Hawaii- dry months April to Oct.?

Are these months the best time to go ?

I've been to Hawaii in April, August, September and December. The weather, for the most part, was undistinquishable to me as a tourist. I will say that our most recent September trip to The Big Island was probably the wettest and cloudiest ever. But we've also been other years in September and the weather was perfect.

It also makes a difference as to what Island and in some cases, what part of the island, you're visiting. The Hilo side of The Big Island is probably always rainy.

It's Hawaii. Go and have a great time!!

The weather was not that good beginning of November

Were were on the Big Island the beginning of November and we saw a lot of bad weather, and evidently at the same time Honolulu flooded from so much rain. Although it was the only time I had been to the Big Island it just gives me an excuse to go back again.

Even though I thought the weather ruined a lot of good photos I was just so happy to be there it did not bother me. We asked a lot of questions about the weather and the basic answer was it is usually always nice.

Now I am originally from Cleveland Ohio and I know that would be a statement I could never make if someone asked about Cleveland weather! :rofl:

What about Maui?

Take a look at this web page on yahoo

http://weather.yahoo.com/climo/USHI0026_f.html

May - September is best. In regards to which side of the island; the south side and west side get the least amount of rain. This is true for all islands. The reason is the wind normally blows from the NE and when the rain clouds his the northeast side of the island, it will rain the most on that side.

mlsmn said:

Are these months the best time to go ?

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No! There are no whales then!

"Best" is way too subjective. If you meant "driest" then check the weather link above. Hottest & driest months are the summer months and wettest months are usually Jan.-Mar., just like most places in N. America. And, all islands usually get the same weather. The windward sides are usually wetter than the leeward sides. There, that's all you'll ever need to know about HI weather. Just kidding.

Phil

Maui

I've been to Maui all times of the year. I can't tell the difference except that the ocean is a little cooler in the winter and there is a little more wind during the summer. There are more flowers in the rain forest during the spring and more waterfalls in the winter. All in all, there is no such thing as a bad day in Maui (or a bad season).

You should also consider the fact that most islands have a wet side (like Hana and the rain forest) and a dry side (Lahaina and Kaanapali) that get little rain, even in the winter.

Not so with Tahiti and Fiji (Monsoon seasons are rainy for weeks at a time).

I use this site alot when planning vacations. It gives you actual data going bqck a couple of years so, you can get idea of what the weather is like:

http://www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.asp

We like to snorkel, and have children, so for us we find that the winter months have too big of waves to make the ocean "usable" in many areas (for either swimming or snorkelling) and the ocean feels quite a bit cooler (still certainly not cold, but like the difference in the water temperature in Miami between January and July).
You're more likely to hit rain in the winter months.
In the summer, you WON'T see whales and you won't see surfers on the really big waves.
Your chances of having good weather at any given time of year are probably better in Hawaii than most places. But like anywhere else, the weather can still prove to be unpredicatable.
Where are you coming from? If you're coming from Texas or southern California, your need for sunny & dry might be quite different than those of us hailing from the upper midwest or Seattle!

It sounds to me like hot, dry, sunny weather is what you really, really want (I'm with you on this one!). I would aim for July or August. Staying on the south or west side of an island will make you happier (for example, on Kauai, go for Poipu rather than Princeville or Lihue. On Hawaii, go for Kailua-Kona rather than Hilo. On Maui, head to Wailea/Kihei or Kaanapali/Lahaina rather than Hana).

I'm going in July next year because I'm bringing the kids and don't want to take them out of school. When I travel without them, I go off-season. With nearly perfect weather year round, less traffic/crowds is more important to me than whether it might rain a day or two.

If you haven't seen the whales, I'd go in the winter at least once. Otherwise I'd go anytime that isn't the summer or a holiday.

They're in the midst of a severe drought, so I wouldn't worry about rain if you're going soon.

Carol, that's funny. It's been raining cats and dogs for the last two weeks.

This is a very timely post...I've been to Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai in Jan, Feb, and March...the weather has been pretty much the same. The crowds were more in March (guess I ran into Easter/Spring Break). Love to travel January and February.

Next year we are going somewhere between Nov & Dec (to Oahu and then Maui).

So, now I'm thinking crowds (and flight costs) as opposed to weather...anyone have any idea if there is a (big) difference between Nov 1 (not Thanksgiving week) and Dec (not Christmas week)?

I know of several other places that say that crowds are minimal between Thanksgiving and Christmas since people are generally involved in other things but didn't know if the same holds true in HI.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Ilene

The weather on the islands doesn't vary as much by time of year as it does by location. For examples, on the Big Island, Hilo is on the windward side and gets 300+ inches of rain per year. South Kohala is on the leeward side and gets 10 inches of rain per year. Mauna Kea currently has snow on top while on the coasts, the daily high is about 80 degrees. Each location has more or less the same weather throughout the year, plus or minus 5 degrees.

luvgoldns said:

So, now I'm thinking crowds (and flight costs) as opposed to weather...anyone have any idea if there is a (big) difference between Nov 1 (not Thanksgiving week) and Dec (not Christmas week)?

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No. November and the first week or so in December are considered low season. Crowds are very manageable.

Honu

Guess what? We always travel in February but we stay on the dry side of the island. We have NEVER had a problem. We just watch the forcast and travel to the wet side on good days. Pretty simple!