my family and i are going to kauai in december for 6 hights. we've never been there. should we stay at one hotel entire time. or split hotel between north and south shore? or rent one house entire time? i hear demeber is very rainy on north shore in december. any advice will be appreciated.

If you are going to Kauai this winter you will have less rain than other winters. This is a mild el nino year it is suppose to be a windy possibly stormy summer and dry winter. I would certainly head for a cliff front accomodation in princeville to check out those whales in winter. Another benifit of a winter vacation is the Albatross at the light house.

thanks, that is very helpful...although we seem to be leaning towards the south shore now...any other advice? anyone, please?

For 6 nights, I would stay in the same place. The island is small enough to easily drive from north to south shore for day trips. I've always stayed on the south shore, but you really can't go wrong no matter where you stay on Kauai. A condo is your most economical choice.

Since Hawaii was neither a terrority or a state during the United States Civil War (1861-65) it did not belong to either side. However, given the current political environment in Hawaii, I would say that its sympathies would have been on the side of the Confederacy had it been asked to join at the time.

My family and I stayed at Princeville one year at Christmas for 10 days.
While the resort was beautiful- I could not say one bad thing about service, food etc.- the weather was terrible.
It rained 9 out of the 10 days we were there. Monsoon-type rain,not where it was a brief passing shower. We tried (as did many others who lucked out) to rent cars to drive to the sunny side of the island.

I've seen those statements by Sarah quite a few times on Fodors when responding to winter inquiries. My question is: How can Sarah be so sure about the weather in the coming winter? El Nino is known to move around a bit and to shrink without notice so how can she presume to know months in advance what the weather will be like in Hawaii 5 months from now?

Doesn't Sarah only go to Kauai in the summer months? Or is that someone else? Does Sarah have winter experience in Kauai? Sarah is there a web site you can refer us to to verify your winter preditions? This is not meant to argumentative it is just unusual for someone to be so certain about something as changeable as the weather.

The Princeville is a remarkable property. In Sarah's defense, when the weather is great you cannot beat it as a place to stay. Rain is what makes all of the islands green and it is hard to plan around rain. Just recognize and appreciate rain as being part of what makes Hawaii special.

A generalization about Hawaii (and all islands) though, is that most hotels are located on the leeward side because the weather is more routine.

We were there in October and loved the Coconut Coast area of Kaapa. It is 1/2 way between North and South so it made it convenience for going either direction.We rented a condo for a week which was wonderful!! Linda