Totally awesome experience we were in Hilo for a short stay & sightseeing, The Lyman museum of…read moreHawaiian cultural, history and ocean biology was just the ticket. Great help by Cindy. She was the museum curator. Very funny & just a Lovely person, had a great time with the kids . Had a great time , clean and family, friendly highly recommend.

The museum is spectacular, and the house is so exciting and interesting to see. But the tour of the…read morehouse, Bruce, was unbearably over-enthusiastic. He would rant and use voices imitating other previous guests (presumably?) and bounced from topic to topic, rushing us through the house so fast that you hardly get any time to look at anything. He opened our conversation by saying how, "contrary to popular belief, the natives are not heathens." What a great start... Though he was contradicting hateful sentiments, I felt the tour didn't need to be embellished with such commentary, and the history of the missionary relationship to the Kanaka Māoli as a colonial project of theft and religious pressure was glazed over..

10/14/2024 Pacific…read moreTsunami Museum 130 Kamehameha Ave Hilo, HI 96720 I went there on Columbus Day, so it was open (closed Mondays)! Street parking is available on Kalakaua Street and Kamehameha Avenue. If you are a Hilo resident or a Baby Boomer from Hilo, I highly recommend a visit. There are rooms for the history of Hilo Tsunamis and the 1960 Tsunami which I experienced. The other displays were interesting, educational and informative. The 1975 local Tsunami display was especially relevant to me because one of the fatalities was my brother's doctor. The other rooms feature displays for other Pacific Tsunamis and Tsunami science. The staff was knowledgeable, helpful and friendly I won't repeat until we have another future Tsunami for display.

This is only open on the weekends! It is well worth the visit. There is so much history with…read moretsunamis in Hawaii.

Such a fun and unique activity if you're staying in the Waikoloa area. We came in and my 3 year old…read morespent time running around the different sections. A little pricey, but would recommend.

This is a really cute museum on Kona side that breaks up the corporate chains within the strip…read moremall. I would primarily recommend this for younger, toddler age children given the features within the museum. While compact, there are sections for geology, physics, and even a miniature space area. There seems to be a ticket deal for multiple days of the week, but we only had a few hours to spare. Our toddler enjoyed the mini bus and race car launch pad the best. There are also some buildable, architectural blocks (miniature and gigantic) to play with. A fan favorite was a cube where you can work together to generate energy to power a light show. The only major downside was the A/C low or non existent with minimal draft throughout the museum. With the space exhibit, there was some sort of machine keeping it inflated which made for hot air exhaust filling a section of the museum. We were thankful for the breeze upon exit. They have some interesting talks and events. Highly recommend checking their website!

My son really enjoyed the Train Museum. He is a train maniac so even the smallest sight of trains…read moreexcites him. That's a good thing because the train museum is small. It's essentially one building with lots of newspaper clippings and older items related to the train history on the big island. If you're interested in the history there's a lot of things to read and old photos to enjoy. If your children don't have a good attention span and just want to see little trains it might be a quick visit. They have one older layout that doesn't run and they have a wooden table outside on the patio for kids to play with. The gift shop is tiny but my son still found a small train and shirt that he loved. You can go inside their caboose to check it out. It's been refurbished although not in the most authentic way. Still, my kiddos enjoyed it tremendously. Nice 30 minute stop, especially for train lovers.

Driving up and down route 19 to several other activities, we passed the train museum multiple times…read moreduring our week on the island. Sadly, we did not get to go inside to look at any of their collection as the hours here are very short at Mon-Sat 10am-2pm. The closest we got was on a Monday at 1:50pm but there were no cars in the lot, and everything was closed. I got out to take a look at the caboose and the switcher which both seemed decent enough. I don't see this as a destination stop unless you're a hard core foamer but it would be nice to learn something about the railroads historical impact on the sugar cane harvest on the island. Maybe next time. thetrainmuseum.com/coming-soon/

Would you pay $99 for AYCE prime rib dinner for two? Yes, but how about if you had to attend a…read moretimeshare sales presentation? 48 Hilton guests took the $99 offer, and came up a packed bus 20 miles from Hilton Waikoloa Village. Gathered in a large dining room sitting around six tables to hear the host give a long talk on the cultural history of the Ranch. Everyone attentive until the singer started playing Hawaiian songs, at which point everyone started talking to the others around the table. Had to talk really loud to be heard across the large table, due to the large amount of background noise. Dinner buffet self serve by table in multiple courses, including unlimited wine and lemonade. Fabulous mixed salad, so good that everyone finished their salad, even those that don't like vegetables. Main course included broccoli, potatoes, fish, and prime rib. I got a double portion of prime rib, while everyone else got a 12 oz to start off with. Thought the outside portion was way too salty and tough. Not for someone to chew with a temporary crown. Center portion was tender and juicy. Threw out a good portion of the outside and fat and gristle. Meal topped off with a dessert of cheesecake covered with sweet mango sauce. Met the host outside. Turned out we were both UC Berkeley graduates, me of class of 1975, and he of class of 1963. Oh, by the way line outside the mens bathroom, as the urinal was out of order. Those people who didn't show up for the Hilton timeshare presentation would be assessed the full $390 price of the event for two!

Fabulous opportunity to come up to Anna Ranch for a dinner with Chef Ipi via a special weekly…read morecultural event managed by the Hilton Grand Vacation folks. We were treated to oral history of the area, music, and an impromptu Hula. Truly honored to be part of this event. Oh, the food? Locally made ricotta in a crostini, mixed green salad with toasted sesame dressing, local shrimp, beef, zucchini, potatoes, and a lava cake with strawberry ice cream.

I really enjoy artsy and quirky things. This town is super cute and visiting the museum is…read moresomething to do:)

This is a cute little museum. It's very casual with a kind of laid back/hippy vibe. They sell local…read moreart and jewelry. They have delicious ice cream made in hilo. The kids loved the mango and my mom loved the kona coffee. I had a shake with lilikoi that was very good. It's in the middle of the town center and there's parking behind the building. You can swing in and take 15/20 minutes for the museum (which runs on donations), then grab some ice cream and mosey down the town center. A very laid back way to explore.

Located in Captain Cook, the Royal Kona Coffee Company is a quaint roadside stop that, while not a…read moremust-see, was mildly engaging. First off, there is plenty of parking and there are also several clean bathrooms. As you meander up the ramp into the Reddish wooden building, you can see the ocean. As you walk further up into the building, there is a coffee sample station with many coffees and teas to try. 100% Kona Dark-Medium roast is delish. There's a small gift shop and coffee museum as well. The gift shop was underwhelming and the museum is small but informative. The folks working here are pleasant. The coolest part of this stop is the Lava Tube that you can walk through. You just need to walk down the stairs from the visitor center and follow the signs for the Lava Tube. It's a little bit of a hilly walk, so be prepared. The tube itself is short, but it is neat to see. There is no cost to visit this place which is a plus. So, if you're in the area, definitely stop by, but I wouldn't make a long trip or go out of your way to visit this place. Mahalo.

Loved this place on my recent trip to the Big Island. They've got tons of merch from clothes to a…read morevariety of different coffees and teas. If you're interest, they offer samples of everything before you buy to even include the rare peaberry Kona Coffee. If that's not enough, they've got a coffee bar inside that served one of the best blended drinks I've ever had from a coffee joint. On the off chance you're looking at more than just the store, this location also has a small museum with amazing views of their coffee mill. It's also home to a small lava tube that is free to view. I highly recommend giving this place a shot.

Very informative and fun tour. Worth your time. Included Kona Water information, time with the…read moreoctopus tanks and tour of Kona Abalone. Yes seeing grapes growing in Hawaii was one of the amazing high lights. This foundation gives alot of local programs and companies a chance to grow their business and research. Support local. Many other companies are on the grounds such as Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm, BioAstin vitamins, the lobster place to grab lunch and more.

If you are in to renewable energy and ocean science and technology, this is the place. It is the…read moreonly place in the world you can find out out OTEC or ocean thermal energy conversion. There is a presentation in the morning from 10AM then you get to take a tour of a working abalone farm that grows all of its own food using cold deep seawater pumped from 3000 ft. They have this cool display that is growing Chardonnay grapes using the cold seawater and they even get 3 crops per year! Fun if you are interested in cool things and science. Little kids might get bored, although the volunteer lady who checked me in brought coloring books and crayons to some kids that started looking bored.

I didn't get to see this facility. The hours are highly limited (M, T, Th) from 10-2. I'm a…read morehistorical buff and my trip was short (F-Su). Really wish I could have seen it.

The smell of coffee and the Portuguese breads, need I say more…read more Every Thursday at 1 pm, bread is available to buy. The sweet bread sells quickly. I've tried both and they were delicious. But I do prefer the sweet bread. Freshly baked, soft and yummy. My husband and I have yet to bake the bread. One day....

Absolutely a must visit to see, feel and understand Hawaiian history…read more It was sad that the volunteers were not even faintly familiar with anything. Names, events and even basic royal history questions were not answered...only empty smiles with oh- there is so much history here...sadly they didn't know hardly any of it. I even asked about the hula group that teaches there, again no idea. They need to train the volunteers to actually know something about the place where they are volunteering.

Hulihe'e Palace is a beautiful piece of Hawaii history museum that sits in downtown Kailua-Kona…read more This palace was built in 1838 for Hawaiian royalty stayed here, in 1973 it was place on the national register of historic places, it was originally built out of lava rocks, the lava rocks fance today still secure the palace. The museum has lot's of priceless artifacts like furiture photos quilts and other cultural Items. I was sad because it was close on the day we dock there, a good reason to come back to Kona.