Maui: The Mini Rough Guide (Miniguides S.) - Softcover

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Greg Ward is an established travel writer and expert on the islands of Hawaii. He has worked for Rough Guides since 1985. He is the author of The Rough Guide to Barcelona (with Steve Tallantyre), The Rough Guide to Brittany and Normandy, and The Rough Guide to Southwest USA. Visit him online at gregward.info.

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Climate and when to go

Although Maui's high season for tourism is mid-December to March, when room rates rise by perhaps $20 per night, its climate remains pretty constant year-round.

Throughout the year, sea-level thermometers rarely drop below the low seventies Fahrenheit (around 22 degrees C) in the daytime, or climb beyond the low eighties (around 28 degrees C); at night the temperature seldom falls below the low sixties. The only reason to bring warm clothing is if you plan to drive up to the summit of Haleakala; at dawn, the most popular time to visit, temperatures regularly drop below freezing point. In principle the rainiest months are from December to February, but where you are on the island makes far more difference than what time of year it is, and the main leeward tourist areas seldom receive more than the occasional light shower even then. The highest peak, in the West Maui Mountains - a place you almost certainly will never glimpse, let alone visit - is deluged by over 400 inches of rain per year, but all the coastal resorts, including Ka'anapali, barely five miles away, get less than twenty inches.

The only seasonal variation of any great significance for tourists is the state of the ocean. Along protected stretches of the shoreline, you can expect to be able to swim all year round in beautiful seas where the water temperature varies from 75 degrees F to 82 degrees F (24-28 degrees C). Between October and April, however, high surf can render unsheltered beaches dangerous in the extreme, and some beaches even lose their sand altogether. Conditions on specific beaches are indicated throughout this book; see also the "Sea Sports and Safety" section on p.39. Other factors that might influence the timing of your visit include the annual sojourn of migratory humpback whales in the offshore waters, between late November and late March; the peak season for the flowering trees along the Hana Highway, in June; the blossoming of the extraordinary silversword plants of Haleakala in July and August; and the island's various annual festivals - detailed on p.37.

Despite the much-publicized onslaught of Hurricane Iniki on Kauai in September 1992, hurricanes are very rare. Similarly, tsunamis (often erroneously called tidal waves) hit perhaps once every fifty years, generally as a result of earthquakes or landslides caused by volcanic eruptions. Civil defense procedures are adopted in such events and are posted widely throughout the island.