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Hilo Town, on the rainy East side of Hawaii Island has more than a day of exciting, fun, and interesting things to do and see. If your vacation plan calls for less than a day in Hilo, then selecting just a few places in Hilo to visit may be difficult. Below are our favorite places in Hilo with links to more information.
Hilo sights and restaurants are spread out and best seen with a car or hired taxi. You can rent a car at Hilo airport or near the Hilo Harbor within walking distance to the cruise ship docks. If you are driving around Hawaii Island from the West side in one day, there won't be much time to spend in Hilo, particularly if the drive includes stops at other sights around the Island. Stay a night or two in Hilo or nearby Volcano to fully experience the East side of Hawaii.
If it is raining in Hilo, there are many fun and kid-friendly in-door activities like 'Imiloa Astronomy Center, NOAA's MokuPapapa Discovery Center, The Pacific Tsunami Museum, and Lyman House and Museum. Most of Hilo's downtown area and the Farmer's market are covered to protect from the rain.
The rain in Hilo usually doesn't last long, so don't assume the day is going to stay rainy.
If it is not raining, the free tropical parks, Liliuokalani Gardens and Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens, are wonderful ways to spend a couple of hours enjoying the tropical plants and strolling beautiful paths in Hilo.
If you are staying in Hilo for a while, check out events going on around town:
If you are hungry, there are lots of places to eat with Hawaiian, Asian, American, and European foods served. Hilo Eats has a review of restaurants in Hilo to help you decide.
Liliuokalani Gardens, Coconut Island, and Banyan drive are located on the Banyan peninsula and there is no charge to visit them. Liliuokalani Gardens are 30 acres of ponds, bridges, sculpture, grass, flowers, and trees located on Hilo Bay. The park is the largest Edo-style Japanese garden outside of Japan and has paths that wander throughout the park. A Japanese tea house is located in the park, as well as bathrooms and benches to sit in the park and along the shore. If it is raining you will get wet, but we enjoy walking there in the rain all the time. There are covered areas where you can sit and enjoy the park and Hilo Bay and stay dry.
Coconut island is next to the Liliuokalani Gardens and can be reached by crossing over a bridge. The tiny island has a sidewalk around the island. You can take a swim in one of the protected little coves on the island. The picture below is a view of Coconut Island from a Hilo Hawaiian Hotel room. There are covered picnic areas on the island as well as restrooms.
Banyan drive runs next to the Liliuokalani Gardens and is the street where most of the hotels in Hilo are located. Huge banyan trees line the street, each with a sign with the name of a famous person that planted the tree. The most famous tree is Babe Ruth's Tree. If it is raining you can duck into one of the hotel lobbies along the road. Our favorite hotel is the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel which has a comfortable lobby and nice bay view rooms.
At the North end of Liliuokalani Park is Suisan Fish market, a retail outlet of the largest fish distributor in Hawaii. The local fisherman bring their catch to the dock early in the morning.
It is fun to look at the store's display of colorful fish caught in the Pacific Ocean as well as the local reef fish. A tiny grill cafe on the outside of the store serves fresh made fish sandwiches for lunch which makes a great picnic in the park.
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Rainbow Falls is located up above Hilo on Waianuenue drive. It is a beautiful waterfall with varying amounts of water depending on recent rainfall. You can climb a staircase up above the falls and see the top of the water fall. Further up the road is Boiling pots where you can see the swirling water and Peepee Falls another waterfall.
Rainbow falls is free, there is plenty of parking, and there are rest rooms. The last time we were there, a woman played ukulele as we watched the beautiful water fall.
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Hilo's Farmer's Market is world renown. Tropical fruits, vegetables and flowers can be purchased there that are not available on the mainland. Farmer's market is open every day. Sundays and Wednesdays, the market expands to a huge arts and crafts market. Just wandering through the market is educational and a lot of fun watching the local growers hawk their produce.
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'Imiloa Astronomy Center is an Astronomy and Hawaiian culture facility funded primarily by NASA. It is located above the University of Hawaii Hilo campus. The center has Astronomy displays, films, and exhibits; a room dedicated to 3D movies projected on a globe, and the world's only 3D planetarium. Due to the large number of telescopes on Mauna Kea and the concentration of observatory management operations located in Hilo, the center also features a telescope control console. You can see the glint of the telescopes on Mauna Kea from Hilo on clear days. Check their website for show times and entrance fees for the Astronomy center. The cafe at 'Imiloa is great and you can get to the cafe and the gift shop without having to pay the entrance fee.
Learn more about 'Imiloa Astronomy Center and taking a tour of the Telescopes.
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Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens is the only tropical zoo in the US and features a Bengal tiger named Namaste. Namaste is fun to watch and the garden paths are lined with colorful birds, tropical flowers and and foliage. Peacocks roam around the grounds. There is a petting zoo for the kids and a butterfly cage you can walk through.The park is free with plenty of parking, picnic tables, and benches. There are strollers for rent, toilets and a gift shop.
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Hilo's Farmer's Market is world renown. Tropical fruits, vegetables and flowers can be purchased there that are not available on the mainland. Farmer's market is open every day. Sundays and Wednesdays, the market expands to a huge arts and crafts market. Just wandering through the market is educational and a lot of fun watching the local growers hawk their produce.
Downtown Hilo Shops and Museums. Hilo's main street, Kamehameha Avenue, is lined with cafes, stores, and museums. The walkway is covered to protect from the rain.
On the Hilo Bay side of Kamehameha Street there is the Visitors Information Center and bus stop. A bandstand in the park behind the Visitors center features entertainment and music throughout the year.
Some of the other fun attractions in the downtown Hilo area are:
- Huge aquariums, exhibits, movies, and Hawaiian Reef information are on display at NOAA's MokuPapapa Discovery Center (Free-closed Sun and Mon)
- Stories of past Tidal waves in Hilo can be seen at Pacific Tsunami Museum (Closed Sun, adults $7, children $2)
- A live Hawaii’iana show (most Wed mornings $5, children free) can be seen at Hilo's Historic Palace Theater.
- East Hawaii Culture Center and Kalakaua Park are across from Hilo's downtown Post Office. The Arts Center is free and usually has multiple art shows. If you are going to be in town a while, the center has a calendar of events, workshops, and performances.
- Kalakaua Park is in front of the East Hawaii Culture Center and dedicated to King David Kalakaua, one of the Hawaiian monarchs and a great patron of the arts. His statue is prominent in the center of the park. The park also has a war memorial.
- Up the road from the park is the famous Naha stone directly in front of the Hilo Library. It weighs nearly 500 pounds. There was a Hawaiian prophecy that the one that could lift the stone would unite the islands of Hawaii and legend is that King Kamehameha not only moved the stone but flipped it completely over when he was 14 years old. King Kamehameha I was the first monarch to rule all the islands.
- A few blocks from the Naha Stone is the Lyman House and Museum with a huge collection of shells, rocks and historical displays. The Lyman's were early missionaries to Hilo and their original house is intact and can be toured.
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Big Island Candies factory is a local Hilo cookie maker that sends their goodies all over the world. They have a factory and store in Hilo where you can watch the cookies being made through big glass panels and sample them with Kona coffee. The chocolate dipped short bread is delicious and we always stop in for a sample and to see the colorful seasonal decorations whenever we are in Hilo.
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