Today, we examine whether April is a good month to visit Hawaii. Before we review the details, I want to reiterate that just about any time is a great time to plan a Hawaii vacation. I wouldn’t hesitate to hop on a plane to Hawaii any month of the year and April is no exception. We have visited Hawaii multiple times in April and always had an enjoyable time.
What’s the weather like in Hawaii during April?
April’s weather is usually quite mild. Daytime high temperature average in the high 70s to the low 80s F. Nighttime temperatures dip into the upper 60s F.
By April, the winter’s heavier rainfall levels have dwindled away — roughly cut in half. Here are the average rainfall levels by island for the month of April:
Kauai – 2.25 inches – This measurement is based on Lihue’s averages per Weather.com. Lihue is located on the southeastern side of the island and is not as wet as the North Shore, but not as dry as the South Shore.
Oahu – 1.18 inches – This average is based on Honolulu’s rainfall per Weather.com. North Shore rainfall will be a little higher, while Ko Olina’s rainfall will be slightly lower.
Maui – 1.55 inches – This average is based on Kahului’s rainfall per Weather.com. Kahului is where Maui’s main airport is, but it’s not typically considered a resort area like Wailea, Lahaina, Kaanapali and Kapalua. Kahului’s rainfall tends to be a bit higher than all the resort areas, with the exception of Hana on east Maui.
Hawaii, the Big Island – 0.59 inches – This average is based on Kailua-Kona’s weather per Weather.com. Kailua-Kona is a popular resort area. Further north on the Kohala Coast, the weather tends to be even drier with only about 10 – 12 inches of rain for the entire year! Hilo, on the east side of Hawaii Island, is another story though, with an average of 11.54 inches of rainfall for April per Weather.com.
Lanai – 2.60 inches – This average is for Lanai City in Lanai’s upcountry/highlands, which tends to get much more rain that the island’s sunny, beach resort at Manele Bay.
Molokai – 0.86 inches – This average is for the airport just west of Kaunakakai town. Weather towards the east side will be rainier.
While we just covered quite a bit of weather data, I want to reiterate that on average, April is not one of Hawaii’s rainiest months. If you are concerned about rain, there are plenty of places to stay in Hawaii to minimize your chances of experiencing rain in April. Additionally, Hawaii’s rain tends to fall mostly at night.
Hawaii’s ocean temperatures are warm enough for swimming. In fact, you can swim year round in Hawaii without needing a wetsuit.
Is April a crowded time to visit Hawaii?
Overall, crowds are definitely low in April. From our analysis of Hawaii Tourism Authority data, the number of visitors in April is below average.
The only exception would be just around Easter if the holiday falls in April. From our April visits we have been in Hawaii during the Easter holiday, we haven’t really felt like any of the beaches, attractions or restaurants were too crowded. If your Hawaii vacation includes any holiday, I recommend you pre-book any activities and restaurants that you don’t want to miss.
The following chart shows our analysis of Hawaii visitor arrivals by month.
Is April an expensive time to go to Hawaii?
With the exception of Easter, April hotel rates in Hawaii are below average per Hawaii accommodation cost research we published.
Airfare rates in April tend to be about average or slightly less. We usually to travel to Hawaii when we find airfare deals and we’ve traveled to Hawaii quite a few times in April on good airfare deals.
Are there any special reasons to visit Hawaii in April?
The peak of humpback whale season is over by April, but if you are visiting Maui nui in April, you’ll probably still see quite a bit of whale activity. (The area between Maui, Lanai and Molokai has the highest concentration of humpback whales in Hawaii.) You might see humpbacks around other islands, but in our experience it’s much more unlikely.
Hawaii loves to celebrate music, food and culture. There’s almost always a festival or celebration of some sort that you can find in Hawaii. Hawaii’s biggest festival typically held in April is the Merrie Monarch Festival on Hawaii, the Big Island. It’s also the biggest Hawaiian culture festival of the year.
Hawaii also loves SPAM and they hold an annual festival celebrating this potted-meat love affair at the SPAM JAM in Waikiki.
—-
This article is part of a series to help you choose the best weather and pricing times to vacation in Hawaii. You can access details about other months here.
Have you been to Hawaii in April? Where did you go? How was your experience?
Sheila Beal
15 comments
My wife and I met, married and lived on Oahu in the 70s and have visited Hawaii many times in different seasons of the year except for summer. We returned home last month from an extended stay this past winter. I will no longer tell people any time is good to visit and that the rain rarely ruins your visit. Beginning in mid January, we experienced many days of either total rain, high winds, high waves, or a combination of those conditions. There were a number of weeks when the weather would have very negatively affected people staying only that week. We were staying in Ko Olina, the “dry” side of the island! We love Hawaii, but you need to be realistic about potential weather conditions.
Thank you for this article. We’re a New Zealand family hoping to go to Maui in early to mid April 2016. I understood this was a low peak time but one of the resorts I contacted said early April was a `peak time’ and the resort was almost sold out! That frightens me, as we don’t like big crowds, coming from a small town.
We’re worried now that we haven’t chosen a less crowded, less expensive time to travel to Maui. Can you reassure me please?!?
I’m surprised to hear that a resort say that early to mid April is a peak time and that they’re almost sold out. I wonder if the resort is hosting a large convention of some kind?
Hi Sheila, they said the April spring break families don’t leave till mid April. Our NZ school vacation begins April 15 so we had planned to go just before then, for better flight prices from NZ but now may shift.
Hi Samantha – thanks for the update.
I just took a look to see where Easter is. It’s at the very end of March this year. Normally spring break for US schools is the week before or immediate after Easter. So, I can possibly see the first week being busy, but not really much into the second week of April.
I will say that even during peaks, Hawaii rarely feels very crowded, with perhaps the exception of Waikiki. We have been to Hawaii a few times around Easter. It was hardly even noticeable. The only issue we ran into one time was that there was a tour that we tried to book while we were on the island and we didn’t get to go on the specific day that we wanted because it was already full. We did get to book another day.
On the flip side of that we’ve stayed at a Maui hotel (Grand Wailea) one February when occupancy was high due to a convention. We did have some trouble finding available lounge chairs on the beach and pool, but we were often late to get out due to having colds. That was our only annoyance.
I hope you find a good window for your visit. Please let us know how it works out.
Thanks again Sheila. I’ve read reviews of families having to fight for pool chairs and we certainly would not enjoy that! My youngest daughter wakes around 5.30am, so we could send her to reserve, ha ha! Seriously though, I guess it’s such an expensive trip for us, we want to get it right. Look forward to setting eyes on Hawaii for the first time.
Samantha did you end up going? I am looking at April 2017 and deciding on kids or no kids (I always bring the kids and doesn’t seem like a trip without them but my hubby and I haven’t had an alone vacation for a long time) We were looking at 2-3rd week of april.
Did you go to maui? We leave 1 year from today and right now maui is rain every day!
Hi, Im from argentina and me and my boyfriend wanted to go to hawaii next april (2017). Im really worried about rain, its a really expensive trip for us and we wouldnt like it to be rouined by rain. I didnt understan if there was a lot of rain that month or not.
Thank you!
Paz
This article should help: https://govisithawaii.com/2016/07/20/will-it-rain-during-my-hawaii-vacation-and-other-hawaii-rainfall-questions-answered/
Hi- I’m looking to get my family to Hawaii (there are five of us) from Baltimore. We have enough frequent flier miles to get us to the west coast and could purchase flights to Hawaii from there (SFO, LAX, etc.) if it is cheaper. We would be going in the summer, so I’m not sure how cost effective I could make the trip at all. Any advice?
Here are a couple of articles that may be helpful:
https://govisithawaii.com/2010/05/10/strategies-for-finding-lowest-airfare-to-hawaii/
https://govisithawaii.com/2012/08/29/how-much-for-a-trip-to-hawaii-budget-calculator/
Hi
Its my wifes dream to visit Hawaii and her 40th is 21st April 2019 so from all the reviews/feedback sounds like its an ok time to go. This will probably be a once in a lifetime trip for us as we are in the UK and its super far. We can obviously get a travel guide to find out more before the trip but would love to hear wheres is really good to stay and to be able to explore and the top 10 absolutely must do things. Thanks in advance!! Simon
Simon – have a look at our first time visitors guide – https://govisithawaii.com/first-time-visitors-guide-to-hawaii/ From the links in the guide, you should find help in choosing which island(s) and where to stay on those islands…plus much more.
Hi simon
My husband and I are going to Hawaii in April too, where are you flying from – us are flying from Heathrow we may even meet up?