The first thing that happens in November is the mainland falls back an hour, and suddenly your mom is calling at 5:00 a.m. Hawaiʻi does not change the clocks. We just wake up to the phone.
The second thing is the North Shore wakes up. The buoys start reading double digits, the contest scaffolding goes up at Haleʻiwa, and the whole island quietly turns toward the ocean.
November is also when the food people come to town, the veterans get their day, and Waikīkī lights the torches for the holiday parade the night after Thanksgiving.
These are the dates we would build a trip around, plus the weather, the water, and the small stuff that trips people up.
Related: October Events on Oʻahu 2026 | Whale Watching on Oʻahu: Season, Best Spots, and Tours | Things to Do on Oʻahu This Weekend
November weather, water, and daylight on Oʻahu
November is the month the islands exhale. Highs in Honolulu settle around 82°F (28°C) and nights drop to about 71°F (22°C). That is the first time all year you might want a light sweater at a lūʻau.
The ocean stays close to 79°F (26°C). It is still warmer than most mainland pools, and the keiki will not notice the difference.
The wet season is properly here now. Windward towns like Kailua and Kāneʻohe get real showers, the kind that drum on the roof for twenty minutes and then quit. Waikīkī and Ko Olina mostly stay dry.
Some years the trades shut off for a few days and a Kona wind brings muggy, hazy air up from the south. That is when the mountains disappear and everybody at the beach starts complaining. It passes.
Daylight is short and getting shorter. Sunset slides from about 5:54 p.m. on November 1 to roughly 5:48 p.m. by Thanksgiving, so plan your beach day for the morning and your dinner reservation for early.
About that clock change. Daylight saving time ends on the mainland on Sunday, November 1, and Hawaiʻi stays put. From that morning on we are two hours behind Los Angeles and five behind New York. Double-check any flight or dinner booking you made in your home time zone.
Hurricane season officially ends November 30. This year already reminded us that the season is real, because Hurricane Lowell hit Kauaʻi hard in early September. Odds are your November trip is fine, but our hurricane season guide explains what a watch versus a warning means before you need to know.
And in the water, November is the real handoff. The South Shore goes quiet, the first big winter swells hit the North Shore, and a yellow warning sign at Waimea or Sunset means stay on the sand. Believe the sign!
The surf contests are back on the North Shore
This is the month the North Shore stops being a beach and becomes a stadium. The World Surf League runs two qualifying events here back to back, and both are free to watch from the sand.
HTA Sunset Pro (October 26 to November 2)
The season opener runs at Sunset Beach in a holding window that carries into the first two days of November. Contest days only run when the waves cooperate, so check the WSL event page the night before and look for a green light.
Sunset is a big, shifty wave, and watching from the beach is more fun with binoculars. Parking along Kamehameha Highway fills before 8:00 a.m. on a contest morning. The shoulder is soft sand in spots, so do not try to squeeze a rental car where the local trucks park.
Our Sunset Beach guide covers the beach itself, including why you should not swim there in November.
HTA Haleʻiwa Pro (November 5 to 14)
The second stop runs at Aliʻi Beach Park in Haleʻiwa, with a longboard event running alongside the shortboard contest. The window is November 5 through 14, and again, they surf only on the days the swell shows up.
Haleʻiwa is the easier one to watch. The beach park has a lawn, shade trees, real restrooms, and a parking lot. When the heats stall, you are a five-minute walk from shave ice and garlic shrimp in town.
Go early anyway. The lot is small and Haleʻiwa traffic is slow on a normal Saturday. On a contest weekend the single lane through town turns into a parade of lifted trucks with surfboards on the roof.
Rather skip the driving? There is a well-reviewed circle island tour that spends 90 minutes in Haleʻiwa town on its loop. That is enough time to walk down to the beach park and catch a couple of heats.
Schedules, green lights, and live heats are on worldsurfleague.com. Our Haleʻiwa town guide has the parking and food details for the days you are not watching surfing.
One December heads-up while you are out there. The Lexus Pipe Masters, the final event of the Championship Tour, has a holding period of December 8 through 20 at Banzai Pipeline. The world titles get decided there.
Hawaiʻi Food and Wine Festival lands on Oʻahu (November 5 to 8)
The 16th Hawaiʻi Food and Wine Festival wraps up its island hop on Oʻahu from Thursday, November 5, through Sunday, November 8. Hawaiʻi Island and Maui got their turns in October.
The FEAST Summit opens things on Thursday, November 5, at the Sheraton Waikīkī. On Friday, November 6, the Culture in AgriCULTURE event moves out to Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi in Heʻeia, a working loʻi on the windward side. Bring slippers you do not mind getting muddy.
Sunday, November 8, is the Breakfast Club brunch at the Hyatt Regency Waikīkī, which is the one we would pick if we could only afford one. Most tasting events are 21 and over, and the popular ones tend to sell out weeks ahead.
Tickets and the full Oʻahu schedule are at hawaiifoodandwinefestival.com. Do not drive to the Sheraton for the summit. Valet in Waikīkī on a festival night is a line, and the Royal Hawaiian Center garage is a short walk.
HONOLULU Restaurant Week (November 7 to 15)
Right behind the festival comes the budget-friendly version. HONOLULU Restaurant Week runs November 7 through 15, with restaurants across the island posting special menus for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and pau hana.
This is how we try the places we keep meaning to visit. A set menu at a spot that normally scares our wallet is a lot easier to say yes to, and the restaurants are busy but not Thanksgiving-week busy yet.
The list of participating restaurants builds through late October at hnlrestaurantweek.com. Book the dinner ones a few days out, especially on the Friday and Saturday in the middle.
Same weekend, two more things. First Friday in Chinatown is Friday, November 6, with galleries and bars open late. And on Hawaiʻi Island, the 55th Kona Coffee Cultural Festival runs November 6 through 15, which matters if a Kona coffee farm tour is on your neighbor island plans.
Veterans Day on Oʻahu (Wednesday, November 11)
Veterans Day is a federal and state holiday here, and on an island with this many bases it is a big one. State offices, banks, and post offices close, and the beaches fill up with families on a Wednesday.
The ceremony everybody knows is at Punchbowl, the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, on the morning of the 11th. In past years the Oʻahu Veterans Council has started it at 9:00 a.m., so check the cemetery’s notices or theovc.org the week before for the 2026 time.
Get there early, dress for sun, and go quiet. Our Punchbowl visitor guide covers parking, the lookout most people miss, and how to act on the grounds.
Down in Waikīkī, the Natatorium War Memorial has hosted its own late-morning ceremony on Veterans Day in past years. The Battleship Missouri on Ford Island usually holds one too.
Pearl Harbor is heavy with visitors that whole week, so reserve your USS Arizona Memorial program tickets the moment the window opens.
If the reservation site beats you, a small group Pearl Harbor tour that also stops at Punchbowl handles the tickets and the parking for you. That is worth real money that week.
Out on the North Shore, Waimea Valley gives active and retired military free admission on Veterans Day with a valid ID. The valley also holds its Makahiki Festival in November, with the Te Moana Nui games, hula, vendors, and music, at $10 general admission and $5 kamaʻāina.
The 2026 Makahiki date had not been posted when we wrote this, only a note that the schedule was coming soon. Check waimeavalley.net before you plan a drive around it.
King Kalākaua’s birthday at ʻIolani Palace
David Kalākaua, the Merrie Monarch, was born on November 16, 1836, and the palace he built celebrates him every year. In 2026 the birthday celebration runs all day on Tuesday, November 17, with the full schedule posted on iolanipalace.org.
If you are a resident, the better date might be Kamaʻāina Sunday on November 8, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., when the palace opens its doors to locals. Bring your Hawaiʻi ID.
Visitors should book a regular tour any other day. Our ʻIolani Palace visitor guide explains the tour types, the parking on the grounds, and why you will be wearing paper booties over your slippers.
Rainbow Warriors football comes home twice
University of Hawaiʻi football has two November home games at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on the Mānoa campus, both with 6:00 p.m. kickoffs.
North Dakota State visits on Saturday, November 14, and Sacramento State closes out the home schedule on Saturday, November 28, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
The Ching Complex is small, which is the fun of it. You are close enough to hear the pads pop and the band is right behind you.
Tickets are on hawaiiathletics.com. Campus parking is tight, so get there early or ride TheBus up University Avenue and walk the last few blocks.
Craft fair season starts, and locals plan around it
Nobody warns visitors about this part. From the middle of November through Christmas, nearly every school cafeteria, church hall, and shopping center lawn on Oʻahu hosts a craft fair. Residents treat the big ones like a sport.
This is where you find the good stuff: hand-sewn aloha print bags, koa wood, small-batch cookies, lei made by somebody’s auntie, and Christmas ornaments shaped like SPAM musubi. Prices are lower than any hotel gift shop and the money stays on the island.
Two we circle most years are the Waikīkī ArtFest at Kapiʻolani Park, which has set up on a mid-November weekend, and the Mililani High School holiday fair. That one lands on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Both are free to walk in.
The Islandwide Crafts and Food Expo has filled the Blaisdell exhibition hall on Thanksgiving weekend in past years. That one usually charges a few dollars at the door and has a line before it opens.
Dates for all three shift year to year and get posted late, so search the fair name plus 2026 the week before. Bring cash and a reusable bag. Several vendors still do not take cards, and the good malasadas sell out by 10:00 a.m.
Thanksgiving week on Oʻahu (November 26)
Thanksgiving here looks like Thanksgiving anywhere, except the turkey is next to a pan of lau lau and somebody brought poke. Restaurants and hotel buffets book up weeks ahead, and our Thanksgiving in Hawaiʻi guide has the dinner options if you are not cooking in a condo.
Thursday morning starts at Kapiʻolani Park with the Honolulu Marathon Clinic’s Turkey Trot, a community fun run that turned 50 last year. In past years it has run from 7:00 a.m. at the bandstand, with a one-mile keiki chase, a loop or two around the park, and a costume contest.
Register at runsignup.com and wear the turkey hat. You will not be the only one, and you will regret not having it.
Wednesday the 25th is when The Book of Mormon opens at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center concert hall for a run through December 6. It is the first time the show has been back in Honolulu since 2016. Tickets are at broadwayinhawaii.com, and the show is loud, rude, and sold out on the weekends first.
Black Friday at Ala Moana Center is a real scene, with doors opening early and the parking garages full by 9:00 a.m. Go for the people watching, not the deals, and park at the mauka end of the structure where nobody looks.
Waikīkī Holiday Parade (Friday, November 27)
The Friday after Thanksgiving, Kalākaua Avenue closes for the Waikīkī Holiday Parade. Marching bands from across the mainland fly out to march alongside Hawaiʻi bands, military units, and Pearl Harbor survivors. The whole thing moves under the lit torches along the beach.
The parade commemorates the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. This year it lands ten days before the 85th anniversary, so expect it to feel a little bigger than usual.
The route starts at Fort DeRussy Park and runs about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) down Kalākaua Avenue to Kapiʻolani Park.
The 2026 step-off time had not been posted when we wrote this, but it has been an evening parade in past years. Plan on dinner early and a spot on the curb before dark.
The best viewing is anywhere between the Royal Hawaiian Center and the zoo. Take the hotel side of the street for shade earlier and the beach side for the breeze.
Do not drive into Waikīkī that evening. Walk from your hotel or take TheBus in before the closures start, and plan to leave on foot. Details and the lineup are at waikikiholidayparade.com.
Kapolei City Lights and Lā Kūʻokoʻa (Saturday, November 28)
The city’s West Oʻahu holiday opener comes before the downtown one. Kapolei City Lights kicks off on Saturday, November 28, with a block party around Kapolei Hale from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Expect a holiday car showcase, local food, and live music.
This year’s theme is Paniolo Nights and Holiday Lights. The parade has stepped off at 5:30 p.m. in past years, led by the Royal Hawaiian Band from Kapolei High School up Fort Barrette Road and along Kapolei Parkway. The city’s event listing will confirm the 2026 time.
It is free, it is family-sized, and if you are staying at Ko Olina or Aulani it is ten minutes away. Park at the far end of the Kapolei Commons lots and walk, because the streets around Kapolei Hale close for the party.
November 28 is also Lā Kūʻokoʻa, Hawaiian Independence Day, marking the 1843 recognition of the Hawaiian Kingdom by Britain and France. Waimea Valley lists it as a free kamaʻāina admission day, and you will see Hawaiian flags flying around the island.
Book now for December
Three things in early December sell out or close streets, and November is when you grab them.
Honolulu City Lights opens on Saturday, December 5. The tree in front of Honolulu Hale lights up around 6:00 p.m., and the Electric Light Parade steps off on King Street at about the same time. Our Christmas in Hawaiʻi guide covers the rest of the season.
Monday, December 7, is the 85th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, and the memorial will be at capacity that whole week. Book Arizona Memorial tickets the day they release.
And the Honolulu Marathon runs Sunday, December 13, with a 5:00 a.m. start. It closes Ala Moana Boulevard, Kalākaua, and the Kahala and Hawaiʻi Kai roads for most of the morning. Waikīkī hotels fill with runners from Japan that weekend, so book early or stay elsewhere.
Tips for visiting Oʻahu in November
Rates are split. The first three weeks of November are shoulder season, with Waikīkī hotels and the Ko Olina resorts priced like October, and then Thanksgiving week jumps to holiday pricing. Travel before the 21st if you have the choice.
Pack a light rain shell and real slippers, the kind with a strap that will not slide off on a wet sidewalk. The hotel gift shop rubber ones last about one Kailua shower.
Bring reef-safe sunscreen from home, because Hawaiʻi law bans the common stuff and the compliant bottles cost more here.
The first humpback whales usually show up in November, and by Thanksgiving somebody on the Makapuʻu lookout will have seen a blow. Most whale watch boats start running in December, so November sightings are a bonus, not a plan. Our whale watching guide explains where to look from shore.
Rental car folks, mark three dates. Kalākaua Avenue closes for the parade on the 27th, Kapolei closes streets on the 28th, and the North Shore crawls on any contest day. Our getting around Oʻahu guide covers TheBus, Biki bikes, and when a car is worth it.
And one more time, because somebody always misses it: the mainland falls back on November 1, and we do not. Set your phone to automatic and let it sort out the math.
Our November, if we had to pick
A contest morning at Aliʻi Beach Park with a coffee from town and the keiki digging in the sand while the heats run.
Restaurant Week dinner somewhere we have been circling all year. A quiet Veterans Day morning at Punchbowl. Then the Turkey Trot on Thursday, the parade on Friday, and Kapolei on Saturday, in that order, until somebody falls asleep in the car.
Nearly every one of those is free, and the dinner is worth it. November on Oʻahu rewards people who get up early and bring a sweater.
More from Wanderlustyle
Best Time to Visit Hawaiʻi, Month by Month
Haleʻiwa Town: Where to Eat, Park, and Shop on the North Shore
Pearl Harbor National Memorial: Tickets, Tours, and What to Expect
Best Lūʻau on Oʻahu: Which Ones We Recommend
Waikīkī Friday Night Fireworks: Where to Watch for Free
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