Hilo and the Big Island, Hawaii Travel Photographer

We had the awesome opportunity to travel to Hawaii on business to photograph Jenn and Kawika’s wedding day on the Hilo side of the Big Island. We squeezed in tons of fun adventures while we were there despite the incredible amounts of rain that were pummeling the islands. We learned that Hilo is the wettest city in the US averaging about 130 inches of rainfall per year. On average Seattle sees about 30, so that is significantly more! During our time on the island they received over 30 inches of rain, 22 of those inches coming within 24 hours. There was tons of flooding and general gloom, but we found lots of ways to have fun despite all that. Check out my recommendations below including the CUTEST Airbnb!!!

The Airbnb we stayed in (The Bamboo Bungalow) was located about 20 minutes from downtown Hilo. It was the perfect little place for Charles and I! The kitchen had everything we needed for simple meals and our host had stocked the fridge with fresh fruits, had frozen orchid and herb ice cubes in the freezer and even homemade pastries. The bed was SO comfortable and the outdoor shower was a total treat. Her home sits on a large piece of property covered in beautiful flowers and tropical plants. I would highly recommend checking this place out if you’re looking for a place to stay near Hilo! Are you NEW to AirBnb and looking to travel? Click this link and get $55 off your first travel booking!

Our first day in town here were high wind warnings all over the island, but we knew there was supposed to be some sun on the Kona side, so we drove over to the other side of the island and visited Manini’owali Beach (Kua Bay) which was a beautiful, big, white sandy beach with a little swimming area. Despite the sand pelting us from the wind, we absolutely loved this beach. We had lunch at Kona Brewing before heading over to Two Step Beach to watch the sunset!

We spent the rest of our time based on the Hilo side of the island. There was so much to see and do in this little city. We walked the Hilo Market full of tons of local vendors selling fruits, goods and food. We had an excellent breakfast at Paul’s Place (best waffles!), checked out Rainbow Falls and the Tropical Botanical Gardens, visited the newest black sand beach, Pohoiki, created by the most recent lava flow and attended a tropical farm tour and tasting way out in the jungle. We found a local night market with live music and tons of fresh Hawaiian food and live music called Uncle Roberts. We stopped in at the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory, ate amazing sushi at the Hilo Bay Cafe, drank beer at the Big Island Brewhaus and had the most fantastic couple’s massage at Mana Wellness! We also took this fantastic AirBNB Experience Tropical Farm Tour– we toured this HUGE farm, learned about tons of different kinds of trees, plants and fruits and then got to try many of them freshly picked at the end of the tour! My favorite weird fruit we tried was called the Ice Cream Bean – It really did taste just like ice cream!!! An AWESOME experience and beautiful drive through the jungle!

Wether you’re in Hilo in the Winter or the Summer, it’s a wet place- so bring your rain jacket! typically the tropical rains will just drench you for a few minutes and move along, but that rain is not messing around. It’s good to have a way to stay dry!

Aloha!