I have heard that the Northern side of Kauai gets the most rainfall. We are planning a trip in December and are trying to decide between Lihue and Poipu. Is there a difference in rainfall between these cities in early December Thanks for your help!!

Lihue and Poipu are not that far apart. Lihue is where the airport is located. Poipu is about 14 miles south of that. Kapaa is on the east and Princeville is on the north where more rainfall is recorded. Poipu gets less rain.

Aloha Amy,
You know this is my first visit to this site and I think it's great! I'm trying to find out more about Dallas and other places but in between I'm responding to every inquiry about Hawaii! I'm having fun. I'm a resident of Honolulu and have visited the neighbor islands many times. They call Poipu "sunny Poipu" for good reason. The North side of the island, Princeville, Hanalei, etc, is very lush and green, and it rains there frequently. In fact, almost everytime I've been to the North side, it has rained! But it is my favorite because it's very "Bali-Hai"-ish. Lihue is in between the two. Unlike Princeville and Poipu, It's not really a resort
area. For me, Lihue is not a desirable place to stay, though there are alot of eateries. I think you would do better at Princeville or Poipu. Hope this helps. You may want to look up the posting for good inexpensive places to eat on Kauai too. Have a great trip!

I just returned from one week on the North Shore Kauai and I have to tell you that yes it did rain almost every day and cleared up. We still had a wonderful time. December is the time for big waves on the North Shore as well as whale season. North Shore is just so incredibly beautiful. We had kids with us on this trip and noone made at peep about the rain it was so beautiful. Just a thought eveyone is different.

Aloha Amy,
We have been lucky enough to go over for New Year's the past 8 years. Before that, it was over T'giving holiday.

We stay on the Coconut Coast, mid-island. Kapaa area.
The No'side does get most of the rain and that's why is is so beautiful!

We have never really hit rainy weather so as to where you can't do something somewhere on the island.

Even when we golf, a rain usually blows over in a few mins. But it's still a 75-80 degree rain.

One tip we learned is if it's raining on your side of the island, somtimes it's not raining on another portion.

So, if you choose to stay in P'ville-Hanalei, maybe call a hotel or business in Poipu or on the west end and see if it's raining over there. Or just GO!

You can always "chase rainbows"!
Mahalo,
Kal
125 mo' days!

Thanks for your feedback! The Northern side of the island sounds so beautiful, but I'm thinking I might prefer to visit there, rather than have our hotel there. (?) I was thinking of Lihue b/c of its central location...that way we are in the middle between the lush Northern area, and the sunny south area. I'm sure we can't go wrong anywhere on Kauai. Any feeback regarding hotels...Hyatt, Marriot, etc. ???

The Hyatt is the best on the south side of the island by a wide margin.