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!