My wife and I will be planning for a trip to Hawaii real soon. We are thinking of going 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, but may go the week after Thanksgiving. (2008).
What I want to know is, how is Hawaii in early and late November? Does it rain much ? Is it still warm enough for the beach? We’re planning on 3 islands (Big Island, Maui, and Oahu). I’m getting mixed reports on my web search. Any replies are appreciated. 
Oh, and this will be our 50th state we’ve been to, completing our goal of spending at least 1 week in each state before we’re 50 years old (50X50). Hell yeah I’m bragging!
A guy I know of already did THIS and he’s a full 10 years younger than me!:eek:
I went to Hawaii a few years ago between TG and X-Mas. The weather was perfect (maybe a little cooler than some like, but I thought it was great). The water was warm, but not bath-water temperature. Crowds were small. There were beaches with NO PEOPLE on them!
What you have to understand about the Hawaiian Islands in the winter is that there is a dry side and a wet side to the four major islands, Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island. The north, northeast and east sides of all these islands are much more likely to get rain than the other parts of the island:
Oahu; dry side Waikiki, wet side, North Shore
Kauai; dry side Poipu, wet side Hanalei
Maui: dry side Lahaina, wet side Hana
Big Island : dry side Kona, wet side Hilo
Most people stay on the dry sides and visit the wet sides. This is because some of the dry sides look like a desert or the moon, but at least the sun is out and they can tan and use the pool. With all the rain that the wet sides get, they really look like the “Hawaii” you see in all the brochures, but it takes a lot of water to get those plants to grow like that.
Both the water and the beaches will be warm!
Mangosteen: Like it doesn’t rain in the summer?
Rain in Hawaii isn’t a big deal, usually. It rains for a while then stops. No trouble, brah: more rain == more rainbows.
And the weather is nice and warm, year-round. You’ll be fine.
I agree with the above posters.
May I suggest you consider starting a thread about what to do and where to stay on the islands?
I spent a week on the big island, and while I loved it, I would do it different next time.
OP didn’t ask about summer. It does rain in the summer, but not nearly as much.
Rain can be a very big deal during the winter. On the north shores of the islands it can be cloudy and rainy for days. Ever lived in Hilo or Hanalei? I have and I can tell you the weather can be miserable and if your on vacation and there for only a few days it can mess up your whole trip,
Year round its always better to stay on the dry side and visit the wet.
I should have put a smilie on that question; I was kidding.
I’ll bow to your expertise, sir. I’ve been to several of the islands, several times, and may have been lucky in the weather.
Rain is just a crap shoot. If a low sets itself up near the islands it can rain for a week straight, and heavy. This can happen at almost any time during the fall, winter or spring. But winter is more common. We’re in our 2nd such low right now. I forget exactly when the other one happened but it was in early november. You just have to get lucky.
Hawaii has ideal temperatures throughout the year. It does rain, but I wouldn’t plan my trip around it. We’ve visited the islands (Maui and Oahu) in April 04 and Nov 06 and had great weather both times. We’ll return in Jul 08.
Folks who traveled to the islands last week were hit with a squall that caused lots of rain and mudslides. This you cannot predict, so don’t bother trying.
Oh, and 3 islands is a lot of traveling. For trips less than 2 weeks long, I’d stick to 2 islands. I’m partial to Maui but there’s a reason to love each island.
My wife and I spent 10 days in Maui in mid-November 2001. Had a great time.
We stayed in what’s known as ‘south Maui’ (really SW Maui) which is the Kihei-Wailea-Makena stretch of coast. Like Lahaina further along the coast to the north, it gets little if any rain. It’s also got a plethora of great beaches. Weather was mild the whole time, which apparently isn’t at all unusual.
Obviously we were particularly lucky to be there in November 2001, since everyone was still in the post-9/11 leeriness of air travel and tourism was way down, but I gather that things are generally less crowded there in November than they are when North America gets into winter proper.
From my understanding, Hawaii has consistent temperatures, usually a high of 85, low of 75, year round.
And the daylight is pretty much the same length year round, so no need for DST…
You certainly should be able to swim in November.
In south Florida, you can swim in the ocean year round, although some years in February it is mighty chilly, but not frigid…
It’ll vary somewhat. Highs in the low 90s are common enough in summer. Although it depends on where you live too. I was raised on Kilauea 2100 feet up where it frequently gets down into the 50s in the winter.
It’s just not as pronounced as up north. In the winter when I get to work it pitch black. In the summer the sun is up. Since the sun go down more vertically here there seems to be less twilight time.
The beaches are never empty. Weather Underground has the water temps. It’s under the Tropics section. If there’s a hurrican the Flash Tracker can be used to zoom in and move around the world. Not sure how to do it without that.
I’ve been there quite a few times (Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Big Island). Weather/rainfall would be a non-concern for me. It’s almost always beautiful.
Thanks for all the posts, folks.
We have a couple of places we want to go and see on the islands, but mostly my wife and I are beach people. We love to lay on the beach and go in the water.
So the temp. and rain thing is the most important to us.
Well, just go places that are bone dry then, like Kailua-Kona, Poipu, Kaanapali. With reasonable luck, you’ll be good.