Vancouver - Hawaii in mid September?

[pghsteelerfan]

On 12/31/2018 at 10:22 PM, CruiserBruce said:

There is no low season in Hawaii...only shoulder and high.

 

September can be the warmest and most humid. We were there in September 2017. Even the locals were complaining how humid it was.

We were there in September 2017 too (9/9 - 9/23), when was your trip?   Our first five days were in Oahu (Waikiki Beach) and to us, it was comfortable but there were comments on how humid it was an that it wasn't typical.  As we got to the end of our trip, I was literally chilly in the evenings since the trade winds had picked back up again and the humidity dropped.  I did bring a sweatshirt since we did a sunrise at Halaeakala, and I definitely needed it at night on the 2nd half of our trip.  But during our stay at Waikiki (Hilton Hawaiian Village), I was surprised that the beach wasn't more crowded.  I actually enjoyed it there and the conveniences. 

 

EXTRA KIM:  Although it's always tourist season in Hawaii, as CruiserBruce mentioned, September is one of Hawaii's slower months.  The reason could be that the school year for most schools in the United States start in August or September and parents are less likely to schedule vacations right after the kids start school.  We spent 2 weeks on 3 islands in Hawaii in September 2017.  Our first 5 nights were in Oahu & we stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village right on Waikiki Beach.  It has a very "beachy" feel (at least to us) and the water is generally calm in that area since it's located at the northern end of Waikiki and it's in a protected area.  It was busy there, yet it didn't feel crowded.  I have seen some packed beaches before and Waikiki was not like that when we were there.  There are many other hotels along Waikiki Beach that also seemed very nice, but I'm not sure if it was more crowded in those areas or not.  To get to some of the other areas along Oahu (beautiful beaches), we rented a car to get to them.  Of the three we stayed at, Oahu was the hardest to get around on but that was mainly the traffic in the Honolulu area.  Once we got out of Honolulu, the traffic wasn't an issue and the scenery of Oahu was just spectacular.  I was actually surprised.  The southern coast offers some beautiful overlooks/blowholes (if water conditions are right) and the beaches along the south east coast are just beautiful.  We went to Pearl Harbor in the morning one of the days (so glad we did, well worth it) and at that time, we could get to the USS Arizona Memorial.  That afternoon we drove up to North Coast, very beautiful beaches which are more popular when the big waves come in during the winter months.  We also drove up to the upper west coast (Waianae & Makaha areas), and just loved the beaches/scenery there.  Not all beaches in Oahu are swimming beaches, but there are generally signs warning about water conditions.  I was amazed at how different the scenery on that one island changed within short distances.  From lush/tropical to almost desert like. 

 

Kauai...don't have enough words for Kauai other than "WOW"....so pretty and looks like a post card almost everywhere you look.  There are towns/small cities there along the main roads that circle most of the island, it's mainly undeveloped.  We spent 4 nights there.  There are some very nice beaches in Kauai as well, the calmest of the beaches we were at was Anini Beach on the north coast and Poipu Beach Park on the south coast (we stayed in Poipu).  We were all over the island since there is so much to see/do (beaches and many points of interests).  Kauai is very easy to get around if you're renting a car. 

 

Maui is were we spent the last 5 nights.  Also beautiful and we found it very easy to navigate by rental car.  The beaches in the Ka'anapali area, where we stayed are very nice and wide, water was clear, calm, and warm while we were there and has a very sandy bottom, so it's easy on the feet.  There are plenty of hotels/resorts in the Ka'anapali area, which is just north of Lahaina, which offers restaurants and shopping, very nice little downtown area.  We didn't get to see/do as much as planned in Maui due to sad news from home that one of our pets died suddenly/unexpectedly which put a damper on the rest of the trip.  But Maui also has a lot to offer, beautiful beaches, the drive on the "Road to Hana", Haleakala volcano, etc..  Both Kauai and Maui are a short flight from Oahu.  You really can't go wrong with either. 

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, pghsteelerfan said:

We were there in September 2017 too (9/9 - 9/23), when was your trip?   Our first five days were in Oahu (Waikiki Beach) and to us, it was comfortable but there were comments on how humid it was an that it wasn't typical.  As we got to the end of our trip, I was literally chilly in the evenings since the trade winds had picked back up again and the humidity dropped.  I did bring a sweatshirt since we did a sunrise at Halaeakala, and I definitely needed it at night on the 2nd half of our trip.  But during our stay at Waikiki (Hilton Hawaiian Village), I was surprised that the beach wasn't more crowded.  I actually enjoyed it there and the conveniences. 

 

 

 We were there from the Tuesday after Labor Day for 7 nights. The temps were in the high 80s (even some low 90s around the State) and the humidities were averaging about 15% higher than normal...in the high 60-low 70% range.

[Extra Kim]

Thanks for all info. I will read it on the train to Denmark tomorrow, when we head for our Harmony Of The Seas cruise. Just 4hrs until I need to get up, w.o.w it's time to get some sleep.

[Extra Kim]

A lot of usefull information, thanks!

 

We will not take a cab ride without a child seat, we have done that one time and said: Never again! We even bought a complete travel system with stroller and a baby seat that we only use during our travels (we have another baby seat in our car). But my guess is that our daughter will be too big/heavy for our baby seat in September and that she will need a child seat. A baby seat is only usefull up to 13kg.

[Extra Kim]

Finaly booked a hotel in Vancouver, now we need to find one in Hawaii and a rental car.

 

When that's done it's time to plan the days during our ports of call. Starting to miss the Caribbean, a lot less planing since we have been there several times.

[Flatbush Flyer]

3 hours ago, Extra Kim said:

Finaly booked a hotel in Vancouver, now we need to find one in Hawaii and a rental car.

 

When that's done it's time to plan the days during our ports of call. Starting to miss the Caribbean, a lot less planing since we have been there several times.

Hawaii is multiple islands. Might I suggest that you spend your land time on Kauai? 

Edited January 29, 2019 by Flatbush Flyer

[kira5]

Be aware of all the sea days and make sure you won't miss the lack of port stops..    Just don't count on seeing any wildlife -- we saw none.   

[Extra Kim]

We have had longer cruises before and doesn't mind sea days. The longest cruise we have done was an B2B of total 21nts in the Caribbean. We sailed from Genoa to Hamburg last year and we will be doing a Transatlantic in May.