When is the Best time to Vacation on the Big Island of Hawaii?
Shannon from Nebraska asks:
One question, when would be the best time to visit the Big Island? My parents and I were originally going to plan on coming in October (2007), but I’m thinking June would be better; it looks like it rains a lot in the fall months.
Hi Shannon – The Big Island is like all the Hawaiian Islands, in that it has a dry side and a rainy side and also that some times of the year and even some times of the day are rainier than others.
If you are planning on visiting the dry side of the island, which would be most anywhere on the West side, also referred to as the Kona side or the Leeward side, then rain really isn’t an issue. I like to refer to WorldClimate.com when talking about rainfall in Hawaii because it is just so easy and accurate to compare and research using it.
If we look at the rainfall stats for the area of Puako, which is a very dry area on the Big Island on the Kohala Coast, we see that for the last 32 years Puako has averaged less than 10 inches of rain a year, less than an inch of that in October.
Hilo is one of the rainiest areas on the Big Island, and is on the exact opposite side of the island from Puako. Hilo rainfall stats for the last 42 years show almost 136 inches of rain a year, with March being the rainiest month at 15 inches of rain and June having the least rain with almost 7 inches of rain. October falls somewhere in the middle with 11 inches of rain average.
My own experience of living near Hilo on the Big Island for over a decade is that March and April are the absolute rainiest times but many winter and spring days are overcast and it rains almost every night. June is the driest month but most of summer is consistently pretty and hot. If we absolutely have to have sunshine we go to the Kona side for the day.
I hope this helps you with your decision. Have a wonderful vacation.
Aloha, Lisa
Ok, we have planned a trip in November and will be doing some island hopping Should we buy our inter-island tickets now or wait till we get there?
A year ago I would have just told you to buy the tickets whenever was convenient for you, but earlier is better for being assured of the cheapest prices. These days, the answer is a bit more complicated because of the entrance of Go! Airlines into the market. Aloha and Hawaiian are being forced to meet Go’s current prices, which sometimes go as low as $19 one way. Considering Aloha and Hawaiian were charging $79 and up for one way tickets a year ago, this has got to be hard on them. It seems to me that Aloha and Hawaiian are both hoping that by maintaining their customer base Go! will eventually fail. I don’t know if the inter-island market can sustain three carriers, and I don’t want to speculate what the market will be like in November. I did check availability at the three websites and it seems that they are all already selling tickets that far out but there are lowest-fare seats available.
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