Hidden Hawaii: Hilo

During Merrie Monarch, you can hardly get a hotel room or a rental car in Hilo, the Big Island’s biggest city.

The rest of year? Hilo’s awfully quiet. Visitors prefer the sun-drenched resorts of the Kona Coast to the sometimes damp environs of the Big Island’s lush windward coast.

But Hilo’s a real town, surprisingly vibrant. Photographer David Croxford and I spent some time there recently. You can read about our visit in the May/June issue of HAWAII Magazine. (Don’t subscribe? You’re missing the only national magazine devoted to Hawaii, its people, its scenery, its culture.)

In addition, we’ve created this slideshow to walk you through one of Hawaii’s most interesting—but little visited—communities. (You can click on the slideshow images for a larger view.)