The Pacific Tsunami Museum
 If you are visiting Hilo on the big island of Hawaii, a stop well worth your time is the Pacific Tsunami Museum right in downtown Hilo. The museum offers stark evidence of the power of tsunamis and discusses the destructive waves that have hit Hilo and the rest of the Pacific Basin.
The Museum is located just across the street from Hilo Bay, and a live webcam keeps its electronic eye on the bay to watch for Tsunamis. In addition an evacuation plan is conspicuously posted as you come in, since the Museum is within the tsunami zone in Hilo. However don’t worry too much, with all of the monitoring that occurs within the Pacific, you should have plenty of warning if there is a tsunami and be able to escape to higher ground.
The Museum is located on Kamehameha Avenue and literally a stone’s throw away from Hilo Bay. Much of downtown Hilo with the rest of Hilo mostly behind (and up the hill) from the Museum.
Getting in
The Museum is open daily from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon. Admission fee for the Tsunami Museum are: Adults:$7, seniors:$6, students:$2 and kids under 5: free.
The Pacific Tsunami Museum is a fairly simple museum. It occupies a single level and there are a number of different exhibits and presentations located throughout the space detailing the historical tsunamis that Hilo and the rest of Hawaii have faced, tsunamis around the world and efforts today to detect, track and warn the public about current or future tsunamis.
Expect to spend some time at each exhibit as almost all of them are a mix of photographs, text and some video. Some of the videos are quite long and almost all of them are quite interesting for anyone with an interest in earthquakes and tsunamis. The videos detailing the tsunami destruction in Hilo are especially interesting considering you can look out the windows of the museum and imagine the damage and destruction around you.
In 1994, the Pacific Tsunami Museum in Hilo incorporated. Its mission statement: "We believe that through education and awareness, no one should ever again die in Hawaii due to a tsunami."
The museum serves as a living monument to the people who lost their lives in past tsunamis. Featured are a series of permanent exhibits that detail the history of tsunamis in the Pacific region; myths and legends about tsunamis; public safety measures in the event of a tsunami; and oral histories that make the tsunami experience "hit home" for each museum visitor.
If you plan to visit, here are some pertinent info:
Pacific Tsunami Museum
130 Kamehameha Avenue
Hilo, HI 96721
Phone: 808-935-0926
Please visit the Pacific Museum Website.
The Lyman Museum
 The nationally accredited Lyman Museum showcases the natural and cultural history of Hawai`i in its exhibit halls and its 1839 historic missionary home. The museum also features collections of seashells and minerals that are world-wide in scope, ancient art of China, artists of Hawai`i, and changing special exhibitions. Many community programs and events are held each year. Located in downtown Hilo, the Lyman Museum offers a unique educational and cultural experience for people of all ages.
The Lyman Museum began as the Lyman Mission House, originally built for New England missionaries David and Sarah Lyman in 1839. Nearly 100 eventful years later, in 1931, the Museum was established by descendants of Sarah and David. Today, the Mission House has been preserved, and is on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places. It may be visited by guided tour.
The Lyman Museum building, next door to the Mission House, houses a superb collection of artifacts, fine art, and natural history specimens as well as an archives, special exhibitions and a gift shop. Visitors touring the two facilities can see the old Mission House and life as it was 150 years ago, as well as state-of-the-art exhibits on many aspects of Hawaiian natural history and culture…a rare and well-rounded view of the real Hawai`i, as it was, as it is today, and where it may be in years to come.
The Lyman Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums, one of only four such museums in the State. It is located on Haili Street in downtown Hilo (see map).
Lyman Museum & Mission House
276 Haili Street
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Phone 808.935.5021
Email: info@lymanmuseum.org
Hours: Monday - Saturday, 9:30am - 4:30pm.
Guided Mission House tours at 11, 1 & 3pm.
Closed Sundays, January 1, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and December 25.
Visit The Lyman Museum Website
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