Planning to go to Hawaii 3rd week in Dec. How is the weather? Crowded? Too cold to go swimming?

May depend upon your perspective. Water temperatures will be mid 70s, and you could get a couple days of rain and wind. The Caribbean is nicer in winter (dry season, and winter water in the Caribbean should be over 80 most places)

It depends on more than your perspective. It also depends on which island and where on that island, and then there is that ever-mystifying variable: the weather systems. It could be beautful sunny or you might have a storm system or cold front bringing in cooler weather, rain and/or winds. I swim year round, as do most people I know.

Rest assured, that it won't be too cold to swim on the Big Island of Hawaii. For example at Ahalanui, a volcanically heated pool, the water temperatures run 91-95!

...just the right temperature for potentially-fatal staph bacteria to flourish:
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/mo...al/4546921.htm

We were warned by friends in the medical field, to stay _out_ of these warm pools.

My point about the Caribbean in winter is that for all but the northwestern Caribbean, like Cancun or Cuba, there is no such thing as a cold front. The weather is summer, and not much rain. We know people who expected all summer in the Hawaiian winter and discovered otherwise. It's okay if you don't mind getting stuck inside for a significant part of your vacation. May not happen, but it certainly can.

Mahalo AuntieM for the interesting 2001 incident. Perhaps this is the reason why there are so many warning signs there now as discussed on a previous thread:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34528673