What's with Rainbow Falls? Just above town, the Wailuku River pours over the lip of a lava cave into a wide green pool, and on a clear Hilo morning the mist throws a rainbow across the whole scene. Hawaiians call the place Waiānuenue — "rainbow seen in water" — and in the old stories the cave below was a dwelling place in Hawaiian tradition. Reach it early, before the tour vans, when the sun is low and the spray is bright, and you'll see exactly how the falls earned both their names. It is the easiest wonder to find in Hilo, and one of the loveliest in all Hawaiʻi.
Through all of it, Hilo kept its culture at the center. Every spring the Merrie Monarch Festival fills the town for the world's foremost hula competition, a celebration of Hawaiian language, chant, and dance that makes Hilo, for a week, the cultural capital of the islands. The rest of the year that same spirit runs through the Hilo Farmers Market, the heritage banyans of Banyan Drive, the ʻImiloa Astronomy Center linking Hawaiian sky-knowledge to the observatories on Mauna Kea, and the waterfalls and gardens that ring the bay.
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.
