Frommer's Kauai - Jeanette Foster [33]
• If you’re flying with kids, don’t forget to carry on toys, books, pacifiers, and chewing gum to help them relieve ear pressure buildup during ascent and descent. Let each child pack his or her own backpack with favorite toys.
The year-round temperature usually varies no more than 15°, from about 70° to 85°F (21°–29°C), but it depends on where you are. Kauai is like a ship in that it has leeward and windward sides. The leeward sides (the west and south) are usually hot and dry, whereas the windward sides (east and north) are generally cooler and moist. If you want arid, sunbaked, desertlike weather, go leeward. If you want lush, often wet, junglelike weather, go windward. Your best bet for total year-round sun is the Poipu coast.
Kauai is also full of microclimates, thanks to its interior valleys, coastal plains, and mountain peaks. If you travel into the mountains, it can change from summer to winter in a matter of hours, because it’s cooler the higher up you go. In other words, if the weather doesn’t suit you, go to the other side of the island—or head into the hills.
Average temperature and rainy days for each month in Lihue:
Average temperature and rainy days for each month in Hanalei:
No Smoking in Hawaii
Well, not totally no smoking, but Hawaii has one of the toughest laws against smoking in the U.S. It’s against the law to smoke in public buildings, including airports, shopping malls, grocery stores, retail shops, buses, movie theaters, banks, convention facilities, and all government buildings and facilities. There is no smoking in restaurants, bars, or nightclubs. Most bed-and-breakfasts prohibit smoking indoors, and more and more hotels and resorts are becoming smoke-free even in public areas. Also, there is no smoking within 20 feet of a doorway, window, or ventilation intake (so no hanging around outside a bar to smoke—you must go 20 ft. away). Even some beaches have no-smoking policies (and at those that do allow smoking, you’d better pick up your butts and not use the sand as your own private ashtray—or else face stiff fines). Breathing fresh, clear air is “in,” while smoking in Hawaii is “out.”
HOLIDAYS
When Hawaii observes holidays, especially those over a long weekend, travel between the islands increases, interisland airline seats are fully booked, rental cars are at a premium, and hotels and restaurants are busier than usual.
Federal, state, and county government offices are closed on all federal holidays: January 1 (New Year’s Day); third Monday in January (Martin Luther King, Jr., Day); third Monday in February (Presidents’ Day, Washington’s Birthday); last Monday in May (Memorial Day); July 4 (Independence Day); first Monday in September (Labor Day); second Monday in October (Columbus Day); November 11 (Veterans Day); fourth Thursday in November (Thanksgiving Day); and December 25 (Christmas).
State and county offices also are closed on local holidays, including Prince Kuhio Day (Mar 26), honoring the birthday of Hawaii’s first delegate to the U.S. Congress; King Kamehameha Day (June 11), a statewide holiday commemorating Kamehameha the Great, who united the islands and ruled from 1795 to 1819; and Admission Day (third Fri in Aug), which honors Hawaii’s admission as the 50th state in the United States on August 21, 1959.
Other special days celebrated by many people in Hawaii but that do not involve the closing of federal, state, or county offices are Chinese New Year (Jan or Feb), Girls’ Day (Mar 3), Buddha’s Birthday (Apr 8), Father Damien’s Day (Apr 15), Boys’ Day (May 5), Samoan Flag Day (Aug), Aloha Festivals (Sept or Oct), and Pearl Harbor Day (Dec 7).
Kauai Calendar of Events
As with any schedule of upcoming events, the following information is subject to change; always confirm details and dates before you plan your schedule around an event.
For an exhaustive list of events