Hawaii in March

[woodards]

Looking for some insight from those with local knowledge!!

 

Really like the look of a Celebrity cruise out of LAX (14 nights) but am slightly concerned about sea conditions / weather in the Pacific at that time of the year......looking at weather sites it looks OK but you cannot beat first hand experience!!

 

Any help would be appreciated as its a hell of long way (from UK) to travel if heavy seas and lots of rain is going to spoil our vacation.

 

Steve.

[beachchick]

Will first-hand visitor experience do for a start? DH and I were on Maui a few Marches ago and had beautiful, perfect weather: Some sun, some showers, some waves, some calm days. That's pretty typical, but the bottom line is that no one can guarantee what the weather/seas will be like any given year. Last spring was incredibly wet, so was this fall (which is often the perfect time to go weather-wise). We are still waiting (and praying for) a change in the weather pattern for our winter trip. (A plea to the gods and goddesses of the islands: DH and I have had a tough couple of years, we would appreciate your help with the weather, please. Mahalo.) The long-term forecast is for lower than normal rain December-March, but we're not seeing that in the 15 day forecasts right now.

 

No matter when you go, it will rain at some point. It rains every day in Hawaii. Often these are showers that come and go. The leeward (west) sides of the islands are typically much drier and calmer than the windward sides (think Hilo and it's rainy reputation). We thought March was lovely. There were a couple of days it was too rough to snorkel comfortably, but other than that, we had great water conditions and air temps.

 

We've been in November, December, February, March, April, June, and September. Next year, we're planning on October and hope that it's back to the "usual" drier conditions. We did have more storms in December, but are willing to take that risk. Even rainy days in Hawaii are lovely. If you are looking for the least chance of "more" rain, then summer and early fall is your best bet. But, as I mentioned, our March trip was perfect weather-wise.

 

As for conditions on the Pacific crossing, I'm sorry but I can't help you there. I think you will likely find the same thing as in Hawaii: Probably good, but no guarantee. I can tell you that your first couple of days out of CA will likely be cool and perhaps a bit rougher, but the closer you get to Hawaii (which is to say, the further south you are), the warmer and nicer it will likely be.

 

beachchick

[woodards]

Will first-hand visitor experience do for a start? DH and I were on Maui a few Marches ago and had beautiful, perfect weather: Some sun, some showers, some waves, some calm days. That's pretty typical, but the bottom line is that no one can guarantee what the weather/seas will be like any given year. Last spring was incredibly wet, so was this fall (which is often the perfect time to go weather-wise). We are still waiting (and praying for) a change in the weather pattern for our winter trip. (A plea to the gods and goddesses of the islands: DH and I have had a tough couple of years, we would appreciate your help with the weather, please. Mahalo.) The long-term forecast is for lower than normal rain December-March, but we're not seeing that in the 15 day forecasts right now.

 

No matter when you go, it will rain at some point. It rains every day in Hawaii. Often these are showers that come and go. The leeward (west) sides of the islands are typically much drier and calmer than the windward sides (think Hilo and it's rainy reputation). We thought March was lovely. There were a couple of days it was too rough to snorkel comfortably, but other than that, we had great water conditions and air temps.

 

We've been in November, December, February, March, April, June, and September. Next year, we're planning on October and hope that it's back to the "usual" drier conditions. We did have more storms in December, but are willing to take that risk. Even rainy days in Hawaii are lovely. If you are looking for the least chance of "more" rain, then summer and early fall is your best bet. But, as I mentioned, our March trip was perfect weather-wise.

 

As for conditions on the Pacific crossing, I'm sorry but I can't help you there. I think you will likely find the same thing as in Hawaii: Probably good, but no guarantee. I can tell you that your first couple of days out of CA will likely be cool and perhaps a bit rougher, but the closer you get to Hawaii (which is to say, the further south you are), the warmer and nicer it will likely be.

 

beachchick

 

Thanks for the feedback much appreciated.

We regularly vacation in Florida throughout the year so are quite content in the rain (we are used to it in England!!!). As long as it isn't cold we are quite happy:)

[beachchick]

My pleasure.

 

Unless you go to the summits (Haleakala, Mauna Kea), you are unlikely to be cold at any time in Hawaii (except on the ship in those darn cold dining rooms and restaurants!). If you plan to do any summits, bring a good jacket, long pants, and such (esp. for Mauna Kea, which is almost 14,000 and will likely still have plenty of snow in March). Plan for cooler temps for VNP (approx 4,000 ft at the crater rim), but not super cold. Evenings at VNP can be cool though--we wore long pants and jackets at night in June.

 

Other than that: Warm to hot will be your typical March weather in Hawaii. No worries there. The water temps will be cooler than in the fall. Probably mid 70's or so, which is still pretty warm to me (central CA coast, water temp summer highs are around 60 degrees, right now around 50 degrees--brrr).

 

beachchick

[Keith1010]

The reality is that you just never know. We were on the Celebrity cruise from Los Angeles to Hawaii in late March of last year. Hawaii had record rains last March. We lucked out. Every port that we got to there was no rain but it either had rained for several straight days up to one or two days before we got to the port. I have a friend who went there several years ago in March and stayed in Maui and it rained the entire week. So, as is the case everywhere in the world weather varies year over year.

 

The good thing about being on the cruise ship is that if you have bad weather one day in port there is still much you can do on the ship.

 

I do highly recommend this cruise and if I could do it over again I would book in March again. There are plenty of sea days (4 each way) and five days of visits to the ports. Sure, some will say that they wish there were more days in port but that is not practical if you are starting and ending in Los Angeles. It's a great cruise to relax with all of the nice sea days and in a short period of time to see some wonderful Islands.

 

I would not worry about the weather in March. Honestly, it will be whatever it is.

 

Keith

[Jimmyfan]

I was in Maui in March 2004 and it rained every day and a cold front came in! Not just a little - it poured. They closed down roads and the beaches were black angry waves. They cancelled a whale site seeing trip 5 times! So we are going at the beginning of May this time and I am saying my prayers to the Sun God now!

[mitsguy2001]

If you go to www.weatherunderground.com you can get weather history for a particular location for a particular time of year. Be sure to click on individual dates. Just because it shows rain on the calendar doesn't mean that it rained all day, but if you click on an individual date, you can tell what times the rain was. Often it is very early in the morning or very late at night.

 

As for Hilo: I've heard that it rains significantly less at Volcano National Park (where most of the excursions are) than it does in the city of Hilo. Is that true?

 

What indoor activities are there to do on the Pride of Hawaii in case there is a full day of rain on my cruise?