gur

Hi,
We are going to the Big Island, Hawaii, in a couple of weeks. We are planning on spending half our time on the rainy east side. I see that most places don't have air conditioning on the east side. However, I am a little worried because we are coming from the dry Bay Area where the high/low are about 85/55 while for humid Hilo it's 83/69 this time of year. Should I be worried about not having air conditioning? I'm used to having it at work, and it's not needed with such lows at night in the Bay Area. Thanks!

MelissaHI

You may want to repost with the title: Going to Hilo, need a place with air conditioning.

If you are going in a couple of weeks, don't you already have your hotel selected? In my experience, Hilo's temperatures can drop 10 degrees in 10 seconds and it's normally quite cool. Not as cool as the Bay Area, but I've not needed A/C there. Then again, I live in Honolulu.

volcanogirl

Hi, gur - we didn't have ac while we were in Hilo or Volcano. We kept the windows open to catch the breeze. I'm from Houston, so I'm completely used to running the ac all the time, and I was fine without it. It rained the entire time we were in Hilo, so that may have helped to drop the temps.

justme22

stayed in kona area pretty far up from sea level, i guess i am just spoiled or am a wimp. i didn't have ac and really wanted it, it's not all about the temp, everything feels damp. i didn't have ac in maui either and would have preferred it. had it in kauai and it was wonderful! you can do "ok" but if you like ac you should find a place with ac so you don't have to worry about it. i know that i prefer it so it's on my necessity list for vacations in warm climates!
maybe i need to change my name on this board to just a wimp!

bfrac

We prefer a/c., especially for sleeping at night. Yes, Hilo is supposed to be cooler but with the rainfall it can be humid and a/c makes the room more comfortable at night. It is really a matter of personal preference so do what is right for you.

suze

To me this question is not so much about Hawaii, but rather do you like to have air conditioning?

I have never felt the need for it myself visiting Oahu or Maui, but then I prefer open windows and a ceiling fan in most vacation situations.

paula1470

I think a lot depends on how much the humidity bothers you. I personally don't like AC and prefer to sleep with the windows open but I live in the San Diego area where we usually have low humidity. You have the same situation in the Bay Area plus cooler temps. When I was recently in Maui and Oahu, I was glad to have the AC for sleeping at night as even when it cooled off at night, it still felt sticky. If it is only cooling off in the evening to 69 degrees, I am sure you would be happier with AC.

tmt

We stayed in Volcano last August and used the fire place - it was that cool there - no AC needed. It was fabulous temperature and I come from a cold weather climate.

Yet while in Kona, on the other side of the island, we used the A/C.

volcanogirl

We used the fireplace in Volcano too - at the Kilauea Lodge - even had some hot chocolate. Then we got to the Kohala coast and cranked up the a.c. Definitely needed it there. Hard to believe one island can have so many microclimates!