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Hawaii, USA · North America · northern hemisphere
Oʻahu & the North Shore is at its best for city & culture in March to May and September to November. Good but not prime in January, February, June, July, August and December.
| J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swimming | 25 | 4 | 34 | 57 | 85 | 95 | 93 | 93 | 95 | 93 | 77 | 50 |
| Lakes & Coastline | 15 | 42 | 66 | 89 | 93 | 79 | 72 | 55 | 87 | 91 | 79 | 42 |
| City & Culture | 79 | 77 | 99 | 94 | 90 | 63 | 60 | 55 | 81 | 84 | 95 | 77 |
| Hiking | 41 | 43 | 76 | 94 | 91 | 65 | 18 | 11 | 58 | 85 | 95 | 76 |
No reliable monthly crowd data for this destination — the proxy used elsewhere did not pass its checks here, so nothing is shown rather than a guess.
Swipe the table sideways for the rest of the year.
Two islands in one — Waikīkī on the calm south shore, and the North Shore an hour away where the winter swell makes the water genuinely lethal and the surf contests run
Short, steep day walks. Diamond Head needs a reservation; the rest do not. No guide needed.
Swimming on the North Shore between November and April. Waimea and Pipeline take winter faces well over 3m and the drowning statistics are not theoretical — the south shore is calm in exactly those months.
June through August, then Christmas and New Year
Waikīkī is about as easy as tropical travel gets — calm reef-protected water, everything walkable. The North Shore in winter is for watching, not swimming.
Waikīkī is where the hotels are and it is fine — dense, walkable, cheaper than the neighbour islands. Kailua on the windward side is calmer and greener; the North Shore is a different holiday entirely.
North Shore winter surf runs to 6–9m and the drowning statistics are not theoretical. The south shore is calm in exactly those months.Jan · Feb · Mar · Nov · Dec
Kept out of the score on purpose. Averaging a rare catastrophe into a monthly number would tell you something false; the warning is the honest form.
Several famous ridge trails here — Haʻikū Stairs, Sacred Falls — are closed and enforced, and people are fined and rescued from them regularly. Stick to the open ones; there are plenty.