Quick answer: the best indoor things to do in Honolulu when it rains are a hands-on craft workshop you finish the same day ($49–$149, most $59–$99, about 2 hours), Bishop Museum or the Honolulu Museum of Art ($25–$39, half a day), ʻIolani Palace ($20 guided tour, 90 minutes), a Kō Hana rum tasting ($15–$35), or something active like axe throwing ($42) or bouldering ($27). Everything below is indoors, open in 2026, and priced from each venue's own site.
When it rains on Oʻahu
Honolulu's wet season is roughly November through March; December is the wettest month with about 12 rainy days and 2.2 inches, while July averages 9 rainy days and under an inch (weather-and-climate.com). Showers on the leeward side are usually short, so the trick is having a two- to three-hour indoor plan you can start on short notice rather than writing off the day.
1. Make a Turkish mosaic lamp or terrarium — KraftStories / Hawaii Maker Space, Honolulu
Price: $49–$149 per person, materials included (mini terrarium $49, hot-sand Turkish coffee $49, sea glass art $59, mosaic candle holder $69, soy candle $79, Turkish mosaic lamp $99–$129, rug tufting $119). Duration: about 2 hours. Good for: couples, visiting friends, a small group; kids' parties run separately.
Instructor-led workshops where you leave with a working mosaic lamp, a closed terrarium, a candle, a block print or a tufted rug the same day. Sessions are bookable online by date, and a private group can take over the studio. See the Honolulu schedule.
2. Bishop Museum — Kalihi
Price: $33.95–$38.95 (dynamic pricing; 20% off online with code MAHALO20), planetarium +$3. Duration: half a day. Hours: daily 9 am–5 pm, last entry 4 pm; cards only.
The state's natural and cultural history museum. The Hawaiian Hall is the reason to come; the J. Watumull Planetarium's "Wayfinders" show on Polynesian navigation is the best rainy-hour add-on on the island.
3. Honolulu Museum of Art — Makiki
Price: $25. Duration: 2–3 hours. Hours: Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun 10–6; Fri 10–9; closed Mon and Tue.
A 1927 building arranged around courtyards, so you move between galleries under cover. Friday nights run late with music. Doris Duke's Shangri La tours depart from here and should be booked ahead.
4. ʻIolani Palace — Downtown
Price: $20 guided tour, $13 audio tour, $6 galleries only. Duration: 60–90 minutes. Hours: Tue–Sat, ticket office 8:30 am–4 pm; closed Sun and Mon; online booking only.
The only royal palace on US soil. Guided tours sell out on wet days, so book the morning you wake up to rain rather than when you arrive.
5. USS Bowfin Submarine Museum — Pearl Harbor
Price: from $25.99. Duration: about 90 minutes. Hours: daily 7 am–5 pm, last admission 4:30.
You walk through an intact WWII submarine; the museum building is fully indoors. Pair it with the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum's hangars if the rain settles in.
6. Waikīkī Aquarium — Kapiʻolani Park
Price: $12. Duration: 1–1.5 hours. Hours: daily 9 am–4:30 pm; closed Christmas Day and Honolulu Marathon day.
The second-oldest aquarium in the US and mostly under cover. Small, cheap and walkable from most Waikīkī hotels, which is the point on a wet afternoon.
7. Kō Hana rum distillery — Kunia
Price: tasting flights from $15, distillery tour $35, estate farm tour $75. Duration: 30–90 minutes. Hours: daily 10:30 am–5 pm.
The only rum distillery growing its own heirloom Hawaiian sugarcane. The tasting room is indoors; the farm tour is not, so pick the distillery tour on a rainy day. About 35 minutes from Waikīkī.
8. Hawaiian Style Cooking Class — Diamond Head
Price: $149 standard, $195 premium. Duration: 3 hours (4–4.5 premium). Booking: by reservation.
Hands-on in a private home, finishing with a shared meal. Book it as the whole afternoon rather than a stop.
9. Axe throwing — Blade & Timber, Kakaʻako
Price: about $42. Duration: 90 minutes with coaching. Hours: Mon–Wed 4–9 pm, Thu 4–10, Fri 2–10, Sat 10 am–10 pm.
In the mural district, so you can do the Kakaʻako art walk under awnings before or after.
10. Bouldering — Volcanic Rock Gym, Kailua
Price: $27 adult day pass, gear included on a first visit. Duration: 1–3 hours. Hours: Mon–Fri 9 am–9 pm, Sat–Sun 9–7.
Oʻahu's original climbing gym, on the windward side, which is also where it rains most, so plan it as the windward day.
11. The Escape Game — Ala Moana Center
Price: from about $47. Duration: 60 minutes. Hours: daily 8 am–midnight.
Inside the mall on the second level near Target, so the rest of a rainy day (food court, cinema, shops) is already covered.
12. A brewery crawl in Kakaʻako — Honolulu Beerworks and neighbours
Price: pay as you go; no published tour price. Hours: Mon–Thu 11 am–10 pm, Fri–Sat 11–midnight; closed Sunday.
A converted-warehouse brewpub a few blocks from Blade & Timber and Aloha Beer Co., so three of the stops on this list are within a ten-minute walk of each other.
Free and nearly free: downtown's cultural landmarks
If the budget is spent, downtown Honolulu has a rainy-day circuit that costs almost nothing. The Hawaii State Art Museum (HiSAM, 250 S Hotel St) is free, shows work by local Hawaiian artists across two floors and sits a five-minute walk from ʻIolani Palace, which was home to Hawaiian royalty until the overthrow of 1893. Queen Emma Summer Palace in Nuʻuanu is a small, quiet house museum ten minutes up the Pali Highway, and the Honolulu Museum of Art offers free admission days for Hawaiʻi residents. Together these fill a wet morning for under $30.
Eat and shop while it rains
Rain in Honolulu is a good excuse for the indoor food that locals actually queue for: Maguro Spot in Waikīkī for poke bowls, Marugame Udon on Kuhio Ave for handmade noodles (the line moves fast), Ramen Nakamura for tonkotsu, and Highway Inn inside Bishop Museum for local-style plate lunch between galleries. In Kakaʻako, Aloha Beer Company and Honolulu Beerworks are the brewery stops. For shopping under cover, Ala Moana Center has about 350 shops and restaurants plus The Escape Game, and International Market Place in Waikīkī covers the luxury end with a food hall upstairs.
Where it rains, and where it doesn't
Oʻahu's weather is local. Kailua, Kāneʻohe and the windward side catch most of the trade-wind showers; the North Shore is wet in winter but often clear when town is grey; Waikīkī and Ko Olina on the leeward side are the driest. If the forecast says showers, check the radar before writing off the beach: a wet morning in Kailua is often a dry afternoon in Waikīkī. Families with kids can add the Honolulu Zoo's covered areas and the keiki workshops at the craft studio to the list above; everything else here is aimed at adults.
Plan by how long the rain lasts
| Forecast | Plan | Budget per person |
|---|---|---|
| A passing shower (1 hour) | Waikīkī Aquarium, an escape room, a rum tasting | $12–$47 |
| An afternoon (2–3 hours) | A craft workshop, ʻIolani Palace + HoMA, axe throwing + a brewery | $42–$105 |
| All day | Bishop Museum + planetarium, or a cooking class | $37–$195 |
Frequently asked questions
What can adults do in Honolulu when it rains?
Museums (Bishop, HoMA, ʻIolani Palace, USS Bowfin), hands-on classes (craft workshops, cooking), tastings (Kō Hana rum, Kakaʻako breweries) and active indoor options (axe throwing, bouldering, escape rooms). All twelve entries above are indoors.
Is Waikīkī busy on rainy days?
Yes. Indoor venues within walking distance of the hotels, especially the aquarium and Ala Moana Center, fill quickly. Book ticketed venues online the morning of, and consider Kakaʻako, Downtown or Kailua for smaller crowds.
What is the rainiest month in Honolulu?
December, with about 12 rainy days and 2.2 inches on average. The wet season is roughly November to March; annual rainfall in Honolulu is about 17 inches, far less than the windward side.
Where is the KraftStories Honolulu studio?
See the Honolulu studio page for the address, the schedule and private-group booking; kids' "keiki" birthday parties are booked separately.
