of our four recent trips, 3 were in winter, one was in summer and they totalled 10 weeks.

Feb/Mar '09, Oahu 1 wk / Kauai 2 wk - 1st 2 weeks; very strong and cool tradewinds, swimming was uncomfortably cool, especially if the sun wasn't out. On Kauai, the lagoon at Ke'e Beach looked like a churning cauldron. The lifeguards didn't want anyone to even put a toe in the water. 'Anini, Salt Pond and Poipu were safe. The 3rd week was absolutely gorgeous; sunny and dry (except on the mountain).

Aug /Sept '07 BI 1 wk / Kauai 2 wk - Beautiful weather all 3 weeks. However, the 2nd week in Sept, the first of the winter surfs showed up on the north shore (from a storm far out to sea) and shut down all north shore ocean kayaking and constrained small boat activity (couldn't enter the sea caves). The folks at Kauai Outfitters told us that they normally stop the Na Pali kayak trips in Sept.

Mar '06, Maui 1k / Kauai 1 wk. - This was right in the middle of the now infamous 40 days of rain on Kauai. The first week, on Maui, Ka'anapali was warm and sunny but 2 days in Hana was mostly rain. The night we arrived on Kauai was the night the Ka Lo Ko Dam broke. It rained so hard all night(even in Poipu) it was scary. The owner's meeting during that week was a discussion about the evacuation plan in case the dam in Koloa broke. This was not a fun trip. It rained nearly continuously every day that week except the last. By Tuesday we had run out of rainy day activities.

Jan '05, Maui 1 wk / Kauai 1 wk - Mostly sunny and warm. However, snorkeling was poor on Kauai and swimming restricted to reef-protected beaches because of a strong Kona wind blowing from the southeast and a typical winter surf on the north shore affected activities there as well. In winter, Kona winds blow 40% to 50% of the time; in summer, less than 20%.

Our original plan in buying at Poipu was to make Hawaii our winter warm-weather getaway. Now that we have done these 4 trips our plan has changed to now alternate between summer and winter trips on an 18 months schedule. Although it is warmer in summer, the weather and surf/beach conditions are more reliable for water activities, and I believe the mountain is more "user friendly" in summer. Granted, a bad winter day is Hawaii is a lot better than most winter days in the northeast, but we really enjoyed the expanded boating and hiking activities on our summer trip.

If you go to any of the islands in winter you should learn which beaches are protected under the various wind and surf conditions you are likely to encounter. Even on the day that Ke'e Beach was churning and closed to swimming, a few miles away 'Anini was calm as a duck pond. Salt Pond is always calm and Poipu is usually OK. Open beaches like Lumaha'i can be deadly.

PS, I should add that our plan to do more summer trips really means Sept. Much later than that and the north shore activities are affected by high surf.

 

[BocaBum99]

ok, looks like october or summer might be best for us. unfortunately with my job i cant travel january to june.

Peak summer is July, Aug and Sept. Hot beach weather. Transitional months are May and Oct. Still very hot. The extremely pleasant weather is Dec-April.

If you want summer like weather, Oct is great.

If you want cool evenings in the high 60's, then try early December before the holidays. Great time to be in Hawaii except when the weather doesn't cooperate like this year.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Molokai does have Ke Nani Kai, a timeshare resort.

 

[Luanne]

Molokai does have Ke Nani Kai, a timeshare resort.

I think Denise mentioned this one in her post. We stayed there, I loved Molokai, the rest of the family was kind of lukewarm about it.

And just to add my two cents. The one year I went in October we had the worst weather of any trip, except a couple of years ago in March. But, I think the weather for both of those trips was not typcial.

 

[linsj]

I was in Honolulu the end of February/beginning of March, and it was the worst weather I've ever had in Hawaii. Rained hard almost every day, with high winds. But it was still better than Chicago! Other years when I've been there in February, the weather was wonderful. So there's no predicting.

 

[BocaBum99]

I was in Honolulu the end of February/beginning of March, and it was the worst weather I've ever had in Hawaii. Rained hard almost every day, with high winds. But it was still better than Chicago! Other years when I've been there in February, the weather was wonderful. So there's no predicting.

Yep, this winter has been very cloudy, rainy and cold (for Hawaii). That's outside the normal, though.

 

[danb]

Hawaii Weather

My favorite time is anytime. If I can get reasonable airfare and have the vacation time, we will go anytime. I love the islands and in my opinion there isn't a bad time. I all depends how inflexable you are. The islands are great and you can enjoy them anytime.
I am sitting on my deck in New england and it is nice out. we are listening to hawaiian music and looking forward to our trip in July.

 

[DeniseM]

Molokai does have Ke Nani Kai, a timeshare resort.

Still true!

Molokai - Really undeveloped - and the most Hawaiian of the islands. No resorts, no fine dining, no shopping. (They had a few, but all have closed.) There is a nice TS - the Ke Nani Kai.

 

[jestme]

My favorite time is anytime. If I can get reasonable airfare and have the vacation time, we will go anytime. I love the islands and in my opinion there isn't a bad time. I all depends how inflexable you are. The islands are great and you can enjoy them anytime.
I am sitting on my deck in New england and it is nice out. we are listening to hawaiian music and looking forward to our trip in July.

I agree. The best time to be in Hawaii is 1:00 PM. Any day!