Flying to Hilo, Hawaii
Hilo International Airport (ITO) serves the windward side of the Big Island — the gateway to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Mauna Kea, and the Hamakua Coast. FareOptic compares Hawaiian, Alaska, United, and American for the cheapest fare into ITO.
Flights to Hilo International Airport (ITO)
*All above fares are one way/round trip. Fares incl. all fuel surcharges, taxes & fees and our service fees. Displayed fares are subject to change and cannot be guaranteed at the time of booking. See all booking terms and conditions.
Also Price Kona (KOA) — 95 Miles West, Same Island, Far More Direct Mainland Service
Most mainland flights to Hilo connect through Honolulu (HNL) and then take a 50-minute Hawaiian interisland hop to ITO. Kona International (KOA) on the dry west side of the Big Island receives substantially more direct mainland service and is frequently several hundred dollars cheaper for the same origin. The two airports are 95 miles and roughly 2 to 2.5 hours apart via Saddle Road (Daniel K. Inouye Highway), which runs between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa and is a good paved road. Hilo is the better base for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the waterfalls, and Mauna Kea; Kona is better for beaches and resorts. Many visitors fly into one and out of the other — most rental car companies permit the one-way drop.
Recommended for your next trip
Based on popular routes and current airfare deals
Why Visit Hilo?
A national park built around two active volcanoes, the tallest mountain on Earth measured from its base, waterfalls fed by the heaviest rainfall in the United States, and the most prestigious hula competition in the world
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park -- 45 Minutes From Hilo, Two Active Volcanoes Including Kilauea (One of the Most Active on Earth), a Caldera That Collapsed 1,600 Feet in 2018, and a Lava Tube You Can Walk Through
323,000 Acres Spanning Sea Level to the 13,681-Foot Summit of Mauna Loa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve, With Crater Rim Drive, the Thurston Lava Tube, Steam Vents, and the Chain of Craters Road Descending 3,700 Feet to the Coast in 19 MilesHawaii Volcanoes National Park (30 miles southwest of Hilo via Highway 11, roughly 45 minutes; 323,431 acres; entrance fee $30 per vehicle valid 7 days, or free with the America the Beautiful annual pass; open 24 hours year-round, visitor center 9AM-5PM) protects two of the world's most active volcanoes — Kilauea and Mauna Loa — and is designated both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve. The park's core features: (1) Kilauea Caldera and Halemaʻumaʻu Crater (the summit crater, traditionally understood in Hawaiian religion as the home of Pele, the volcano deity; the 2018 eruption and summit collapse dramatically enlarged it — over roughly three months the crater floor dropped approximately 1,600 feet and the caldera volume increased more than fivefold, one of the largest documented caldera collapses in modern times; eruptive activity has since resumed intermittently, and when there is an active lava lake the nighttime glow visible from Kilauea Overlook and the Uēkahuna bluff is the park's signature sight); (2) the Thurston Lava Tube / Nāhuku (a 500-year-old lava tube, lit and walkable for about 600 feet, formed when the outer shell of a lava river cooled and hardened while the molten interior drained away); (3) Crater Rim Drive (the loop road around the summit caldera — portions have been permanently closed by eruption damage, but the open sections reach the steam vents, sulphur banks, the Kīlauea Iki Overlook, and the Volcano House hotel perched on the caldera rim); (4) Kīlauea Iki Trail (a 3.3-mile loop descending 400 feet through rainforest onto the solidified floor of a crater that held a churning lava lake in 1959, when fountains reached 1,900 feet — the crust you walk across is still warm in places and steam rises from cracks); and (5) Chain of Craters Road (a 19-mile drive descending 3,700 feet from the summit to the coast, past a chain of pit craters and across vast lava flow fields, ending where a 2003 flow buried the road; the Hōlei Sea Arch is at the bottom).
Mauna Loa -- the Largest Active Volcano on Earth by Volume, Which Erupted in 2022 After 38 Years of Silence, and the Reason the Big Island Is Still Growing
Mauna Loa ('Long Mountain' — 13,681 feet above sea level, but measured from its base on the ocean floor roughly 30,000 feet, and the mountain's immense weight has depressed the seafloor beneath it by another 5 miles) is the largest active volcano on Earth by volume, containing an estimated 18,000 cubic miles of rock — enough to account for roughly half the total land area of the Hawaiian Islands. It is a shield volcano: rather than the steep cone shape of stratovolcanoes like Fuji or Rainier, Mauna Loa's fluid basaltic lava spreads in thin sheets, building a broad, gently sloping dome that looks deceptively low from a distance despite being nearly as tall as Denali when measured from its true base. Mauna Loa has erupted 33 times since written records began in 1843. After its 1984 eruption it went quiet for 38 years — the longest repose in its recorded history — before erupting again on November 27, 2022 from the Northeast Rift Zone. That eruption lasted about two weeks, produced lava flows that advanced to within roughly 1.7 miles of Daniel K. Inouye Highway (Saddle Road, the main cross-island route), and drew enormous crowds of night-time viewers to the highway pullouts. It caused no injuries and destroyed no structures, but it was a reminder that Hilo sits downslope of an active volcano: lava flows from Mauna Loa's Northeast Rift Zone have reached the outskirts of Hilo in the past, most recently in 1880-1881, when a flow stopped within the modern city limits at what is now the Kaumana area. The Big Island is the youngest and still-growing island in the Hawaiian chain, and Kilauea's coastal eruptions have added several hundred acres of new land since 1983.
Mauna Kea and the Summit Observatories -- 13,803 Feet, the Tallest Mountain on Earth Measured From Its Base, 13 Telescopes From 11 Countries, and a Sacred Hawaiian Summit at the Center of a Long-Running Cultural Dispute
The Best Astronomical Observing Site in the Northern Hemisphere — Above 40% of the Atmosphere, Dry Air, Minimal Light Pollution, and Exceptionally Stable Airflow — Reachable by Road, With a Visitor Station at 9,200 Feet and a Summit Road Requiring 4WD, Where the Temperature Can Drop Below Freezing While Hilo Is 80 DegreesMauna Kea ('White Mountain' — 13,803 feet above sea level; measured from its base on the ocean floor it stands roughly 33,500 feet, making it the tallest mountain on Earth by that measure, exceeding Everest's 29,032 feet above sea level; a dormant volcano last erupted approximately 4,600 years ago) is simultaneously the premier astronomical observing site in the Northern Hemisphere and one of the most sacred sites in Native Hawaiian religion. The astronomy: the summit hosts 13 working telescopes operated by institutions from 11 countries, including the twin 10-meter Keck telescopes (among the largest optical/infrared telescopes in the world), the Subaru Telescope (Japan), the Gemini North Telescope, the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, and the Submillimeter Array. The site's advantages are specific: the summit sits above roughly 40% of Earth's atmosphere and above the inversion layer that traps moisture, the air is exceptionally dry (critical for infrared observation), the mid-Pacific location has minimal light pollution, and the smooth laminar airflow over the isolated peak produces unusually stable 'seeing.' Access: the Maunakea Visitor Information Station at Halepōhaku (9,200 feet, roughly 45 minutes from Hilo via Saddle Road / Daniel K. Inouye Highway and the Mauna Kea Access Road) is open to all vehicles and offers stargazing programs. The summit road above the visitor station is unpaved in sections, steep, and requires four-wheel drive — most rental car agreements explicitly prohibit driving it. Visitors are advised to acclimatize at the visitor station for at least 30 minutes before ascending, as altitude sickness at the summit is common and sometimes serious. Summit temperatures routinely fall below freezing, and snow is common in winter, while Hilo at sea level is in the high 70s.
The Thirty Meter Telescope Dispute -- Why Mauna Kea Became the Center of a Native Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement and What Kapu Aloha Means
Mauna Kea's summit is, in Hawaiian tradition, the piko (navel) connecting the land to the sky — the meeting place of Wākea (Sky Father) and Papahānaumoku (Earth Mother), the realm of the snow goddess Poliʻahu, and the site of ancient burials, shrines, and an adze quarry that supplied the finest basalt tool stone in the islands. Astronomical development on the summit began in 1968 under a state lease to the University of Hawaii, and Native Hawaiian objections to the accumulating construction date back decades. The dispute reached national attention with the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), a proposed $2.4 billion instrument with a 30-meter segmented primary mirror that would have been among the largest optical telescopes ever built. Groundbreaking attempts in 2014 and 2015 were blocked by protesters, and in July 2019, when the state announced construction would begin, thousands of people — kiaʻi, or protectors — established an encampment at the Mauna Kea Access Road junction that blocked construction traffic for months. The movement was explicitly grounded in kapu aloha, a discipline of nonviolent, ceremonially framed protest: protesters conducted daily ceremonies, refused confrontation with law enforcement, and elders deliberately positioned themselves for the first arrests. The encampment drew international coverage and became a focal point for broader Native Hawaiian sovereignty and land-rights claims. In 2022 the Hawaii legislature passed Act 255, transferring management authority over Mauna Kea from the University of Hawaii to a new Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority with substantial Native Hawaiian representation — a structural change to who decides the mountain's future. TMT's construction on Mauna Kea remains unresolved, and an alternative site in the Canary Islands has been held in reserve.
Hilo's Waterfalls, Rainforest, and the Hamakua Coast -- 130 Inches of Annual Rain Feeding Akaka Falls, Rainbow Falls, and a 4-Mile Scenic Drive Through Jungle That Looks Like Nowhere Else in the United States
The Wettest City in the United States by Annual Rainfall, Which Is Exactly Why the Windward Side Is Green: 442-Foot Akaka Falls, Rainbow Falls in the Middle of Town, the Pepeʻekeo Scenic Drive Through Old-Growth Canopy, and Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve Gardens on Onomea BayHilo receives roughly 130 inches of rain a year — the highest annual rainfall of any city in the United States — because it sits on the windward, northeastern side of the Big Island, where the persistent northeast trade winds hit the massive bulk of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa and are forced upward, cooling and dropping their moisture. That rain is the whole reason for the landscape: while the Kona side 60 miles west is dry, sunny, and built for resorts, the Hilo side is dense tropical rainforest, waterfalls, and gardens. The core sights: (1) ʻAkaka Falls State Park (11 miles north of Hilo off Highway 220 near Honomū; a paved 0.4-mile loop trail through bamboo groves and wild orchids to a viewpoint of ʻAkaka Falls, which drops 442 feet in a single plunge into a gorge, plus the 100-foot Kahūnā Falls along the same loop; parking $10 for non-residents, entry $5 per person); (2) Rainbow Falls / Waiānuenue (inside Hilo city limits at Wailuku River State Park, free, a two-minute walk from the parking lot; an 80-foot falls over a lava cave that in Hawaiian tradition was the home of Hina, mother of the demigod Māui; morning sun produces the rainbow the falls is named for, and the volume is dramatic after rain); (3) the Pepeʻekeo Scenic Drive / Old Mamalahoa Highway (a 4-mile detour off Highway 19 about 7 miles north of Hilo — a narrow one-lane-in-places road through overgrown rainforest canopy, over single-lane bridges, past streams and small waterfalls; the most concentrated stretch of jungle road on the island); (4) Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden (on the scenic drive at Onomea Bay — 40 acres in a natural valley holding more than 2,000 plant species, with a boardwalk trail descending to the ocean; admission approximately $30); and (5) the Hamakua Coast north of Hilo (a 40-mile stretch of sea cliffs, gulches, and former sugar plantation towns — Honomū, Laupāhoehoe, Honokaʻa — ending at the Waipiʻo Valley Overlook, a 2,000-foot-deep valley that was the boyhood home of Kamehameha I; note that descent into Waipiʻo Valley has been restricted in recent years).
The 1946 and 1960 Tsunamis -- Why Hilo's Bayfront Is a Park Instead of a Downtown, and the Pacific Warning System That Exists Because of What Happened Here
Hilo Bay's shape — a broad, funnel-like crescent open to the northeast — makes it one of the most tsunami-vulnerable locations in the Pacific, because it amplifies incoming wave energy rather than dispersing it. Two disasters defined the modern city. On April 1, 1946, an 8.6-magnitude earthquake in the Aleutian Islands sent waves across the Pacific with no warning whatsoever; they arrived at Hilo roughly five hours later, reaching 30 feet in places, and killed 159 people in Hawaii, including 96 in Hilo and 16 schoolchildren and 5 teachers at the Laupāhoehoe school on the coast north of town. The waves destroyed the entire Hilo bayfront business district. Direct consequence: the United States established the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in 1949, headquartered in Hawaii, which now serves 26 member nations. Then on May 23, 1960, the largest earthquake ever recorded — magnitude 9.5 off the coast of Chile — sent a tsunami across the Pacific. This time there was a warning, issued roughly six hours ahead. Some residents evacuated; many did not, in part because earlier warnings had produced only minor waves and public confidence had eroded. A 35-foot wave struck Hilo shortly after 1 AM and killed 61 people, destroying the rebuilt downtown a second time. After 1960 the city made a permanent decision: rather than rebuild the bayfront commercial district again, the inundation zone was converted to open space. That is why Hilo today has an unusually large waterfront park system — Wailoa River State Park, Bayfront Beach Park, the Mooheau Park bandstand — where a dense downtown would otherwise be, and why the surviving early-20th-century commercial buildings sit one block inland along Kamehameha Avenue and Keawe Street. The Pacific Tsunami Museum (130 Kamehameha Avenue, in a 1930 former bank building that survived both waves; admission approximately $8-15) documents both events with survivor testimony.
The Merrie Monarch Festival and Hilo's Hawaiian Cultural Life -- the World Championship of Hula, Held in Hilo Every Easter Week Since 1964, Where Tickets Sell Out Within Hours and the Entire State Watches on Live Television
A Week-Long Competition Named for King David Kalākaua, the Monarch Who Revived Hula After Decades of Missionary Suppression, Drawing Hālau From Across Hawaii and the Mainland, Judged on Kahiko (Ancient) and ʻAuana (Modern) Forms, Broadcast Live Statewide and Streamed WorldwideThe Merrie Monarch Festival (held annually in Hilo during the week following Easter Sunday, at the Edith Kanakaʻole Multi-Purpose Stadium; founded 1964; competition tickets are sold by mail order beginning December 1 and routinely sell out almost immediately) is the most prestigious hula competition in the world and the single most significant week in Hilo's calendar. The festival is named for King David Kalākaua (reigned 1874-1891), known as the Merrie Monarch, who deliberately revived hula and other Hawaiian cultural practices after roughly five decades of suppression: Protestant missionaries who arrived from 1820 had condemned hula as heathen, and Queen Kaʻahumanu banned public performance in 1830. Kalākaua's revival, most visibly at his 1883 coronation and 1886 jubilee, is the reason an unbroken performance tradition survived at all. The competition format: hālau hula (hula schools) led by kumu hula (hula masters) compete over three nights — Miss Aloha Hula (a solo women's competition including a chanted oli and both dance forms), group hula kahiko (the ancient style, performed to chant and traditional percussion, with strict expectations around costume, plant materials, protocol, and the accuracy of the mele's historical or genealogical content), and group hula ʻauana (the modern style, developed after Western contact, performed to string instruments and sung Hawaiian-language songs). Judging weighs not only the dance but the correctness of the chant, the appropriateness of the adornments, the pronunciation of the Hawaiian text, and the kumu's interpretive choices. The competition is broadcast live on Hawaii television and streamed globally, and it is watched across the state with an attention comparable to a national championship. The festival week also includes a free craft fair, an art exhibition, and a Saturday morning parade through downtown Hilo.
Hilo's Plantation-Era Downtown, the Farmers Market, and Why This Is the Least Touristed Side of the Island
Hilo is the Big Island's county seat and largest town (population roughly 45,000) and functions as a working local city rather than a resort destination — the great majority of the island's visitor accommodation, luxury resorts, and beach infrastructure is on the Kona-Kohala coast on the dry western side, 60-95 miles away. What Hilo has instead is an intact early-20th-century commercial downtown, built during the sugar plantation era and largely spared by the tsunamis because it sits a block inland from the inundation zone. The surviving buildings along Kamehameha Avenue, Keawe Street, and Waianuenue Avenue — the 1912 Palace Theatre (still operating as a cinema and performance venue), the S. Hata Building (1912), the Koehnen Building — form one of the best-preserved plantation-town streetscapes in Hawaii, now filled with independent bookstores, galleries, thrift shops, and local restaurants rather than chain retail. The Hilo Farmers Market (corner of Mamo Street and Kamehameha Avenue; open daily with the largest markets Wednesday and Saturday from around 6 AM) is the island's main produce market, where the Big Island's extraordinary agricultural range — the island spans 8 of the world's 13 climate zones — shows up as rambutan, lychee, mangosteen, apple bananas, Kona and Kaʻū coffee, macadamia nuts, and cut tropical flowers. Other Hilo institutions: the ʻImiloa Astronomy Center (600 ʻImiloa Place, on the UH Hilo campus — a museum and planetarium that presents Mauna Kea astronomy alongside Polynesian wayfinding navigation, deliberately treating both as sciences; admission approximately $19), the Lyman Museum and Mission House (1839, the oldest wood-frame building on the island), and Liliʻuokalani Gardens (a 30-acre Japanese garden on Banyan Drive, built in the early 1900s to honor the island's Japanese plantation laborers, and said to be the largest authentic Edo-style garden outside Japan).
How to Find Cheap Flights to Hilo Hawaii
Always Price Kona (KOA) Against Hilo (ITO) -- They Are 95 Miles Apart on the Same Island
Kona International (KOA) on the west side receives far more direct mainland service than Hilo and is frequently several hundred dollars cheaper for the same origin. The drive between them is about 2 to 2.5 hours across Saddle Road (Daniel K. Inouye Highway) — a good road now, and a spectacular drive between the two big volcanoes. If you are renting a car anyway, price both airports. Many visitors fly into one and out of the other, which most rental companies allow.
Most Mainland Itineraries Connect Through Honolulu -- Build In Connection Time
Direct mainland service to ITO is limited and seasonal. The standard routing is a transpacific flight to Honolulu (HNL) followed by a 50-minute Hawaiian interisland hop to Hilo. Interisland flights run frequently, but if your transpacific flight is delayed you can lose the last connection of the day. Leave at least 90 minutes in HNL, and be aware that interisland flights are booked as separate segments on some itineraries — check whether your bags are through-checked.
Merrie Monarch Week (the Week After Easter) Sells Out the Entire Town
The Merrie Monarch Festival fills every hotel room, vacation rental, and rental car in Hilo and drives up interisland airfare. Competition tickets themselves go on sale by mail on December 1 and sell out almost immediately. If you want to attend, plan 6-12 months ahead. If you are visiting for other reasons, avoid that week entirely or book very early — there is no last-minute lodging in Hilo during Merrie Monarch.
Hilo Rains 130 Inches a Year -- That Is the Point, Not a Problem
Hilo is the wettest city in the United States, and travelers who expect Waikiki weather are consistently disappointed. The rain is usually brief, warm, and often overnight, and it is the reason for the waterfalls, rainforest, and gardens that make this side of the island worth visiting. Bring a light rain shell, not an umbrella. If you want guaranteed beach sun, that is the Kona side — plan to see both.
Airlines Flying to Hilo (ITO)
Hawaiian Airlines
The Dominant Carrier at ITO -- Interisland Service From HNL, OGG, and LIH Plus Mainland Connections Through HonoluluHawaiian Airlines operates the majority of flights at Hilo International Airport (ITO), with frequent interisland service from Honolulu (HNL) on Oahu, Kahului (OGG) on Maui, and Lihue (LIH) on Kauai. The HNL-ITO route runs many times daily on Boeing 717 aircraft and takes roughly 50 minutes — this is the standard way most mainland travelers reach Hilo, connecting off a transpacific flight into Honolulu. Hawaiian has also operated seasonal and periodic direct mainland service to ITO from Los Angeles (LAX), though the Kona side of the island (KOA) receives far more of the airline's direct mainland capacity. Following the Alaska Air Group acquisition of Hawaiian, the two carriers' networks and loyalty programs have been progressively integrated, which affects how mileage and connections work on ITO itineraries.
Key Routes
HNL to ITO (50m nonstop, many daily; OGG to ITO (40m nonstop; LIH to ITO (via HNL; LAX to ITO (direct seasonally, or via HNL; SFO to ITO (via HNL; JFK to ITO (via HNL; Tokyo/Haneda to ITO (via HNL
United Airlines
SFO, LAX, and DEN Connections to ITO -- United's Transpacific Network Feeding the Hilo Side of the Big IslandUnited Airlines has operated direct mainland service into Hilo (ITO) from San Francisco (SFO) and Los Angeles (LAX) at various points, and provides one-stop connections from Denver (DEN), Chicago (ORD), Newark (EWR), and Houston (IAH) via its West Coast gateways or via Honolulu. United's Hawaii network is the largest of the mainland carriers by seat count, but the majority of its Big Island capacity goes to Kona (KOA) on the leeward side rather than Hilo. For most United itineraries the practical routing is SFO or LAX to HNL or KOA, then a short interisland hop to ITO. Check both ITO and KOA when pricing — the fare gap can be substantial and the drive between them is under two hours.
Key Routes
SFO to ITO (direct seasonally, or via HNL/KOA; LAX to ITO (direct seasonally, or via HNL; DEN to ITO (via SFO or LAX; ORD to ITO (via SFO, LAX, or DEN; EWR to ITO (via SFO or LAX; IAH to ITO (via LAX or SFO
Alaska Airlines
SEA, PDX, and West Coast Access to ITO -- Alaska's Pacific Northwest Hawaii Network, Now Merged With Hawaiian AirlinesAlaska Airlines serves the Big Island primarily through Kona (KOA) from Seattle (SEA), Portland (PDX), San Diego (SAN), and San Jose (SJC), with connections onward to Hilo. Alaska's 2024 acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines makes this combination increasingly seamless: Alaska Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles have been integrating, and a SEA-HNL or SEA-KOA flight connecting to a Hawaiian interisland leg to ITO now behaves as a single-carrier itinerary for baggage and loyalty purposes. For Pacific Northwest travelers, Alaska is generally the best-priced path to the Big Island, and the merged network gives it the deepest interisland reach of any carrier serving the mainland.
Key Routes
SEA to ITO (via KOA or HNL; PDX to ITO (via KOA or HNL; SAN to ITO (via KOA or HNL; SJC to ITO (via KOA or HNL; ANC to ITO (via SEA; Vancouver BC to ITO (via SEA
Southwest Airlines
Interisland and West Coast Service to the Big Island -- Southwest's Hawaii Network With Two Free Checked Bags and No Change FeesSouthwest Airlines entered the Hawaii market in 2019 and operates both mainland routes (from Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento, San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Phoenix) and interisland service between the Hawaiian islands. Southwest's Big Island service is centered on Kona (KOA), with interisland connections available to Hilo. The two free checked bags and no-change-fee policy matter more in Hawaii than almost anywhere else — Hawaii trips involve gear (snorkel equipment, cold-weather layers for the Mauna Kea summit) and weather-driven itinerary changes. Important: Southwest fares are not distributed on Google Flights, Kayak, or other metasearch sites, so you must check Southwest.com directly to compare against the fares shown here.
Key Routes
KOA to ITO interisland connections; OAK, SJC, SMF, SAN, LAX, LAS, PHX to KOA then interisland to ITO; HNL to ITO interisland; check Southwest.com directly for current Hawaii schedule and fares (not visible on metasearch)
Things to Do in Hilo and the Big Island's East Side
Essential Info for Your Hilo Trip
State / Region
Hilo, Hawaii. Hawaii County seat, on the Big Island (Hawaiʻi Island). Population ~45,000 -- the island's largest town. Windward east side. 95 miles east of Kona, 30 miles northeast of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Airport
ITO -- Hilo International Airport, 2 miles east of downtown. Hawaiian Airlines dominant (frequent HNL and OGG interisland); limited/seasonal direct mainland service. Most mainland travelers connect via HNL. Alternative: KOA (Kona), 95 miles west.
Currency
USD -- US Dollar
Time Zone
HST (UTC-10) -- Hawaii Standard Time. Hawaii does not observe daylight saving, so the offset from the US mainland shifts by an hour in summer: 2 hours behind Pacific in winter, 3 in summer.
Weather
Wettest US city: ~130 inches annual rain, spread through the year, often brief and overnight. Highs 78-83°F year-round, lows 63-70°F. Bring a light rain shell. Mauna Kea's summit can be below freezing with snow while Hilo is 80°F -- pack warm layers if going up.
Volcano Park
Hawaii Volcanoes NP: 30 miles SW via Hwy 11, ~45 min. $30/vehicle for 7 days, or America the Beautiful pass. Open 24 hours; visitor center 9AM-5PM. Check the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and park eruption status page before visiting -- activity changes constantly.
Mauna Kea Access
Visitor Information Station at 9,200 ft is open to all vehicles, ~45 min from Hilo via Saddle Road. The summit road above requires 4WD and most rental car agreements prohibit it. Acclimatize 30+ minutes at the station. Not recommended for children under 16, pregnant travelers, or anyone with heart or respiratory conditions.
Emergency Number
911
Most Popular Airlines
Best Airlines for Domestic & International Routes
Frequently Asked Questions on Flights to Hilo Hawaii
Airport info, Hilo vs Kona comparison, volcano viewing, Mauna Kea access, and Big Island travel planning
What airport serves Hilo Hawaii?
Hilo International Airport (IATA: ITO) serves Hilo on the east side of the Big Island, about 2 miles from downtown. Hawaiian Airlines operates the most flights, with frequent interisland service from Honolulu (HNL, about 50 minutes) and Kahului (OGG). Direct mainland service to ITO is limited and often seasonal — most travelers connect through Honolulu. Kona International (KOA) on the west side, 95 miles away, has far more direct mainland flights.
Should I fly into Hilo (ITO) or Kona (KOA)?
It depends on what you came for. Hilo is closer to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (45 minutes), the waterfalls, the rainforest, and Mauna Kea's Hilo-side access. Kona is closer to the beaches, resorts, and snorkeling, and gets far more direct mainland flights at typically lower fares. The two are 2 to 2.5 hours apart via Saddle Road. Many visitors fly into one and out of the other. Always price both before booking.
Can I see lava at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park?
Sometimes — it depends entirely on whether Kilauea is actively erupting at the time of your visit, which changes month to month. When there is an active lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, the nighttime glow is visible from summit overlooks and is the park's most dramatic sight. When activity pauses, you can still see the caldera, steam vents, lava tubes, and vast recent flow fields. Check the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and the park's official eruption status page before your trip.
Why does it rain so much in Hilo?
Hilo receives roughly 130 inches of rain per year — the most of any US city — because it sits on the windward northeast side of the Big Island. Persistent trade winds hit the enormous bulk of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, are forced upward, cool, and release their moisture on the Hilo side. That rainfall is why the east side is rainforest, waterfalls, and gardens while the Kona side 60 miles west is dry and sunny. The rain is usually brief and warm; bring a light shell rather than expecting to avoid it.
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