When is the best time to visit Hawaii?
 

My family would like to go sometime in the New Year, which month is the best to go as far as weather and crowds. Does Hawaii have what is considered low season? And, is 8 days enough time for a first time trip? Thanks.

The slowest season, as far as I can tell, is the first few weeks of December. I live on Oahu and travel some to the other islands. From what I have seen this time seems somewhat quieter than the summer or late winter months. Also, maybe things are slightly slower when kids are in school. However, Hawaii is a popular destination, so there are always visitors. The weather is also nice all year - quite warm in the summer (June - September), as the trade winds die down a bit and the temperature creeps up a little. However, it is never really cold - it is pretty much always shorts and t-shirt weather here. Also, it is possible to pick places to visit that avoid the worst crowds. For instance, Waikiki on Oahu is always crowded, IMHO, whereas the north shore area of the island is much less visited. Some of the smaller islands tend to be less packed with visitors (e.g. Lanai or Molokai - even Maui). Eight days is enough time if you plan to see one or two islands - certainly enough time to relax and enjoy Hawaii. I hope this helps. Enjoy your trip.

As noted, Hawaii ALWAYS has beautiful weather. Waves are bigger during the winter months, but that probably isn't a big concern. <BR> <BR>Another low point is between Easter and Memorial Day. The winter tourists have stopped coming and the summer tourists haven't shown up yet.

I used to live on the Big Island and would recommend Spring, Summer or Fall. You need to remember that it rains a lot in Hawaii (all islands, however, some areas more than other) and most their Winter months are traditionally the rainy season. I've seen many a tourist get very upset because it rained the vast majority of the time they were in Hawaii. Eight days is Ok but I'd plan on going and staying on one island.

Thanks for the information. We would like to spend at least 2 days on Oahu as our parents would like to see Pearl Harbor. Not sure where to go from there.

2 days on Oahu would be ok since I believe Pearl Harbor is a must see. As I've stated before, skipping from island to island takes more time than one would realize. There's dropping off and getting new rental cars, checking in and out of hotels, & waiting at airports. This can easily kill have a day.

There's never a "bad" time to visit Hawaii...........that said, why was this twelve year old thread resurrected with a comment that has been removed????

tenthumbs: several comments have been nuked. The thread was topped (at least twice) by the same advertiser. And then another Fodorite(s) asked why about it. Hopefully your post and mine will get nuked too . . . Otherwise this thread will get all kinds of response from folks who don't notice the dates of OPs.

Thanks for the explanation, janisj! I thought it was odd....never occurred to me it was because of an advertisement!

Just another example of why old threads should be shut down. A decade old thread dealing with weather patterns in Hawaii has probably been repeated through the years. Why does Fodor's keep these ancient threads active? It just doesn't make any sense at all. TA shuts down threads that are older than 6 months; perhaps fodor's can consider the same. If the consensus doesn't think a 6 month old thread is 'old enough' to be closed, then a different length of time should be considered: Threads older than 1 year? 2 years?