🇿🇦 Cape Town vs 🇺🇸 Maui

Mediterranean — hot dry summers (Southern Hemisphere), mild wet winters

Cape Town has a classic Mediterranean climate but in the Southern Hemisphere — summers are December–February (hot and dry) and winters are June–August (cool and wet). The Cape Doctor (southeast wind) can make summer days dramatically windy. Table Mountain creates local weather patterns.

Maui is known as the Valley Isle, with two volcanic mountains — Haleakala at 10,023 feet and the West Maui Mountains — creating dramatic climate variation across a single island. The island's diverse microclimates range from dry desert to rainforest within miles. Lahaina on the leeward side was tragically destroyed by wildfire in 2023, highlighting fire risk in dry leeward areas.