Hawaii 50 - Big Island Part 2 (Volcanos)

Our second day on Big Island was Volcano Day! 

We left the B&B after a lovely breakfast and headed just 5 minutes down the road to Kaumana Caves County Park. We pulled up in the car park, crossed the road and saw a little picnic area with a metal ladder heading down into what looked like a rock slide. We did wonder once or twice whether we were in the right place and also whether this was really safe (and covered by our travel insurance!). 

The ladder took us down to a collapsed portion of a lava tube what was created by an 1881 flow from Mauna Loa. You could walk into the left and the right portions of the tube and apparently walk up to 25 miles, not that anyone would want to do this. There were no lights in the tube, we had meant to bring a flash light but forgot and realised that the lights on our mobiles were pretty useless in complete blackness. 

There is no path in this tube, it was a case of scrambling over rocks and lava in the dark. It was a lot of fun but with difficult conditions, and I had this fear that the tube was going to be flooding with lava from the recent eruption (images of the subway scene in the film Volcano kept coming to mind!). We only walked for about 0.25 miles before chickening out and returning back to the entrance. The other side of the tube was even harder going so we went in a couple of meters, took in the eeriness, and then headed back to the car.  

We then hit the road and headed towards Volcano National Park. A couple of weeks before our holiday, Mauna Loa erupted. This was the first time it has done so since March 1984 and we were excited to head to the park as we assumed volcanic activity would be high! We were sadly wrong. Mauna Loa had blown out itself and the other volcanoes on Big Island was seeing the lowest activity for years.

Once in the park, our first stop was the Kīlauea Visitor Center where we picked up a map and asked a ranger for some tips on what to do and where to start. 

There are two main roads in the park and we started off with Crater Rim Drive. This took us to the Kilauea Overlook where we had a fantastic view of the Kīlauea caldera and Halemaʻumaʻu crater. Normally you would see lava bubbling out of the crater but due to the lack of activity, all we saw was smoke. The road used to run around the entire crater rim but is now a dead end after a lava flow destroyed it. At the end, we turned around and on the way back to the visitors center, stopped off for the short and easy trails around the stream vents and sulphur banks. 

We then headed down the Chain of Craters Road. This road is nearly 19 miles long and takes you through the lava fields, past lots of different craters, and all the way down to the sea. It used to run along the sea front and back to Hilo but a lava flows over the years have buried the road so now it is just another dead end. 

There were lots of stops along the road with information on the various craters, lava flows (and the year they were formed) and look outs. At the end of the road is the Holei Sea Arch, which was created within the last 100 years by lava and water. On the way back, we stopped off at the Thurston Lava Tube. It was an easy walk to the tube and really quick journey on a easy path to get through. Had we not done the untouched lava tube in the morning, we might have been more impressed with this one. 

We stayed in the park, at the Volcano House Hotel. It was a traditional National Parks hotel, with a lot of history. Our room looked out onto the active Kīlauea volcano but due to the low activity, we didn't manage to see the red glow at night or any lava spewing up. During the evening, we had a lot of fun in the bar talking to the locals, who were a little bored given how quiet the Park was due to the lack of activity. We then had an amazing meal in the hotel restaurant before crashing in bed after a long and very busy day.