Big Island month by month
Plan your visit to Big Island by month. Compare weather, crowds, events, and prices across all twelve months with historical climate data.
- January
- High
- 15°C
- Low
- 6°C
- Rain
- 72 mm
January on Big Island means whales. Humpback whales travel roughly 3,000 miles from Alaskan feeding grounds to calve in the warm shallows off the Kohala Coast, and January…
- February
- High
- 14°C
- Low
- 5°C
- Rain
- 85 mm
February is whale season on the Big Island, and that single fact likely matters more than anything else about this month. Thousands of humpback whales migrate south from Alaska…
- March
- High
- 14°C
- Low
- 6°C
- Rain
- 111 mm
March on Big Island is the rainiest month of the year, and that single fact should shape every decision you make about where to stay and what to plan. The Hilo side takes the brunt…
- April
- High
- 15°C
- Low
- 6°C
- Rain
- 91 mm
April on Big Island belongs to the Merrie Monarch Festival, the world's premier hula competition. The week-long event takes place at the Edith Kanakaʻole Multi-Purpose Stadium in…
- May
- High
- 16°C
- Low
- 7°C
- Rain
- 77 mm
May is when the Big Island of Hawai'i pivots from wet season to dry, and you feel it first on the leeward Kona coast. The North Pacific swells that churn the shoreline from…
- June
- High
- 17°C
- Low
- 8°C
- Rain
- 25 mm
June is the driest month on Big Island by a wide margin. Rainfall drops to around 25mm across roughly 7 days, compared to over 100mm in March. For an island where the windward Hilo…
- July
- High
- 18°C
- Low
- 8°C
- Rain
- 54 mm
July on Big Island is peak season, full stop. This is the month when rental car lots thin out, Kohala Coast resorts fill up, and Hapuna Beach's parking lot hits capacity by 9 a.m.…
- August
- High
- 18°C
- Low
- 8°C
- Rain
- 87 mm
August on Big Island means peak-season prices and the fullest beaches of the year. Mainland families on school break pack the Kohala Coast resorts between Waikoloa and Mauna Lani,…
- September
- High
- 18°C
- Low
- 8°C
- Rain
- 53 mm
September on Big Island is the exhale after summer. Labor Day weekend brings the Queen Lili'uokalani Long Distance Outrigger Canoe Race to Kailua-Kona, one of the largest paddling…
- October
- High
- 17°C
- Low
- 8°C
- Rain
- 76 mm
October on Big Island is shaped by a single event. The Ironman World Championship typically arrives in Kailua-Kona for a week in mid-October, drawing athletes and spectators from…
- November
- High
- 16°C
- Low
- 7°C
- Rain
- 86 mm
November on the Big Island arrives with the scent of ripe coffee cherries drying on raised beds across the Kona hillsides. The Kona Coffee Cultural Festival anchors the first half…
- December
- High
- 15°C
- Low
- 7°C
- Rain
- 65 mm
December on the Big Island of Hawai'i is whale season. Humpback whales begin arriving in the waters off the Kohala Coast and Kailua-Kona by mid-month, and on a calm morning you can…