Kona in March or Nov/Dec?

[qwimjim]

Thinking of a trip for next year, one week on the big island followed by a week in Palau. Palau "best time to go" seems to be Nov-Apr, what about Kona as far as visibility underwater, manta ray numbers, and general topside weather? I don't care about water temperature and air temperature, I care much more about visibility underwater and sunny skies on land (even if a bit cool). My options are mid to late March or anytime in November to mid December. It's an expensive trip so while I know nothing is guaranteed I at least want the odds in my favour!

 

[qwimjim]

Thinking of a trip for next year, one week on the big island followed by a week in Palau. Palau "best time to go" seems to be Nov-Apr, what about Kona as far as visibility underwater, manta ray numbers, and general topside weather? I don't care about water temperature and air temperature, I care much more about visibility underwater and sunny skies on land (even if a bit cool). My options are mid to late March or anytime in November to mid December. It's an expensive trip so while I know nothing is guaranteed I at least want the odds in my favour!

Anyone?

 

[Aerosol]

Aloha! I am an instructor out here in Kona.

Mantas are here year round, with about an 85% chance of seeing them, nightly. They are wild animals, so we can't predict their location and interest for the evening, but that's about their reliability percentage.

Water temp in Kona ranges from mid 70s in late winter (feb/march) to about 80F in the summer. Viz is normally 100' year-round, unless we have a (rather rare) "swell storm" in the winter that can muck up the water for a day or two. Kona is the leeward side, so we are very protected from most of the swells here.

It's ALWAYS between 70-85F top-side. Although, we all got out our tea, books and blankets when it dropped into the 60s one night in December this last month. Brrrr! :-D

It's great diving all the time! I suggest coming out when airfare and hotel is cheaper, so you can spend some of that saved money on more diving!

Have fun! Feel free to PM me with any questions!

-Sarah

 

[qwimjim]

Aloha! I am an instructor out here in Kona.

Mantas are here year round, with about an 85% chance of seeing them, nightly. They are wild animals, so we can't predict their location and interest for the evening, but that's about their reliability percentage.

Water temp in Kona ranges from mid 70s in late winter (feb/march) to about 80F in the summer. Viz is normally 100' year-round, unless we have a (rather rare) "swell storm" in the winter that can muck up the water for a day or two. Kona is the leeward side, so we are very protected from most of the swells here.

It's ALWAYS between 70-85F top-side. Although, we all got out our tea, books and blankets when it dropped into the 60s one night in December this last month. Brrrr! :-D

It's great diving all the time! I suggest coming out when airfare and hotel is cheaper, so you can spend some of that saved money on more diving!

Have fun! Feel free to PM me with any questions!

-Sarah

thanks! topside is it rainy in march on the big island? just curious because i read that kauai is usually much nicer weather sept-oct than feb-mar

 

[fisheater]

What side? Rains a lot on the windward side (Hilo) and almost never in the leeward side (Kona).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[qwimjim]

Kona side

 

[Aerosol]

Hilo rains something like 300 days a year. Kona seems to be about 1x a month, for an hour at most. Plus, even it if rains, you got a wetsuit, right? And it's warm rain!

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Hilo rains something like 300 days a year. Kona seems to be about 1x a month, for an hour at most. Plus, even it if rains, you got a wetsuit, right? And it's warm rain!

Hey, it hasn't rained in at least 3 hours here. We're having a drought!

Seriously, Kona is a very good bet for year-round diving. I would recommend planning a trip around airfares and the weather conditions in Palau (assuming there are large seasonal differences in diving conditions in Palau).

Kona will occasionally get hit by a swell, but that is a fairly rare event. The predominant weather in Hawaii is driven by the trade winds, and Kona is in the lee of large volcanic mountains.... thus the good weather and diving.

Hilo has some awesome diving, but the conditions are not always ideal since we are on the windward side. We often get surge, viz in the 60' range is more common than Kona's 100' viz.

Best wishes.