Best time to visit Hawaii?

[Martinjmpr]

Wife has mentioned to me that she'd like to go someplace warm and tropical, and my thought was Hawaii. We've been to Mexico and Costa Rica before but I'm thinking that staying in the US and not having to go through customs or have a passport might be nice (both of ours are expired.)

Curious about what might be the "best" time to go in terms of cost, crowds, etc?

I've only been to Hawaii once, that was in November of 2003 and it was for a military exercise so I literally only got to see what was in between our quarters at Pearl Harbor and the training area X-ray at Schofield Barracks, from the window of a rented mini van. No time off, I flew in on a Saturday and our exercise started on Sunday. EndEx was on the following Friday and on Saturday morning I flew back.

We are thinking of going some time in 2022 but again, not sure what time of year is best.

My thought was this: The weather in Hawaii is pretty much the same year 'round: Mid 80's and sunny with a strong chance of afternoon rain. But most people in CONUS want to go to Hawaii when it's cold and miserable, so Winter is probably the "high season" for travel.

So would it be less expensive/crowded to go in mid Summer?

Also looking for recommendations on where to go and where to stay. I'm retired military so as I understand it there are hotels/resorts just for military people that might offer some good cost savings. I do want to see the Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri, but other than that, I don't necessarily want to stay on Oahu. If anything, I'd rather spend time on the Big Island.

So any pointers or tips would be appreciated!

[O2HeN2]

IMHO late spring, early fall, then summer is the best time because as you reasoned, people want to go during the winter.

One week: Maui

Two weeks: Lanai and Hawaii.

Note Oahu is absent, so go see the Arizona and then get to another island. I have a joke that if you want to visit Oahu: Just visit Los Angeles. They're pretty much the same and it costs less.

But I'm not a bar, restaurant and party guy, but I do like volcanoes (why I'm currently eyeing Iceland).

O2

[Gman]

My manager is from Guam and he and his family are in HI this week. I'm no expert about HI, but I think that's a clue.

[Irving]

Aloha Shooter is a great resource to answer all of your questions.

[MrPrena]

As for blue shirt wearing tard on a video who are unfamiliar with Hawaii , Guam, and American Samoa.
They are all US citizen.

Samoa is their own country Samoa 🇼🇸

[Aloha_Shooter]

It depends on what you want from your visit. The weather is NOT the same year-round. Hawaii has a dry season (summer) and rainy season (winter). Temperatures will still be great year-round compared to the mainland because it almost never gets below 55 (and rarely below 60) and almost never gets above 98. Humidity is usually not a problem except when they have Kona winds.

• December/January: Lot of competition with holiday travelers. Temperatures tend to be in the 70s with lows in the 60s but can go down to mid 50s. Locals will be wearing sweaters when temps go down to 60s, Coloradans probably still wearing shorts and a tee shirt. January is very pleasant even with light rains, especially after the holiday travelers are gone, but you can get some monsoon rains that will go on all day -- or even for a few days -- in this season.
• February/March: Tends to be rainy but a great time to watch the humpback whales off Maui. Hawaiian Open and Punahou Carnival occur in February but don't know if they'll still be impacted in 2022.
• April/May: Great weather, no competition with kids on Spring Break. Islands are still green from the winter rains.
• June: Great weather. Summer vacation travel heating up.
• July/August: Mango season. Need I say more? Oh yeah, peak period for mainland morons on summer vacation before school starts. IMO, there is NOTHING like a perfectly ripe mango fresh off the tree (actually picked a couple days before it gets perfectly ripe because the birds will get it if you wait). White Pirie mangos -- don't accept the Indian or Haden crap. Hadens are bigger than Piries but Piries have a better, fuller flavor. (Hadens are actually good compared to the garbage we can get in Colorado but it's like comparing 100% Kona coffee to Starbucks.) https://www.hawaii.com/discover/mango-season-festivals/
• September/October: Kids from the mainland should be back in school. Great weather. Just getting out of dry season so O`ahu is browner than winter or spring.
• November/December: Great time to get away from the weather in Colorado. Hurricane season technically doesn't end until November but really low probability of anything impacting your visit (note: low is not zero).

My usual advice is first-timers should see the typical tourist sites on O`ahu for their first time/week in Hawai`i. They have greater impact (IMO) when you haven't yet seen everything the rest of the islands have to offer and you appreciate the slower pace in Waimanalo or the Neighbor Islands more after seeing the tourist sites. I highly recommend at least 2 days if not 3 to fully appreciate Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island and a full day or more to travel around the entire Big Island. You can hit 4 different climates in that one day with the rainforest on the north end of the island, tundra in the section between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, desert in the south end, and even arctic if you want to go to the top of Mauna Kea.

I did just see this item: https://flipboard.com/article/one-of...Fflipboard.com . Haven't had a chance to dig into it so don't know how much of it to believe.

Oh yeah, WRT Guam. I've been to Guam. Any time is a great time to go from Guam to Hawaii.

[ray1970]

My favorite time is September. The families and kids are usually done and gone and all of the snowbirds haven?t had enough cold weather yet to flock that way. It?s a little early for the whales if you?re into that sort of thing but when they start migrating through in October is when the crowds start to form.

Every time I?ve been in September I haven?t had much in the way of rain to deal with. Maybe the occasional late afternoon shower that moves through pretty quick around dinner time.

[FoxtArt]

check vehicle rental rates before you book airline tickets. Companies have been GOUGING. You may find car rental fees to exceed your flight if traveling soon (even if only for 4-5 days)... and who knows what the future holds.

[flogger]

March in Maui. Lots to see/do. Kihei has the best beaches and sunsets.

Don't miss the 1/5 Mile Dirt Track Stock Car Races in the Isthmus! Great redneck fun (one of the sponsors is the local cheap rent-a-car places). HIGHLY recommend the rental car place.

[KS63]

I’m from Hawaii and the only thing I got is to not vacation on O’ahu. Stay in a nice resort on Kaua’i and drive around the island. The only time we go back home is for family stuff and I can’t wait to leave.