Thread: Downtown Hilo

I received this very informative e-mail from Alice Moon yesterday. Felt it was worth passing on for anyone visiting Hilo.

Aloha Mary,

Thank you for your interest in getting to Downtown Hilo from the dock! It is possible to walk but part of the walk goes through industrial areas and also can be hot (or wet if it is rainy) with very little shelter or shade along the way. It is a little over 2 miles one-way and if you like to walk bring a hat or umbrella and please be sure to wear sunscreen.

The pier itself maybe undergoing renovations at the time and if you don't want to walk catch the County Mass Transit bus (called the "Hele On Bus"), which you can pick up on Kalanianaole St. just outside the main entrance of the dock. The bus is $1.00 and will be marked "Keaukaha" and can be picked up across the street next to the green building where Keaukaha Market is located. The Mooheau Bus Station is in Downtown Hilo and is the last stop so just stay on the bus until you get to the station. We manage the Hilo Information Center at the station and can give you the Historic Downtown Hilo Walking Map and other information about our island. Morning pick up times at the market are: 7:50, 8:50, 9:50 and 10:50 then afternoon times are 1:25, 2:25, 3,25 and 4:25 (but you don't want to get on the later bus otherwise you might miss your ship!). The bus travels back to the ship from Mooheau Bus Station regularly with the last bus leaving at 4 p.m.

We also have a free event called Hilo Hula Days: 100 Days of Aloha by the Bay, Hawaiian music, hula and crafts in the Mooheau Bandstand next to the station from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. every day a ship comes in. So there are lots of things to see and do just in Downtown Hilo and easy to get to by bus! You can also catch a taxi at the dock and there are some free shuttles. Please be careful and know that a metered taxi shouldn't cost you more than about $12 - $15 from the dock to Downtown and it is perfectly acceptable (and less expensive) to share a taxi with some fellow passengers so it could work out to be pretty cheap if you have six people and can get a mini-van.

Is there anything else I can help you with to make your short stay in Hilo more pleasurable? Please let me know and Mahalo!
Alice

--
Alice Moon, Executive Director
Hilo Downtown Improvement Association
329 Kamehameha Avenue
Downtown Hilo, Hawaii Island 96720
(808) 935-8850 Office
(808) 937-4696 Cellular
www.downtownhilo.com

We were in Hilo 3 weeks ago. Rent a car! But make sure you reserve it ahead of time as some companies will be completely booked.

It's cheap, easy, and allows you to go to the Kilauea volcano, which is definitely worth seeing. Plus it allows you to see and visit other areas in Hilo - wonderful city and very beautiful.

Pete

I lived in Hawaii for about 10 years and we considering moving to Hilo side, .. but we were never there but that it poured rain. Not just rain .. but RAIN. Kona is the dry side of the island, but Hilo is the rainy side.

Thank you for the information Pete & Flowers. This will be our first time in Hawaii (so excited). We are going to stay fairly close to the port in Hilo & Kona. My understanding is that there can be a sulfur smell in the air if the volcano is active and wind coming in that direction. I have scent sensitive asthma, so at this point not really sure to what extent we will venture out. I was thrilled to learn how much was really close by and am looking forward to seeing downtown Hilo. The volcano area is not an option at all for me ... but hey, I got to see the eruption of Mount St Helens years ago and its massive cloud from my kitchen window (luckily we were hours away).

We knew when we booked the cruise with Reggie that our activities might be very limited in Hilo & Kona ... so no excursions etc will be booked because we won't know until we dock if I will have problems or not. Not worried, the cruise and spending time with friends on the cruise is our priority. Just being in Hawaii is exciting and worth the trip over and back.

I was so pleased with Alice sent me such a detailed response to my questions. I really think the downtown area of Hilo will be interesting to see and worth stopping.

I wouldnt be worried about Kona, its pretty far from the eruption. Its black rock volcano. There is even a area not that far from Kona that looks like the green green grass of Kentucky horse farms.

Ill bet you have no problems with Kona.

Originally Posted by flowers

I wouldnt be worried about Kona, its pretty far from the eruption. Its black rock volcano. There is even a area not that far from Kona that looks like the green green grass of Kentucky horse farms.

Ill bet you have no problems with Kona.

Thanks Flowers.

From what I have read, it totally depends on the wind. I have seen posts of the sulfur smell in Kona too. We are mapping out what we want to do, and won't know for sure what will be possible until we get there. We are going to have such fun either way.

even though you've already read my blog about my Hawaiian cruise last December, I'll post the link again just in case someone else is considering it.

Holiday Aloha II

Just a brief recap of our time in Hilo:

We did walk from the pier to our first stop in humid weather, with my teen hating me with every step as I can saying "it's not too far." At the first store, hubby got a taxi to the shopping center where we did our Hilo Hattie stop, etc. We caught the Hele on bus (I thought it was free, but maybe no longer if it was back then), but the windows were grimy, and the bus itself was stinky. The route was pretty circuitous (if that's the right word -- not a straightforward trip back to the main street). So if you're in a hurry, it's best to get a taxi.

We didn't see the Hilo Hula Days, but maybe we arrived back downtown right after it was finished. The farmers market was going even though from the info I've had, that wasn't one of its regular days. We took the bus back to the pier from the tourist center in the afternoon, but it was running late (which made all of us cruiseship passengers a bit nervous). And one couple who had decided to take a taxi from the tourist center to the volcano park ended up wasting a trip as the taxi company messed up on renewing their permit (or something like that). And it was the tourist center that had called for that taxi. If you had gone on the Princess-booked excursion, you didn't have any problem.

Thanks Patty. Appreciate hearing about your experience too.

I made that walk from the pier to downtown Hilo once pushing a wheelchair. The air conditioned cab ride back to the pier at the end of the town visit was a LOT nicer though we did see a number of Great things on the walk down. I always found Kona to be a much more hectic and crowded place but a lot of fun in it's own right. Come to think of it, have yet to find anywhere in Hawaii I did not like and I have been there serveral times.