Top 15 Things To Do in Hilo, Hawaii

Hilo’s wet, green side of Hawaiʻi Island is an eco‑tourist’s laboratory: steaming rainforests, braided rivers, black‑sand beaches, and a living conversation between volcanic fire and persistent moisture. The top eco tours here pair intimate natural interpretation with cultural stewardship—guided forest walks that teach ʻōhiʻa ecology, shoreline tours that explain reef dynamics, and community‑led visits to loʻi kalo (taro terraces). These are not sight‑seeing checklists; they’re curated experiences for travelers who want to understand place, responsibility, and the delicate systems that keep Hilo lush.

Hilo is a photographer’s wet dream: a compact coastal town that opens onto thundering waterfalls, steam-wreathed volcanic landscapes, and mist-draped rainforests. Photography tours here move quickly between macro-rich understory, long-exposure waterfall work, dramatic coastline at sunrise, and volcanic panoramas at dusk. Expect quick windows of pristine light between sudden showers—an unpredictable palette that rewards patience and preparedness.

Hilo’s walking tours compress island life into walkable slices—historic storefronts, taro terraces, banyan-lined streets, and coastal vistas stitched to the sound of surf. These tours favor close observation: local markets, living culture, and the slow, wet temper of an eastern Hawaiian town that rewards patience and curiosity.

Hilo’s boat tours are an ocean-first way to read the island’s story: a braided narrative of lava and tide, rainforest runoff and deep-sea topography, where low clouds lift to reveal towering sea cliffs and spinner dolphins cut the morning glass. From sheltered bay cruises to full-day trips that skirt the windward lava-scarred coastline and drop into coral gardens, Hilo is both a launch point for nature watching and a gateway to cultural maritime experiences rooted in local knowledge.

Hilo’s city tours are an invitation to move slowly—through drizzle-scented streets, under banyan canopies, and along an oceanfront that still remembers old wharves. These tours bridge living island culture and dramatic natural edges, pairing historic buildings, open-air markets, and lush public gardens with easy coastal promenades and volcanic viewpoints within striking reach.

Hilo's underwater world is quieter and greener than the sun-soaked resorts on the Kona coast. On the east side of Hawai‘i Island, lush valleys drain into a shoreline of black lava and sheltered bays—creating a mosaic of coral gardens, lava outcrops, and easy shore entries that reward divers with turtles, colorful reef fish, and accessible training waters. This guide focuses on scuba-specific planning, seasonal visibility, shore- vs. boat-dive choices, and practical tips for making the most of nine local dive experiences.

Hilo’s bus tours are the slow, steady way to see the wet, wild side of Hawai‘i Island—fog-draped waterfalls, rainforest roads, black-sand coves, and the raw landscapes that border Kīlauea’s realm. From nimble minibuses that thread narrow coastal routes to comfortable coaches that ferry visitors into Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, these tours distill long drives into a day of curated stops, local storytelling, and landscape windows wide enough to feel like a moving lookout.

Hilo's ziplines thread through a landscape that looks as if the island stitched the sky to the forest—moss-slick trees, plunging streams, and wide jungle valleys punctuated by waterfalls. Short, adrenaline-packed lines sit beside longer, swooping flights that let you hover above emerald canopies and historic taro terraces. Expect humid air, sudden showers, and views that reward the brief, buoyant suspension of a canopy tour. This guide breaks down what to expect, how to plan for Hilo's weather and terrain, and how to combine a zipline day with nearby hikes, botanical gardens, and waterfall swims.

Hilo is where rainforest meets reef and anglers trade carved-oak ukulele songs for the call of the ocean. From reef and shore fishing in basalt coves to half- and full-day charters that hunt mahi-mahi and ahi on offshore thermal edges, Hilo offers a compact, varied fishing scene framed by constant, dramatic weather and deep Hawaiian cultural ties to the sea.

Sheltered bays, sudden trade-wind pushes, black-lava shorelines, and drops of rain that can arrive in minutes: Hilo’s kayak scene is intimate, humid, and refreshingly real. Paddling here pairs ocean literacy with a lush, rain-fed coastal landscape—ideal for calm sheltered-bay excursions, estuary floats, and short ocean crossings to reefs and rock outcrops. This guide focuses on the practicalities of kayaking in Hilo—the launch points, seasonal rhythms, local hazards, and how to pair your day on the water with snorkeling, coastal hikes, and waterfall visits inland.

Hilo’s shoreline stitches together black-sand coves, sheltered tide pools, and jagged lava outcrops that give way to surprisingly rich nearshore reefs. Unlike the wind-swept west side, Hilo’s sheltered pockets and lava-formed benches create accessible snorkeling for careful visitors: morning glass-off conditions reveal turtles, reef fish, and pockets of living coral between dramatic volcanic rock. This guide focuses on the snorkeling experience here—how to read the water, where to find sheltered entries, when visibility tends to improve, and how to layer snorkeling with waterfalls, tide-pool exploration, and cultural stops in and around Hilo.

Hilo’s airspace is a mix of emerald cliffs, misted waterfalls, volcanic calderas, and a coastline that folds into the Pacific. From small-plane scenic circuits to helicopter flights that look directly into volcanic valleys, air activities here turn the island’s scale into an immediate, visceral experience—if the weather cooperates. This guide focuses on planning, safety, and what to expect when you choose to see the Big Island from above.