Hawaii in 2012, when is the best time?

[minnie4me]

DH & I will celebrate our 15th wedding anniv in August 2012, so would like to go on a Hawaiian vacation. Of course we will be bringing our 9 yr old DS and my mom, would feel guilty leaving them at home. At current job, DH cannot take vacation in August, so there goes our actual anniv. Looking for a weather friendly time of year. I know that the temp doesn't vary all that much, but the rains do. How about the ocean temps? I wouldn't have a problem taking DS out of school, we could make some parts of vacation educational. Was interested in new Disney resort, but not ruling anything out at this point. I would like to stay away from overly touristy areas (except for Dis resort), like Wikiki. Would love something more secluded, but family friendly, and we couldn't do without cable and internet access
Any ideas ?
Thanks for the input

 

[pixiewings71]

I went to Kaua'i in June, OMG it was gorgeous!!!!!! I want to go back so badly, to Kaua'i again and we want to go in June-August. We want to go in 2012 too but aren't sure we can do it, unless I find a new job soon. I have a friend who always goes in October, she says it's the best time to go but with kids in school we aren't likely to do that soon.

 

[minnie4me]

May I asked where you stayed ?

 

[Pakey]

I have done November, January, February and March vacations there (we've been to Oahu, Maui and Hawaii). Maui is definitely my favorite. We plan to return in 2 months.

 

[c&m]

We've been to Kauai in March, Maui in Feb and August, and Oahu in February. Which island depends on whether you want tranquility and no crowds (Kauai), crowds and busyness (Waikiki Beach), or a nice happy medium between the two (Maui).

I love Kauai the most, however, don't go during their "winter", rainy months, which include Jan/Feb/March. It was so rainy - I think we only had a couple of nice days - there was major flooding and a landslide where 7 people were killed. The lady at the Island Soap and Candle store told me that they do have a winter and Hawaii does get its rain; and that's why the Kauai is so lush. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Resort. It was so amazing, and the waterslide/pool/hot tub was gorgeous - the open air lobby, their Seaview Terrace where every Saturday night, there were hula dancers and Hawaiian singing/ukelele performers.

My DH dand DD15 love Maui the most. It is a mix of busyness and tranquil. We've stayed at the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Villas and the Westin Resort. Both were great and close to Black Rock to go snorkelling. Maui in late August was the best. The weather was perfect, the airfares went down in price, and the crowds weren't too bad. Maui in Feb. is kind of windy esp. north Kaanapali - it's the tradewinds and sometimes they put up the red flag because the current is too rough to swim in the ocean.

Oahu, we stayed on Waikiki Beach at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Alii Tower. It had a lagoon where you can rent paddle boards. This resort had the widest beach area and wasn't too crowded like the rest of the resorts we came across along Waikiki Beach. My DD11 and I liked Honolulu and there were lots to do there. But my DH and DD15 couldn't wait to get out and head to Maui - they said 3 days was enough for them.

I think if you go in Sept or Oct, it'd be a great time to go to any of those islands. We'd do off-season travel if only we weren't slaves to school vacation.

 

[PHXscuba]

We're long-term planning Hawaii for our 20th wedding anniversary/milestone birthday in 2012. My basic searching came up with September as a good time for us at least. Post-summer crowds and lower prices, good weather and water temps, etc. We plan to spend most of a week on Maui relaxing and a couple days in Honolulu to hit the big tourist sites.

We will leave our kids with Grandma, so it's better for us to go while our 4 are in school. If you are taking your son and have to work around school schedules your options will be more limited.

PHXscuba

 

[disneydenisel]

Oh, my favorite subject! Hawaii vacations !

Well, I am biased toward Maui . We have been going for 22 years and go every year. We've tried the Big Island, Lanai, and Kauai, but we always go back to Maui. We were married on the beach on Maui, which sort of tells you that we love it there.

Our favorite time of year is October-December, March-May. We try to avoid the summer due to crowds, humidity, and higher airfares.

In March and April, you are sure to see whales in the ocean, which is always a delight .

We own a timeshare at the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas, and have a DD11 and DS8 who have been going there with us for the past 8 years. It is VERY family friendly, with pools, slides, an amazing beach, kids' activities, etc. It is away from the "main drag," but close enough to the shopping and restaurants, too. There are wonderful beaches on Maui within driving distance, and the island is fun to explore. I can actually stay at the resort and never leave and never feel the urge to leave. There is Internet and cable, a full kitchen, etc. Timeshares rentals are easy to find.

We have also rented condos and other places on Maui, which was always great. Since we bought the timeshare, we just go there every year, usually during Spring Break. You can get great airfares (usually) for off-season times, which are after Spring Break to mid-June, and mid-August to mid-December. That would be low-season in general.

If you decide to go to Maui and have any questions, I would love to help if I can. We will be back there in April, cannot wait!

 

[2luvmickey]

First, congrats on your upcoming anniversary!

For our recent 25th anniversary, my DH and I returned to Maui and had an AWESOME time! We packed in so much stuff - biking down Haleakala, snorkeling, walking around Kapalua, drive to Hana, etc. We went in mid Sept and the weather was perfect.

Speaking of weather, I would recommend staying on the northwest side of the island, in or near Ka'anapali. We stayed at the Honua Kai Resort which is a new condo building and would highly recommend it. PM if you want the owner's name since he was wonderful and we had a great rate, much cheaper than a hotel since it was a one bedroom, full kitchen, washer and dryer and nice beach chairs, boogie board, snorkeling stuff and beach towels.

My brother and SIL went to Kauai in August and had a great time too - quiet and peaceful. They enjoyed a private cruise to the Na Pali coast and taking in the beautiful surrondings.

I agree with C&M, we have been to Maui, Kauai and Oahu and Maui is definitely the perfect mix of the other two. You can stay busy or just relax on one of the beaches.

You just can't go wrong with an anniversary trip to the Hawaiian Islands!

 

[taaren]

DH & I will celebrate our 15th wedding anniv in August 2012, so would like to go on a Hawaiian vacation. Of course we will be bringing our 9 yr old DS and my mom, would feel guilty leaving them at home. At current job, DH cannot take vacation in August, so there goes our actual anniv. Looking for a weather friendly time of year. I know that the temp doesn't vary all that much, but the rains do. How about the ocean temps? I wouldn't have a problem taking DS out of school, we could make some parts of vacation educational. Was interested in new Disney resort, but not ruling anything out at this point.

Almost every time of year is weather friendly here, it rarely gets below 65 and rarely above 85. That being said the last few weeks have been freakishly cold everywhere, including here (all the locals are very excited to have snow on the volcanoes even if we can't drive up to it since we have no equipment to deal with black ice). Down in the valleys/shore where people actually live we're still wearing tank tops, just grabbing light jackets to go over them though.
Personally I try encourage family who wants to visit to come in either November or January-March, as that is whale season, and we've had good luck with weather and being able to take them snorkeling, etc. also its less crowded and airfare tends to be cheaper other than Thanksgiving.
Mostly for beaches wind is more of a concern than temperature. If the wind is calm (and it tends to be calmer in the mornings before eleven-ish), you're usually set for a day at the beach. Could have gone this morning but didn't wake up in time.
Personally I'd say stay away from summer because for me 85 is uncomfortably hot, fall and spring are nice and tend to be cheaper if you can avoid spring break.

I would like to stay away from overly touristy areas (except for Dis resort), like Wikiki. Would love something more secluded, but family friendly, and we couldn't do without cable and internet access
Any ideas ?
Thanks for the input

When we have to go inter-island traveling to Oahu for various reasons, when we're not staying with friends its actually pretty difficult to find a hotel that's convenient to Honolulu that's not in Waikiki. (Especially ones that are affordable!) Aulani may end up being your best choice if you want non-touristy because its pretty remote with only a few other resorts nearby. Sounds like you're just heading to Oahu, but if you end up with any Maui questions feel free to PM me. Lived here for about 20 years altogether with about a 10 year gap from mid-nineties to mid-aughts.

 

[kailuagirl]

For how long are you planning on coming? Do you want to just stay on one island or do you want to island hop? It's very easy to do. What kind of vacation do you want/prefer?

Each island is different and has their own special characteristics, so it really depends on what you want to do, experience.

Oahu, the main island is where "waikiki" is. Personally, if I was to come to Hawaii I wouldn't want to stay in Waikiki for more than a night or 2. It's to touristy and commercial. But it is fun to see, beach is nice, but crowded and should be experienced. Oahu is also the most crowded island. Things to do would be the North Shore, snorkle at Hanauma Bay, hike Diamond Head, Pearl Harbor. The new disney property is opening up this August they say. Looks wonderful! I checked rates the other day and for Sept. they were running $399 a night for a standard room We like the Turtle Bay resort on the North Shore, but you are kinda issolated out there, so again it depends on what kind of vacation you want.

Maui is really fun. Lots to do, lots of action. It's really pretty. Nice beaches.

Kauai, is quiet and beautiful. My fav. island. It's more low key, beautiful beaches.

Big Island is nice too, there's the volcano still erupting and that's a really fun hike to do to see it, if the flow is safe and accessible. Big Island too is low key. Also our fav.

Then there's Molokai and Niihau....

In all, it's really what you want to do, hang out at the beach and relax, do you want to do a lot of sight seeing? But you can def. experience 2 islands and have a great time. Let me know if you need more info/help/hotel recommendations, etc.

As for time of year, August is hot as is September, those are kinda the hotest months. December/Jan sometimes Feb. are rainy months, but you never know what the weather will bring when living on an Island, it can be pouring in the morning and beautiful an hour later, cloudy and ugly on one side and beautiful on the other. Can't tell you how many times I went over the mountain to town and it was rainy at my house and nice and sunny in town. temps pretty much remain constistent, never really cold, never really that hot. I've only lived on Oahu, lived here about 36 years, but have been to Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. So pick your island(s) and I can help you from there.

Also, as for ocean temps, it's doable all year round. A couple weeks ago we were at the beach, I thought the water was cold, but the kids didn't care. But it is alittle warmer not in this time of year. Personally, I'd see when you can get a good flight rate and go from there.

Happy Anniversary