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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. The falls drop about eighty feet and run close to a hundred across when the river is high. 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.
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.
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.
