What is the best month to visit Hawaii? Is there really much difference in weather from one season to the next?

Also, in your experience how far in advance do we need to book hotels & flights?

Thanks,
Liz

You may find this site useful:

http://www.weather.com/activities/ot...26&from=search

and this one:

http://hawaiiweathertoday.com/?page_id=16

The second site speaks specifically about Maui, but the same is true of the other islands.

There are a few things you need to know:

1) The prevailing winds come out of the NE. The Hawaiian Islands are fairly mountainous and these mountains block a lot of the rain so the windward (ie North and East) sides tend to be wetter (lush and green) and the Leeward (ie South and West) sides dryer and sunnier (kind of like Southern California) and with generally calmer water and safer beaches. This is why most tourism is centered on the South or West sides of the islands.

In general there is no bad time to go to Hawaii. The weather is usually pretty nice there year-round. Though you may want to factor the risk of wet and or cooler weather into your decision of when to go, to me it's a pretty small factor as the weather is nice there almost all the time. More important (it seems to me) is to consider what the weather is like that you'll be leaving at home, and what times of year are busier or most expensive and which are a bit quieter/cheaper.

In general, I think that anytime is a good time to go to Hawaii.

Ken

IMHO (as a resident of Kaua`i), April/May and September/October are da best.

Neither the winter rainy season or winter surf conditions are in full force, the tradewinds are usually steady at 10-15mph, and the temps are hovering at 80 degrees daytime and 75 or so overnight.

Lover-ly! 8-)

Thank you for your replies. The websites are very helpful too. I think I'll start looking for Sept/ early Oct.

Again thank you!

We visited Maui in September. It was heavenly. Perfect weather, fewer crowds. This year, traveling in June. I'm expecting more crowds, but hope the weather is just as good.

We've been there every season, my preference is Christmas. Yeah its expensive and a bit crowded, but there is just a nice feeling about it, particularly if you have the family there. The last couple of times we have gone in the summer to accomodate kids school and sports schedules and that would be my least favorite, but only because it is nice at home that time of year.

We've been 8 times in 22 years, and have only seen significant rain once, and even that was hit and miss. I guess there probably isn't a bad time.

If you are flexible, book the low season (you can tell by the Condo prices). You'll save money and some aggrivation.

I'm shocked that no one brought up the fact that the humpback whales are only in Maui from Dec to April. My husband and I have been to Maui twice (just returned Thursday) and it was whale soup! We would never consider going when the whales weren't there. Sitting on the lanai watching them in the ocean with their babies is IMHO the best part of our trip.

Liz, if you stick with September/October, the Aloha Festivals are on then.
www.alohafestivals.com

We were in Maui for Christmas this year (our fifth trip to HI) and I would NOT recommend going then! (sorry Spokaneman!) I may as well have been in LA it was so crowded....

I agree its crowded but we still enjoyed the atmosphere.

Winter is their busy & rainy season. April - Oct would be my recommendation

I have been in March, May and October. March was too cold for me. I went last May and it was great--minimal crowds and warm. I am going back this October for the same reasons..less crowds but still warm enough...

Our last trip was the week following Thanksgiving and we were pleasantly surprised at how uncrowded the resorts were.