Hilo: Big Island: Hawaii
Closest Airport and Big City to Volcanoes Park

Vacation Rentals

Mountain House
3 bedroom 3 bath
Volcano Village

Hydrangea Cottage
1 bedroom 1 bath
Volcano Village

The Grounds
3 acres of 
private park

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The Big Island 

Hawaii Volcanoes
National Park

Volcano Village
(what its got)

Big Island Info
(attractions)

Hilo
(closest big city)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Hilo is the oldest port on the Big Island of Hawaii and the buildings of downtown Hilo town carry the legacy of its past. Because of heavy rainfall (133 inches yearly), Hilo has a tropical greenhouse climate and exotic plants and flowers are part of the environment. Rainbow Falls and Boiling Pots are nearby attractions, and Hilo’s Lyman House Museum depicts early missionary life in Hawaii. Each year, in the spring time, Hilo plays host to the Merrie Monarch Festival, a competition featuring the state's top hula halau* in a four day event that doubles the size of the town. 

Hilo is nothing if not resilient.  It has outlived the demise of the whaling era, rebounded from the collapse of the Hawaiian sugar trade and survived several devastating tsunami*, the most recent being in 1960. Shaped by its past, today Hilo is a charming reminder of days gone by blended with a promise of the future. 

a = ah as in "blah."
e = ay as in "hay."
i = ee as in "jeep."
o = oh as in, well as in "oh."
u = ooh as in "ooh-la-la."

And remember, every letter is pronounced. A'a = "ah, ah." Incidentally, a'a means rough, stony and usually refers to the rough and sharp type of lava as opposed to pahoehoe, the smooth type of lava, also found in Hawaii.

*Hilo was a famous Polynesian navigator.

*Kailua Kona means leeward sea pit.

*hula halau literally translated means "long house used for native Hawaiian dance."  Nowadays, hula halau refers to dance troops or schools under the direction of a kumu hula, or teacher of hula.

*tsunami is actually the Japanese word for a large sea wave, (sometimes mistakenly referred to as a tidal wave), usually caused by an earthquake. In the past, tsunami that have hit Hawaii have been generated by quakes in Japan and South America.