Aulani in January

[dachsie]

So I have booked April 2020 for my Aulani trip. Then a CME course came up in January on the Big Island that I got approval for. (Now work can pay the airfare!). So now I will change my trip to January.

How is weather? How busy is it? Any must dos I should do in January? I am pretty sure I read the Northshore has the really big waves for the surfers - only a spectator here.

Gosh I am so excited!

 

[pamelaj]

We went in January a few years ago. It was windy, which made it feel a bit colder, but my kids were still happy to get in the pools. We went whale watching and saw a ton of whales, so I would definitely recommend that if you are interested. It wasn't too busy when we were there.

 

[dachsie]

Any particular place to watch the whales?

 

[keaster]

We just went this past January we found the weather to be excellent (a couple of rain showers but nothing major). There were a couple high surf warnings so we enjoyed watching the pro surfers on the north shore!

 

[nkereina]

January is prime whale season so I would definitely do a whale watching excursion. I believe the best spot is Maui, if you visit there. But I would guess there are excursions on Oahu and the Big Island too. We went during off season so I'm not familiar, but check the marina in Ko Olina that's down the street from Aulani. They may have some kind of tour.

 

[jodybird511]

We went in late December/early January a couple years ago, and the weather was great. Resort was fairly busy the first week in Jan, due to the holiday, but we made do. We had one of the rooms overlooking the luau, such that we could see the ocean as well, and one day, we actually saw a whale from our lanai!

 

[pepperandchips]

We were there over Christmas but I expect the weather would be similar in January. The pools were great but the ocean was collld! It was perfect weather to sit in a lounger and not scorch, though. I would definitely visit at this time again!

 

[corgi_monster]

Any particular place to watch the whales?

If you'd like to spot whales from land (as opposed to a boat tour), I highly recommend the lookouts between Hanauma Bay and Blowhole. The backside of the Makapuu trail lighthouse is also a good spot if you're up to doing a short, very easy hike on paved road.

There is a group of volunteers that counts the number of humpback whales that visit Oahu each year and they usually select the first lookout right after Hanauma Bay. If you round the corner and see a bunch of people with telephoto lenses, that's a good indication that there's a lot of whale action going on.

As for the weather, January is chilly, but you'll probably get "beach weather" at least once or twice during your trip. Imo, February and March are the trickier months. Aulani is located on the warmer, sunnier part of the island so that's definitely a plus!

 

[BCV23]

Very nice to have your airfare covered by work! Congrats. We've had three stays at Aulani in January as well and another at the JW next door before Aulani opened. We love January there. The weather is usually Hawaii perfect in our experience. As for whales others have given you great recommendations but we even saw them while dining at Ama Ama this year. So very cool. Happy planning.

 

[alohamom]

If you'd like to spot whales from land (as opposed to a boat tour), I highly recommend the lookouts between Hanauma Bay and Blowhole. The backside of the Makapuu trail lighthouse is also a good spot if you're up to doing a short, very easy hike on paved road.

There is a group of volunteers that counts the number of humpback whales that visit Oahu each year and they usually select the first lookout right after Hanauma Bay. If you round the corner and see a bunch of people with telephoto lenses, that's a good indication that there's a lot of whale action going on.

This is great info! Thanks @corgi_monster

 

[dachsie]

If you'd like to spot whales from land (as opposed to a boat tour), I highly recommend the lookouts between Hanauma Bay and Blowhole. The backside of the Makapuu trail lighthouse is also a good spot if you're up to doing a short, very easy hike on paved road.

There is a group of volunteers that counts the number of humpback whales that visit Oahu each year and they usually select the first lookout right after Hanauma Bay. If you round the corner and see a bunch of people with telephoto lenses, that's a good indication that there's a lot of whale action going on.

As for the weather, January is chilly, but you'll probably get "beach weather" at least once or twice during your trip. Imo, February and March are the trickier months. Aulani is located on the warmer, sunnier part of the island so that's definitely a plus!

Are the whales there all day or best to catch in morning/afternoon?

 

[bobbiwoz]

I know people here are reporting whale sightings. We were in Aulani for a week two February’s ago, and we looked and looked, we went to recommended places. We did see them in Maui, even from lookouts along the road. So, I would definitely go on a tour to see them if it was very important.

 

[BCV23]

I know people here are reporting whale sightings. We were in Aulani for a week two February’s ago, and we looked and looked, we went to recommended places. We did see them in Maui, even from lookouts along the road. So, I would definitely go on a tour to see them if it was very important.

Oh, completely agree. I should have mentioned that at Ama Ama I doubt we would have noticed the whales if our servers hadn't pointed them out. This happened at one lunch and one dinner but we had lunch at Ama Ama almost eery day, dinner one other time and breakfast once as well. It's not as if you can count on it. The other thing is that because of the cove, the whales are much further away than our experiences at Wailea on Maui. It was some years ago now when we stayed at the JW that my husband, older son and his wife went on a boat tour and saw a mother whale teaching her little one to breach. Priceless. IIRC, their tour left from the cove farthest away from Aulani.