You don’t have to be a climatologist to marvel at Hawaii’s diverse climates with Hawaii’s Big Island being the prime location for climate diversity. The Big Island is home to 11 of the world’s 13 climate zones. Per BigIsland.org, there are as many different climate zones on the island of Hawaii as exist along the entire coast stretching from Alaska to Costa Rica.
Isn’t it amazing that all of those climates exist so compactly on island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I’d venture to guess that there’s not anywhere else on earth where you can experience so many different climates in such a confined area as compact as Hawaii’s Big Island. Allow me to share a few photos to illustrate some of the climate diversity.
A view from the dry, leeward side of the Kohala Coast towards Mauna Kea:
A small waterfall on the lush, windward side along the Hamakua Coast:
A view from the summit of Mauna Kea showing a rocky terrain with cinder cones and snow:
While the Big Island has the most examples of different climates, the other islands have their fair share of diversity, too. Here are just a few suggestions for how to see Hawaii’s climate diversity on all the major islands:
On the Big Island:
On Maui:
On Oahu:
On Kauai, the climate diversity is perhaps a little less dramatic, but certainly not any less beautiful:
Sources & Additional Reading:
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It always has amazed me that Hawaii has so many different climates in such a small area. I was just looking at photos from our helicopter tour over Maui back in '06. Some of them look almost too different to be from the same island, but in reality it was just a short 60 minute flight all the way around.
@ Kris - you bring up a great point -- taking a helicopter tour is an excellent way to see some of the climate extremes on Hawaii. Thanks!