Weather Conditions - Rain, Wind, Air Temperatures And Hurricane Season

You can't decide when to snorkel Hawaii without taking into account the weather.

Rain

Rain, though not as cold in a tropical place like this, can put a damper on snorkeling. Clouds and rain block the sun making it harder to see underwater and the combination of rain and no sun can make you cooler in the water. And if you are from a place where it rains a lot and you are looking for a sunny tropical vacation, rain can suck. Hawaii receives most of it's rain between October and April.

So, generally in choosing when to snorkel Hawaii with rain as the factor, we choose summer.

Something else to consider with rain is that the Hawaiian Islands have a rainy side and a dry side. On the Big Island and Maui, most all of the snorkeling is on the dry side, lowering the overall rain chances year round. There are exceptions to this too, like on the Big Island, Kona can have rainy afternoons in the summer. On Oahu and Kauai, the snorkeling spots are all around the island, so summer will decrease the chances of rainy days for your snorkeling there. And truthfully, rain is always a factor on Kauai.