Imiloa Astronomy Center — Attraction in Hawaii

I wasn't sure what to expect going in to this one. Clearly there was going to be an educational aspect and planetariums are fairly self explanatory, but you have an hour before the show even starts. So what exactly is there to do here?

When I was a kid we took a field trip to the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio. This was similar to that experience, but on a smaller scale. Imiloa provides an abundance of entertaining and educational activities that are geared towards children, but that didn't stop my wife and I from playing some of the games or engaging with the interactive toys.

This place is ideal for getting children interested in science. I watched one kid putting together a carbon nanotube six feet tall with tinker toy style blocks for like half an hour. There was a globe that could display flight paths or Facebook connections (or just a map... but that would be boring) on demand. There were displays that touched on subjects like the stars, chemistry, biology, ecology, the human body, and other common areas of science.

What was really special about this place though was that it also touched on topics like how Hawaiians (and other peoples around the Pacific) navigated, sailed, and lived. On top of that nearly every exhibit was presented in both English and Hawaiian language! That's right hit the right button and a video describes how lasers work in the native language of the land!

At times there can be a fine line walked between respectfully representing the heritage and culture of a people who have suffered much at the hands of what the world at large might consider progress and the actual progress represented by the advancements of science. Imiloa shows that the two are not mutually exclusive. The ancient Hawaii stories bear much more in common with the discoveries of modern science than even the ancient Greeks and Romans, and it was nice seeing that on display here.

Bring your kids or if you are a big kid bring yourself. Any way you slice it you will come away learning something new. Also, koa trees are way more evolved than I realized... I also got the explorer kit just to see what it was. It is comprised of three small kids activities. Mine has two punch out animals to build and a coloring page. I wouldn't recommend it for adults.

For those concerned about sanitization, everything is cleaned thoroughly between groups, there are hand sanitizing stations and sanitizing wipes for the displays all over the place, and they run these cool little sanitizing humidifier things between groups to clean the air as well. The groups themselves are kept small so social distancing wasn't a problem, but that also means if you really want to go you will need to book at least a week in advance. They do offer walk-ins if there is available space, but you can't count on it, and you would still need to time it with one of the 3 groups they...

10/13/2024

Imiloa Astronomy Center 600 'Imiloa Place Hilo, Hawaii 96720

I visit Hilo regularly but this is my first visit to this planetarium. I was very impressed, I've been to many and this one is top notch. The seat controls appear to be disabled and it would have been great to be able to recline the seat backs. I spent most of my time in the planetarium and saw four of the five shows with visiting a few of the exhibits between showings.

Of my four shows I enjoyed the interactive Panana Kilo Hoku-Our Wayfinder's Compass program the most. It was informative, educational and entertaining; led by a very professional lecturer. I'm an engineering nerd. The keiki show was mostly accurate excepting for Tycho's ears sticking out of his space suit and would explode on the moon.

If you are an astronomy buff, I'd recommend staying for at least 4 hours to take in the shows and exhibits. You can also have a great meal at the restaurant, which I reviewed separately. I saved the last show and the exhibits for the next visit, definite repeat. This would also be an excellent place to visit between your hotel checkout and late flight back to...

We were running out of things to do on the Big Island towards the end of our trip and decided to stop by here. It's air conditioned and my 10 year old is big into science stuff.

While it is not nearly as big and extensive as the Science Museum of Minnesota, you can tell that the staff really cares about the museum and keeps it up nicely. There is a large room of interactive exhibits for kids that covers both space exploration and Hawaiian culture.

We spent about an hour looking at exhibits (I think you would hard-pressed to spend much longer than that). Then we went to a show in the 360o theater. Again this was not nearly as impressive as the Omnitheater but it was cute. The space show we watched was pretty silly; even my 10 year old thought it was dumb.

After that they did a 15 minute planetarium show about the Hawaiian night sky and that was pretty cool. Being from the Midwest the night sky is quite a bit different in Hawaii and that was fun to learn about.

I would recommend as a great indoor stop (for super hot or rainy days) for those with kids in the 7 year old to...