A day in Hilo

[Invincible]

Stopping off for a day in Hilo early April, been once before and did helicopter trip over volcano, then the Hilo Hatties bus to their store, looking for different things to do this time, already have a quote for car hire any suggestions most welcome.

[CruiserBruce]

You can drive to the Volcano NP. You can drive over the middle of the island and go to the top of Mauna Loa, and the landscape in the middle of the island.

Edited January 13, 2016 by CruiserBruce

[kapoho2]

What type of things do you enjoy doing? There are beautiful drives in both directions out of Hilo with different scenery. A drive up to Volcanoes National Park makes for a great day and there are several fun stops along the way to the park.

[Susan-M]

If you've only flown over the volcano, then i would suggest driving to Volcanoes National Park and spend the day exploring there.

 

If that's not of interest - Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens is fantastic (it's on very scenic Onomea Bay - only a 15 minute drive from Hilo - and rather than a formal garden, it's more of a walk through a rain forest, with fascinating vegetation). Another 15 minutes beyond that is Akaka Falls, which is also a highlight.

[mawvkysc]

We spent a day in the Hilo area but not on a cruise. We really enjoyed the Hilo Farmers Market. http://www.hilofarmersmarket.com There were so many interesting fruits and flowers to look at. Everyone was really friendly.

 

The Volcano NP was great. We wish we had more time there. You can experience the steam vents and the air has an interesting smell.

 

Akaka Falls was beautiful too.

[mikaula]

We rented a car from Budget & got GPS. They had a list of popular sites & you put the corresponding number into the gps & it showed you how to get there. It was a great day for us. Totally went at our own pace & saw all the sights we were interested in & didn't have a bus load of people or set schedule to deal with.

[Invincible]

Thanks everyone I think we are going to hire a car then do as much as we can in the day, certainly the volcanoes national park and crater rim drive look like a good starting point but not sure how much of the day that will take up.