Crossing from LA to Hawaii in January

anyone know what I should expect weather wise for a 15 day cruise in Jan from LA to Hawaii? Not sure if I need long sleeve, warmer clothes for the crossing. Usually sail in Caribbean. Heard also a bit rough. Any feedback would be appreciated.

We sailed that itinerary in January and the log of the cruise shows temperatures in the 60s for the crossing in both directions. On the day closest to Hawaii it was in the low 70s with temperatures in Hawaii being perfect...upper 70s to low 80s.

I don't recall any rough sea days but conditions could change daily. Conditions closer to the West Coast are generally the roughest but not too bad during the several times we've sailed this route.

Don't know the type of clothing you wear in these conditions but for us it was mostly long pants & short sleeve shirts with a light jacket if necessary. Layers of clothing are probably better than bringing heavy clothing.

Here's a summary of general weather trends for January in Maui:

January – Summary of Average Monthly Weather for Maui Hawaii

One of the coolest months, cold fronts from the Northwest bring showery weather, with this month the wettest of the year. Clear and warm days prevail between these showery periods. Tradewinds blow only 42% of the time, compared with July’s 95%. One of the months to see snow on top of our 10.023 foot Haleakala…which sometimes occurs. Large surf impacts the North and West shores. Sea water temperature averages about 75 degrees F.

January averages for different locations on Maui Lahaina 82-64 F. (27.8C-17.8C) 3.49" precipitation Hana 79-64 F. (26.1C-17.8C) 9.45" precipitation. Kahului 80-64 F. (26.7C-17.8C) 4.14" precipitation

Kahului % of possible daytime sunshine: 69%

Thanks....I thought maybe 60s. I’m from South Florida so will need a little bit of warm clothing as it rarely reaches 60 except over night! Layers! Thank you again. I am not worried about rough seas but one of our group is only on her second voyage so she is a bit concerned.

Thanks....I thought maybe 60s. I’m from South Florida so will need a little bit of warm clothing as it rarely reaches 60 except over night! Layers! Thank you again. I am not worried about rough seas but one of our group is only on her second voyage so she is a bit concerned.

My wife is very susceptible to all types of motion sickness & brings meclizine which is the much less expensive generic version of Bonine or Dramamine Less Drowsy. It works best for her & bringing meclizine is much cheaper than purchasing Bonine on the ship. That's allowed her to enjoy dozens of cruises...even crossing the notoriously rough Tasman Sea in 20'-25' seas with near hurricane force winds.

Have a great cruise & you can find useful information in the threads on this forum.

Doing LA to Hawaii in January, would like to rent a car at each of the four islands. Looking for a rent a car that has a shuttle to the four island ports.

Typically it is cool and windy and even rainy the first couple of days and as you get closer to Hawaii the weather improve and warms up.

But when it comes to weather you just never know so it is best to be prepared and that includes being able to layer clothing.

Keith

LA tends to have cool weather (unless the Santa Ana winds are blowing) in the winter. Also, January is during our rainy season.

We did this cruise three times all around the holiday time, so we were getting back in early January. I would prepare for the first couple of days and the last couple of days to be cool...probably in the 60s during the day. Bring rain gear (the second of those cruises was during record rain in LA, and we got more rain on the cruise). We actually had temps in the 80s for the Ensenada day and back in LA.

As for sea conditions, this cruise tends to have a lot of motion. You are crossing a major current that's off the coast of California. Among our three cruises, the conditions actually differed. (on the way back to LA on the first one, it was very smooth, but going to Hawaii, a bit rough) The sea conditions are usually not based on time of year.