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Big Island
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Photo by Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Best time to visit Big Island

United States · North America

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Big Island

Tap a month for its page

  1. Big Island in January: sweet spot
  2. Big Island in February: good
  3. Big Island in March: sweet spot
  4. Big Island in April: sweet spot
  5. Big Island in May: ok
  6. Big Island in June: avoid
  7. Big Island in July: ok, busy
  8. Big Island in August: ok
  9. Big Island in September: ok
  10. Big Island in October: sweet spot
  11. Big Island in November: good
  12. Big Island in December: ok
  • Sweet spot
  • Good
  • OK
  • Avoid
  • Busy
Go in Jan, Mar, Apr or Oct — these months score within a whisker of each other; 27C max, 7 rainy days. Feb is the next best.

No dry season: more than 6 rainy days in every month.

Things to do in Big Island

  • Mauna Kea Hawaiian volcano
  • Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Home to the world's largest volcano, Mauna Loa, and to the world's most active, Kilauea, which erupted continuously from 1983 to 2018.
  • Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park A fascinating site for those interested in ancient Hawaiian history, this place served as a sanctuary for those broke taboos if they could make it here.
  • Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site Preserves the National Historic Landmark ruins of the last major Ancient Hawaiian temple, and other historic sites.
  • Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park A park being developed with hundreds of archaeological features including three ancient fish ponds
  • Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail A 175-mile trail corridor through hundreds of ancient Hawaiian settlement sites hat is being developed along the west and south coasts

Tours and tickets in Big Island

Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank

Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Big Island), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.

Month by month

No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.

MonthMax °CRain days HumiditySun h/day VerdictWhy
Jan 25° 6d 80% 10.2h sweet spot 25C max, 6 rainy days
Feb 25° 7d 79% 10.2h good 25C max, 7 rainy days
Mar 25° 9d 81% 10.0h sweet spot 25C max, 9 rainy days
Apr 26° 11d 83% 10.6h sweet spot 26C max, 11 rainy days
May 26° 13d 84% 11.4h ok 26C max, 13 rainy days
Jun 26° 18d 87% 11.6h avoid monsoon: 18 rainy days, 247mm
Jul 27° 15d 86% 12.2h okbusy busier than usual
Aug 28° 14d 86% 11.7h ok 28C max, 14 rainy days
Sep 28° 10d 84% 11.1h ok 28C max, 10 rainy days
Oct 27° 7d 84% 10.7h sweet spot 27C max, 7 rainy days
Nov 27° 6d 81% 10.0h good 27C max, 6 rainy days
Dec 26° 7d 80% 9.8h ok 26C max, 7 rainy days

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at Kailua-Kona, 11 km from the airport (KOA): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest in June; quietest in March and April.

Then and now

Big Island's April days now average 25.6°C, 3.1°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 12 of 12 months are clearly warmer.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
1981–9022.4°22.2°22.3°22.5°23.2°24.0°24.5°25.0°24.9°24.6°24.0°22.8°
2017–2625.2°24.9°25.3°25.6°26.1°26.4°27.5°27.7°27.7°27.3°26.8°25.8°
Change+2.8°+2.8°+3.0°+3.1°+3.0°+2.4°+2.9°+2.7°+2.8°+2.7°+2.7°+3.0°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

How far Big Island is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Type A and B plugs at 120 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the United states dollar. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Everything for United States: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.

Being there

On arrival

  • Paying — Cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay work almost everywhere, though a few small places take cash only. Keep some $1 and $5 notes for tips; Venmo and PayPal are for locals.
  • UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
  • Tipping — Expected: 15–20% in sit-down restaurants (18–20% is standard in New York) and 10–20% for taxi, Uber and Lyft drivers. Large groups may find it already on the bill.

Getting around Big Island

  • Apps — Rides: Lyft, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: Text messages (SMS), WhatsApp. In San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and some other cities you can also book a driverless Waymo in its own app.

On Big Island, you need a car in order to get to most of the interesting beaches, parks or other attractions, or to travel from the Kona coast to the Hilo coast. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Big Island, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Help

  • Emergency — 911 (any emergency).
    TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 7 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (50)

Big Island in pictures

Kohala coast at the Big Island of Hawaii from the air
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George, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Big Island, Southeastern coast (near Kahakai Park)
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Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Kehena Beach, Big Island
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Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Lava wildfire at hawaii
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Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sulfur dioxide emissions from the Halemaumau vent 04 08 1 1
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Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Big Island is like

The island of Hawai'i — universally called the Big Island by visitors to avoid confusion with its namesake state — is the largest island of the state of Hawaii in the United States of America. Many local folks call it The Island. More on Wikivoyage

Getting in
There are two major airports if you are flying into the Big Island, Kona International Airport (KOA IATA) and Hilo International Airport (ITO IATA). More on Wikivoyage
Staying safe
Even solidified lava flows can still be very dangerous, as there are hidden flows of molten lava with only an overlying thin crust of rock in many places between Pu'u O'o and the shoreline. More on Wikivoyage
Staying healthy
While quite rare, as of 2017, there are a few cases of rat lungworm disease on Maui and the Big Island. This is an extremely serious parasitic disease that affects the brain and spinal cord, and can be fatal. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Big Island, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Big Island

Also in United States

Nearby

Kind of place

Big Island is in United States, North America. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book through one, at no extra cost to you. That does not affect the scores on this page, which are computed from climate and fare data before any link is built.