Maui (Kaanapali) weather in December

Forum posters describe December daytime highs typically in the low 80sF, with water temperatures in the high 70sF - warm enough for swimming and snorkeling year-round. December does mark the start of Hawaii's rainy season, but posters are consistent this gets overstated: when rain falls it's usually brief, lasting only a few minutes, rather than a washed-out day. The leeward side (Kihei and Wailea) is named as the driest part of the island, since Kona storms that hit south Maui first often have little effect on West Maui. Posters repeatedly name the first two weeks of December as their favorite window - the quietest stretch of the year, with good weather and activities feeling almost private compared to the holiday crush that follows.

Regulars are specific this counts as a lovely month here, flowering trees in bloom and the wet season largely behind it, temperatures commonly cited in the low-to-mid 80s Fahrenheit at the beach resorts with real bikini weather the norm despite occasional evening or early-morning showers. Our row backs that mild, genuinely wet read, 17.5C over 13.8C nights, with a substantial 81.7mm of rain across 21.4 days and a real 22.3 kph wind - a wider island-average figure pulled down by cooler upcountry and summit elevations far from the beach resorts themselves. Regulars are consistent conditions vary a lot by coast, South Maui turning windy with rough water after noon while West Maui often stays calm, water activities before noon or a West Maui base the practical workaround. The sea sits at a warm, swimmable 25.2C. The record: 11.6 hours of sun, humidity 79 percent and AQI 32.

September is the month Maui regulars name for the combination: the warmest air and water of the year, the fewest people and the low-season prices, in a month that is not part of the rainy season unless a hurricane turns up. That caveat is real - late August into early September is the peak of the Pacific hurricane season, and they call September the worst month for trade wind disruption, which is what stops the island's breeze doing its job. On temperature our row and the forum disagree sharply: they give upper-80s Fahrenheit days, our row 19.3C with 21.4 precipitation days, which reads as an upcountry measurement rather than a coastal one. Take the coast as theirs. The record: 15.6C nights, 64.8mm of rain, 11.1 hours of sun and a 26.4C sea.

August on the Maui forum is a question about the trade winds. They blow their strongest in summer and they are what makes the heat pleasant; the risk is that a distant storm - hurricane season runs June to November and peaks in August and September - stalls them, and regulars describe what follows bluntly: without the trades it turns into a sauna and the vog rolls in off the Big Island. That is the argument for taking a room with air conditioning if it is offered. The compensation is timing: the island starts to empty from mid-August as the school year comes back. One caveat on the record below - our coordinates for Maui sit upcountry rather than on the leeward resort coast, so the air figures read cooler and cloudier than Kihei or Kaanapali: 19.6C days, 15.8C nights, 21.5 precipitation days, a 26.4C sea and a 23 kph trade wind.

Maui's forum rates June solidly good for the dry season's low humidity and steady trade winds, though regulars note the island's own weather varies sharply by elevation and coast — leeward beaches run warmest, while upcountry and the crater rim stay noticeably cooler even in June. The consistent tip regardless of where you're staying: bring a light sweater for restaurants and cars, indoor air conditioning runs colder than it feels outside.