Waimea(Kamuela) Wet vs. Dry Side (Waikoloa Village: rent, how much, houses)

[ToddS]

Aloha, After many trips to the BI and months of looking at homes I have narrowed it down to Waimea. 3 homes I'm very interested in, 2 on the "green side" and 1 on the "dry side" just down the street from HPA. I would really appreciate any info or opinions people have from the area about the pros & cons of green vs dry. All homes are between 2500 & 3000 ft elevation... are temps, humidity, wind similar? Is the dry side a little easier on the building materials? Less wear & tear? Thanks!

[hotzcatz]

Hawaii is micro-climates. One area can be very different from another area even though the second area isn't that far away from the first one at all. "Dry" side of Waimea can be somewhere as low as 15" of rain or so a year. "Wet" side of Waimea can be probably somewhere over 80". These two areas are probably about eight miles from each other so exactly where in the dry or wet side matters quite a bit.

Humidity will vary quite a bit since the whole thing is "wet" & "dry", however temps will be pretty similar. Those will probably be more dependent on elevation than rainfall. Wind is more dependent on how much windbreak is available adjacent to the houses.

Can you rent in the area for awhile first? Once you live there, it will be very apparent which area you prefer. Several miles one way or another can make some major differences in climate.

[ToddS]

Thanks for the response. Maybe I should have been a little more clear... I have spent considerable time there, especially in that specific area and am very aware of the 'line of demarcation' of green or dry. What I'm really interested in is if any members had bought on the green side and later wished they had bought on the dry side or vise versa. Perhaps someone had thought " a nice cool mist, 55 degree nights and a lush yard will be great" then a year later was fed up with it and in 20/20 hindsight would have chosen differently. An insight that can only be attained after a year or more. Thanks in advance!

[sadie123]

I want to hear the answer to this question as well.

[franklin42]

First off I do not live in Waimea but do know many people who live on both the wet side and the dry side. I have also worked on a few houses in both locations. The temps are pretty similar in both areas but will vary slightly with elevation changes. I am going to take a guess and say that when the wet side is sopped in with fog/mist it is more humid. As you probably know already, the wet side isn't always rainy/misty. There are days and weeks on end where it won't rain and be sunny and dry. I did notice quiet a bit of mildew and mold on a couple of the houses I helped renovate on the wet side. Along with rotted siding, lots of rust. I am sure if maintained some of that can be avoided.
Like Hotz said the wind depends on wind breaks from houses, tree lines, if hills surround your property, etc. In my opinion it seems to be more windy on the dry side. I know people who live on the wet side and LOVE it and would never want to live on the dry side. I know people that live on the dry side that LOVE it and would never want to live on the wet side. It all depends on what you want. Another important factor to consider would be neighbors. Fighting roosters and dogs that are tied up 24/7/365 and bark all day/night = no fun rain or shine.

Hopefully someone who lives in Waimea will chime in to help. Good luck with your move.

[ToddS]

Thanks Franklin42 !

[cjg5]

Interesting! Just out of curiosity, if you were to draw a line on a map, where would one normally find the boundary between wet and dry in Waimea/Kamuela (and on which side of the line would be which)? Could you get it down to a street or intersection, or is it much broader than that? And what is the normal difference in humidity and annual rainfall between the two sides?

[hotzcatz]

The boundary between the wet and dry sides is probably less than two or three miles, I've not looked at it on a map. In Waimea town itself, where the two highways intersect (those highways are the "upper road" to Kona and the "Kawaihae road" although on a map someone would have stuck numbers on them, although I dunno what the numbers are) anyway, Waimea town itself is "wet". Then you go out on the Kawaihae road past the Waimea park with the wooden play area, Merriman's restaurant and a line of shops and such. As you head along that road within several miles you'll be at the transfer station and that's pretty much the beginning of the dry side. You haven't gone over the ***-jog bridge yet where the intersection of Kawaihae road meets the Kohala road. Again, these are highways which probably have some sort of number on them that nobody pays attention to. Oh, also our "highways" are two lane blacktop roads which have a speed limit of about 25 - 35 as they go through towns. They get up to 55 mph outside of towns and villages.

Kawaihae gets about ten inches of rain a year. I'm not sure what Waimea gets, but a lot more than that. I'm just guessing 50-80 inches a year? A lot of it is drippy fog.

Going along the "Upper road" out of Waimea, as you pass Parker Ranch Arena it pretty much becomes dry side. The arena is near the Kamuela Airport and the Waimea Humane society and that's the edge of the dry side. Right across the road from there is a lot of farming, truck gardens, greens, cabbages, tomatoes, celery, etc. I think they do a lot of irrigation or they could just be on the edge of the wet side. The farmed area would be (on a map) between the rodeo arena on the upper road and the transfer station on the Kawaihae road.

[CyberCity]

The people I know who have moved from Waimea specifically due to the weather have been people who want to get out of the wet side. They either move to the dry side of Waimea, or to another part of the island (such as Waikoloa Village).

I've not personally known anyone to move from Waimea due to the weather that had lived on the dry side.

A guess: This might be because those on the dry side could see from the get-go what the area is like. If the area is unattractive to them (dry and windy), they don't move there in the first place. While those on the wet side might take a few years to realize just how wet (and cold) it really is on that side.

Again, this is just about people who have expressed that they moved due to the weather, not for the other reasons people move.

[ToddS]

Thanks, that is exactly what I was interested in.