The bay made the town. Through the nineteenth century, traders and missionaries arrived, a harbor grew on the crescent shore, and Hilo became the commercial and shipping center of the island's eastern side. Behind it all rose the great mountains — Mauna Kea, often snow-capped, and Mauna Loa — feeding the rivers and the famous Hilo rain that keeps the whole coast green. Two rivers, the Wailuku and the Wailoa, run down through the town to the bay. About 126 inches of rain fall here in an average year, spread across more than 270 days of it, which makes Hilo one of the rainiest cities in the country and the reason for the rainforest at its back. That abundance of water is the through-line of Hilo's whole story, from the taro fields to the waterfalls to the famous green of the place.
What's with Aunty Edith? Hilo's biggest stage carries her name. Edith Kanakaʻole was born on Hawaiʻi Island in 1913, founded the hālau Hālau o Kekuhi in 1953, and spent the 1970s teaching — at Hawaiʻi Community College and then at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo — where she built courses in Hawaiian language, chant, genealogy, ethnobotany and Polynesian history, and helped shape the first Hawaiian-language program for public school students. She was a composer too, and her album Hiʻipoi I Ka ʻĀina Aloha, “Cherish the Beloved Land,” won a Nā Hōkū Hanohano award; one of its songs, “Ka Uluwehi O Ke Kai,” is still sung across the islands. Hilo named its multi-purpose stadium for her, and the university named a hall. In 2023 the United States Mint honored her on a quarter in the American Women Quarters Program, her portrait flowing into the island landscape beside the words “E hō mai ka ʻike” — granting the wisdom — from a chant she composed.
Why People Visit Hilo
Hilo offers the most authentic, culturally rich side of Hawaiʻi Island — waterfalls, gardens, markets, and deep Hawaiian heritage, all in a relaxed bayfront town. Visitors come for the rainforest scenery and the easy access to volcanoes and coast, and stay for the unhurried, welcoming feel of a real town rather than a resort strip. From the morning rainbows at Waiānuenue to the gardens along the bay, it rewards a slow pace. It is green, genuine, and beautiful in every season on the bay.
