I had to leave a review from a local who is not wearing rose colored glasses like a tourist from…read morethe mainland. This playground is not terrible, but often dirty and in disrepair. No shade or sitting area for adults to enjoy. I'm always uncomfortable while here with my daughter while she is playing. There's often a teen smoking weed in the baseball dugout not far from the playground and the smell is wafting over. Overall, not an enjoyable experience. I would most definitely recommend going somewhere, anywhere else

Entrance is safe since there's a signal light to turn in. Lots of parking. Accessible ramp to get…read moreto the playground and eating area. Bathrooms is right next to multiple of tables. Playground is clean. I'm from the mainland. Most parks in Hilo don't have a playground structure for kids to play on. There's mainly a field and ir basketball court. This is the only park we were able to eat, kids played on the structures, and use the bathrooms. Trash cans accessible.

Loved this 5 miles round trip hike to the beach. Huge variety of vegetation and most of the trail…read moretramps through a tree forest. The tree forest is interesting with some abandoned and vegetation encrusted old jeeps and cars, historic rock walls and towards the end, spur trails to the sea cliffs, and a collapsed lava tube. At the end is a gorgeous bay favored by sea turtles. We saw at least 23 turtles on our visit. Please note that this trail is muddy and very muddy in spots even when it has not been raining, and the footing is very uneven so it is not for the casual walker, for flip flops or any shoes that you don't mind getting very muddy. I found that having hiking poles was helpful in order to gage how thick the mud was at various places on the pathway. Go early as it is very humid by late morning or mid day.

Read the reviews. Is it muddy and rocky and uneven? YES. But it's mostly in the shade! Be prepared,…read morehave the right shoes, take your time, a lot of the really bad spots and walk around areas etc. if you're not careful, you will end up covered in mud. The beach is neat, we enjoyed snorkeling. Be careful as there can be some strong currents on the far left side (if you're looking out) according to some locals we met.

This was a peaceful stroll around a beautiful Japanese…read more Garden. A gift from Japan as a sister city in 1987. Overcast, very empty today Right on the Harbor.

This beautiful Japanese park and garden is tucked along the shores of Hilo Bay, offering a peaceful…read moreescape filled with towering banyan trees, colorful flowers, and singing birds. Stroll along scenic walking paths lined with decorative pagodas, stone lanterns, charming bridges, and tranquil ponds. Best of all, it's completely free to visit -- a must-see when you're in Hilo!

This has been a fantastic day. We got here at the very beginning of the day and went to the…read moretemporary visitor center. We bought some souvenirs and spent some time with the park Ranger. Within walked right across from the front side of the temporary visitor center down a short trail to see steam vents and then we began a two or three hour journey through various parts of the park, including a 3 mile round-trip hike that we took to go to the lava tubes. One thing I would recommend is getting up and out early because the crowds are much less and more easy to manage the earlier you begin the journey. I highly recommend a visit here if you have the opportunity, it is amazing and really hard to describe if you've never seen it. The rock and the landscape that are created by the lava flows is something to behold. The road that takes you down through the park from the visitor center area all the way to the ocean was built in about 1969 and since that time there's only been about 13 years where the entire road has been passable due to active lava flows all through the many years since the road was built. It's an amazing story that you can see and in my opinion, you can see the fingerprints of God all through the amazing tour that I took today with my family. We got to see the glow of the eruption and see some fire and lava from the top at Volcano House!

It'd been over several years since our last visit to Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island…read more The visitor center is closed. There's a temporary one near the military camp. We passed it and went on the rim center drive. We stopped first at the steam vents then headed to the rim. We parked the car, and headed on the gravel trail. New to us. Kept walking uphill. Then we recognized where we ended up. The Jagger Museum is gone. Found out later at the temporary visitor center that the 2018 eruption shook so hard the museum collapsed. It was built from wood. Now there's only an outline of where it once stood. The restrooms withstood the eruption as it's built from rock. We missed the current eruption by several hours on May 30 last Saturday. The ranger said it was imminent. We were in the park around 1pm. Kilauea erupted around 6:30pm lasting nine hours. No way we wanted to drive back 2 1/2 hours the next day from Waikoloa although it would have been bragging rights. The rim trail has improved. It's a longer trail than before. We didn't drive down to the sea this time.

Very cool experience to walk through 2 caves…read more Bring a flashlight / headlamp. Your phone flashlight won't be as strong but can work if you have no options. Ideal shoes would be hiking boots but gym shoes will work. There are steep steps going down and then uneven rocks until the cave. The cave is uneven as well. Parking: maybe room for 10 cars, so parking could be difficult. When we went around 1pm on a Saturday, we didn't have a problem. Park and walk across the street to enter. Bathrooms: I did see some. Didn't use them though.

When we went it was on and off raining. The stairs are quite steep- down to the two caves. One on…read morethe right and one on the left. If you have trouble with balance etc. you should consider waiting in the car as the caves were wet and slippery. Was just accross the street from the parking lot. We were there for about 1/2 an hour. And it's FREE! I enjoyed seeing what the lava had created. We went to the volcano after this. Recommend flashlights and at least one head lamp. Phone lights are just too little!

Of the three parks we went to, we dubbed this one as "The pirate beach." I imagine it might be a…read moreplace where Captain Jack Sparrow could get some R&R when he's not pillaging and plundering. Tharr be lots o' driftwood, not much sand, but more rocks. There also be a cool lookin' mangrove(?) forest before the beach area. Views arrr still breathtakingly beautiful though!

Lava rocks, locals, ocean, sand, and almost no tourists. Its pretty difficult to get to, but its…read moreworth the drive. Watch the sharp lava rocks, wahine. It'll shred your slippahs. Mahalo.

Lovely, peaceful trails at this park. In this visit we only had time for the nature trail which was…read morewell maintained and had a number of interpretive signs describing the various trees and shrubs. Also near the nature trail is the arboretum of native plants with additional interpretive signs, be sure to visit both areas. If you have more time, do the jeep trail to gulch trail as a loop.

This place is pretty confusing and also empty so we were afraid to explore too much. We checked out…read morethe garden but it seemed a bit under maintained and dead. Seems pretty easy to get lost and no reception so come prepared. Plenty of parking but for some reason gave kind of eerie vibes.

This Beach park happened by accident when my niece was looking for a place for us to eat lunch in…read moreKona. This happened to be the closest picnic area that we could come to, thanks to a little tik- tok video she watched. If you're looking for a traditional beach with sand, this isn't the place. But what you'll get instead are the famous black lava rock formations Kona is known for that spill into several lagoons full of crystal clear water. As for eating, there are plenty of places to lay down a blanket in the grass, picnic and relax. The park has several trash cans for you to use as well and I did happily notice that the park was clean. I did not have to use the bathroom here so I can't comment on that. What impressed me the most was that they had built in stairs for you to walk into the ocean. In my entire life of traveling, I've never seen a beach park with built in stairwells to walk into the lagoons. This was a treat for me. If I have one big tip, it's to remember to have your water shoes because the rocks are sharp to walk on and can easily cut you if you're not careful. I also did read that they do have outdoor showers but I didn't see them when we were here. Lots of folks brought their own snorkeling gear because there were a lot of fish, not to mention at least 3 turtles that I saw swimming around. As I'm writing this review, I'm already missing Kona and the uniqueness of this island. If you plan on going to Kona, you must come and enjoy this place. It's truly special and I would recommend it to anyone.

A favorite spot when visiting Hilo! Perfect snorkeling and swimming spot with beautiful blue…read morewaters and landscape. I mostly love that it's a spot for locals and love the island vibe music playing.

Lucky me we had the entire beach park to ourself. Not meant for adult swimming or diving deep to…read moresnorkeling but for a families with young kids or those who can't swim this is the best to cool off. Known for the sandy shallow ocean pools and a bountiful tide pools to explore. The natural lava rocks surround the area making protected lava pools blocking the crashing waves. The parking itself was plentiful, but when school is out and the island is at its peak tourist season you never get the seclusion I got today. The park has tables, restrooms and even horseshoe courts. Anytime I can get out and dip in the water is a win!

Fun place for kids. I would never come here without kids. The place was nice but they seriously…read moreneed to clean the bathrooms. I'm literally traumatized at how disgusting it was, floor was flooded, stepped in god knows what, then in the toilet there were 3 HUGE roaches walking around, horrible.