Epic Travel → North America → Hawaii → The Big Island → Flowing Lava!

♦ Intrepid Top Pick!

Location: Volcanoes National Park Area, Hawaii

Time Required: Varies substantially depending on the activity and the location of the lava break-outs, but likely anywhere from 2-6 hours

Red Tape/Notes: Volcanoes National Park is open 24 hours a day, and therefore lava viewing is typically available 24 hours a day, if the lava is on park lands. If you’re doing a boat trip, you may want to take motion sickness precautions if you’re at all prone to it. It’s best to wear close-toed shoes because the cooled lava is very sharp. Read up on the dangers and listen to the park ranger warnings – they’re very reasonable here and trust you not to do incredibly stupid things. Please don’t make that trust misplaced.

What’s Nearby?: Lava Trees State Monument, Volcanoes National Park

Kilauea has been steadily oozing (and occasionally spewing) lava since 1983. Sometimes the lava dives a bit deeper underground, and runs into the ocean where we can’t see it, or the breakout flow is in an inaccessible location. So despite the fact that the volcano is continuously erupting, the lava may not always be visible or accessible. Current information on the eruption is available on the Volcanoes National Park website. The Love Big Island website also has a lot of helpful information on various ways to see the lava.  Typically it will involve some type of hike to reach the surface flows or the ocean entry – the length and difficulty of that hike, however, varies.

In 2013, the ocean entry was only about 2 miles from the end of the road, although you did have to hike over the jagged, uneven fields of cooled lava. On our 2017 trip, you could reach the ocean entry viewpoint by hiking 4 miles along a very easy dirt road – bikes were even available to rent from the Kalapena side, making the commute to the viewpoint much quicker. It was an additional three miles (one way) to reach the surface breakout, which required hiking across the lava field and then scrambling your way up a shrapnel-sharp steep hillside covered in flaking, unstable, occasionally still warm lava flow (on thus plus side, this kept everyone but us away).

You can also opt for a boat trip to see the lava, if there’s an accessible ocean entry. A number of operators are available. We did a sunrise boat trip in 2013 and got some wonderful views of the lava. I highly recommend scheduling a boat trip if it’s an option, but I would also recommend visiting the lava by land. They’re two very different experiences, and each has its merits. Also, the boat trips aren’t sure things – the water on this side of the island is occasionally rough, and it would be really sad if your boat trip cancelled and you didn’t get to see the lava at all. Side note on the boat trips, even when they run, the seas are generally rough. I was three dramamine deep (one the night before, one the morning of, and one during the ride) and I was still somewhat sick.

Epic Travel → North America → Hawaii → The Big Island → Flowing Lava!