Winter on Kauaʻi
Does winter exist in Hawaiʻi? Of course! While it may not be the winter you are picturing (snow and cold), we do have a change of seasons. If you are visiting Kauaʻi from November through February, you may encounter what we consider to be our “winter” conditions:
Waves – You can catch a wave on Kauaʻi any time of the year, but where to catch a wave depends on the time of year. Swells are generated by distant energy that travels across the ocean and creates waves as you get closer to shore. During winter months, the swells come from the North, all due to wintertime in the northern hemisphere and the storms circulating in the open ocean off the coast of Alaska. These storms can be powerful and can generate waves up to forty feet or more! That’s extreme, but it does happen once or twice during the winter, impacting the North and West shores and lasting for a few days.
Typical swells range from five to fifteen feet, and safe swimming conditions can usually still be found on the South or East side of the island during winter. In the summer, swells hit the South side of the island since it’s wintertime in the southern hemisphere.
Wind and waves are what affect Kauaʻi boat tours the most, the combination is hard to deal with, but if we have one or the other, we can usually find a way to work with it. Our regular destination, Nāpali Coast, lies along the North/Northwest side of the island, so tours to Nāpali are more frequently interrupted by swell in the winter.
Our captains are constantly analyzing the weather and ocean conditions and often must wait until an hour before the tour to decide about the tour route for the day. The wind and swell strength, direction, intensity, and timing all factor in, so there is no perfect formula we can use, we take it day by day and sometimes hour by hour.
If weather and ocean conditions impact our ability to visit our planned destinations i.e. Nāpali Coast and/or Niʻihau, we may choose to reroute the tour if the weather is more favorable on another side of the island. If we can’t find a nice weather window, that’s when we would cancel the tour completely. If we choose to reroute, the captain will let you know at check-in time and you can decide if you want to go on the altered tour or you can cancel/reschedule at no charge. We want to be upfront and honest with what we expect, and you can decide if that’s right for you.
Even on the nicest days, a tour can be very exciting! We like that better than rough, but to some people, it may be extremely rough, no sugarcoating it. Think rollercoaster ride with some ups and downs mixed with the log chute where you may get wet! All our tours are adventures, not calm river cruises, this is the open ocean and if you want to see one of the most naturally rugged landscapes in the world, you must endure the elements to get there.
Rain – We don’t have a monsoon season or anything that extreme, but winter months do bring more rainfall to certain areas of the island. If you are looking for sun, head South or West, unless we are experiencing an island-wide storm, there’s usually somewhere on the island you can still catch a tan.
If you’re joining us on tour and are concerned about the rain, don’t be! Typically, the rain stays inland, and we can avoid it when we head out on the water. Rain means waterfalls and rainbows, which are often seen in plethora during winter. We will cancel tours if we expect extreme downpours and/or thunder and lightning conditions, safety and comfort are our priorities to ensure a good time.
Whales – The best part of winter, the whales! A highlight for many is experiencing the incredible displays of humpback whales who visit the waters of Hawaiʻi during our winter season. They show up as early as October and can stay as late as May, but peak season is December through March. If you join us on a tour during those months, it’s hard not to see a whale on the water! Check out our past blog (link) for more info.
Our best advice for traveling to Kauaʻi during winter, be flexible. Don’t jam pack your itinerary, leave some room to move things around based on weather and how you’re feeling. If planning a Nāpali Coast boat tour, schedule it earlier in your vacation, that way you could reschedule it for a later date if weather is a factor.
It would be convenient if every one of our Nāpali Coast boat tours worked out exactly as described here on our web page, but that will never happen, we just can’t control Mother Nature. The fact is that some days, the Nāpali Coast isn’t reasonable, safe, or advisable for us or any Kauai boat tour company to experience.
So, in the unfortunate case you get denied the Nāpali Coast on your Kauaʻi boat tour, we want you to know that we have lots of backup plan options and interesting places on the south shore to explore. Despite any limitations caused by weather and ocean conditions, we’ll do everything we can within our control to make sure you have a memorable and valuable experience, no matter what.
And hey, look at the bright side. If you aren’t able to experience Nāpali Coast on this trip, you’ll just have to come back again!