They got to 3.5 feet max AFAIK. The locals were saying that before the waves came the water receded to a point where never-before seen coral and what not was visible. Then minutes later the water would rise, but the max recorded was only about 3.5 feet above normal.
However, it happened fairly early. I didn't seen any of it. We went to the top of the cliff overlooking
Polulu Valley to watch, but saw nothing. However, that area was well away from Hilo, which is where the biggest waves were to hit first (and close to where we had an oceanfront rental that day). Interestingly, police were blocking off access to the Valley/beach as expected, but didn't seem to notice the locals at the top of the cliff drinking beer. Which reminds me... Lots of drinking and reckless driving there I've noticed. Lots of recent makeshift monuments along the side of the highways for car accident deaths too.
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