Hilo – Travel Guide At Wikivoyage

Get in

[edit] Map of Hilo

Most of the visitors bound for Hilo will arrive via one of the inter island airlines (Hawaiian), or as a day stop from one of the frequent cruise ship visits. Unless you're sailing your own craft, this is only way of getting in by sea, as inter-island boat services were suspended in 2009.

By plane

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• 19.7154-155.03961 Hilo International Airport(ITO IATA).Is the main airport serving Hilo and the eastern side of the Big Island. The majority of flights to Hilo originate from Honolulu via Hawaiian Airlines. There is also one flight from Kahului daily, and one non-stop flight from LAX daily, operated by United Airlines. The airport terminal is rather small, with a relaxed atmosphere. Long lines for security are unlikely.

By car

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From elsewhere on the Big Island: for visitors, this would mean taking the Mamalahoa Highway (HI-190), the Daniel K. Inouye Highway (via a right turn) and the Saddle Road (HI-200, but without signposted route numbers on the road) across the interior of the island from Kailua-Kona at the western end, where the other commercial airport is located. Allow at least 2 hours for that trip, which goes through some curvy, hilly terrain.

Alternatively, you can take the Hawaii Belt Road (HI-19) around much of the northern shore of the island, going inland through Waimea. You may find this an easier drive, and possibly a more pleasant one if you'd like to go through more villages and see fewer starkly beautiful views of Mauna Kea and other hilly inland scenery. To be on the safe side, you should allow at least 2.5 hours for the northern route, though you may want to stop in one or more towns along the way.

Direction signs are fairly good on the Big Island, though not always with much advance notice for the driver. Traffic drives slowly (usually 25-35 miles per hour), and it's ordinary for unobstructed traffic to go slower than posted speed limits.

If you don't have a car, hitching a ride is very easy on the Big Island.

By bus

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19.724-155.084582 Hele-On Bus system.Most buses on the island are designed for commuters and run a couple times in the early morning and a couple times in the evening. Almost all routes in Hilo connect and depart from the hub near downtown in Moʻoheau Park.$2.(updated Mar 2019)

• Intra-Hilo Keaukaha route.M-Sa, no holidays.Service from Moʻoheau Bus Terminal to the Hilo airport is provided by Route 101, Intra-Hilo Keaukaha. It operates with headways of approximately 80 minutes between buses.$2.(updated May 2021)
• Hilo-Kona route.M-Sa, no holidays.There is only one bus that connects Hilo directly to Kona. There are 2 runs in the early morning from Kona to Hilo and 1 run in the afternoon back to Kona.$2.(updated Mar 2019)
• Hilo-Kau route(Ka'u/Volcano/Hilo).There is a bus route that begins in Hilo and connects to Volcano Village and Volcano National Park on its way to Kau. It operates 5x a day in each direction.$2.(updated Mar 2019)