Hilo, Hawaii

Hilo Bay, Hawaii
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hilo_Bay.jpg
Author: Alan L.


Hilo is the second biggest city in Hawaii, and the biggest on the Big Island. It covers 58.4 sq mi (151.4 sq km) and has a population of 43,000 (2011 estimate). The city is the county seat of Hawai'i County. It overlooks Hilo Bay. The city is in the Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone, which is UTC-10.

Federal Building, listed building on the National Register of Historic Places, in Hilo
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hilo_Federal_Building.jpg
Author: W Nowicki


Hilo is located near two shield volcanoes, the active Mauna Loa, and the dormant Mauna Kea. It experiences a tropical rainforest climate. The temperature in Hilo is fairly constant throughout the year. Warmest month is August, with daily mean temperature of 76.3°F (24.61°C). Coolest month is January, when the daily mean temperature drops to 71.4°F (21.89°C). Rain is heaviest in November (15.58 in, 395.7 mm) and March (14.35 in, 364.5 mm). On the whole, Hilo is quite wet, with total rainfall of 126.27 in (3,207 mm) a year.

Hilo is today the home of the University of Hawaii at Hilo as well as the Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii. The city is the biggest producer of macadamia nuts and is also the location of the Merrie Monarch Festival, held annually after Easter.

Banyan Drive, Hilo Bay
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Banyan_Drive,_Hilo_Bay.jpg
Author: mona


The Hilo area has been inhabited since ancient times by Polynesians. The earliest Europeans to arrive there were missionary, among them William Ellis of the London Missionary School, and American missionaries Asa Thurston, Artemis Bishop and Joseph Goodrich, in 1823. The early mission work in Hilo led to the founding of the Waiakea Mission Station.

When Hilo became the center for the surrounding sugar plantations, it attracted immigrants from Asia. The city's geographical location on the eastern coast of Big Island has made it vulnerable to tsunamis from earthquakes happening elsewhere in the Pacific Rim. A quake in 1946 caused the death of 160 people, and let to the founding of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Despite warning, in 1960, the massive 9.5 magnitude earthquake off Chile resulted in 61 deaths in Hilo, mainly from people who disregarded the warning sirens.

Shipman House, another building on the National Register of Historic Places in Hilo
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shipman_House,_Hilo.jpg
Author: W Nowicki

Visiting Hilo

You can fly to Hilo, arriving at the Hilo International Airport (ITO) through regular flights from Honolulu, Kahului, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Public transport on the Big Island is quite minimal, so you should rent a car upon arrival.

Places of Interest in Hilo

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About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.