There is no official off-peak season for Hawaii, where the weather is fabulous year round. But crowds do thin out when school is in session and before the Thanksgiving and December holidays, so you'll find lower hotel prices and cheaper air fares if you travel in the fall.

You'll also get to see a wildlife treat: the annual migration of thousands of Pacific humpback whales from their feeding grounds in Alaska to Hawaii's warmer waters.

To get an even bigger bang for your buck this fall, plan to stay in Oahu, the most populous of the Hawaiian Islands. More direct flights here mean more affordable airfares, and cheap public transportation makes getting around a snap.

Hotel room rates are up to 40% lower in the fall. At the Fairmont Orchid on Hawaii's Big Island, for example, garden-view rooms start $329 a night in October and November and, through Dec. 20, your fifth night is free. Rates jump to $579 a night starting in mid-December.

Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa, which recently completed a $14 million renovation of all its rooms, offers a fourth-free night through Dec.18 with its Sunshine for Sale package.

You can also save with a package deal. Through Dec. 21, Waikiki Outrigger Reef is offering a deal that includes daily breakfast for two, surfing lessons and catamaran sailing. City view rooms start at $169 a night.

Or try the posh Waikiki Parc Hotel in Honolulu, Oahu, where a 4-night hotel stay and flight from Los Angeles starts at $603. Travel over Thanksgiving, and the same trip could set you back $1,389 - more than twice the price.

Web sites: fairmont.com/orchid, hyatt.com, outrigger.com, waikikiparc.com