Advice for Viewing the Big Island Lava Flow
Posted on Sun, Mar 16, 2008 by Sheila
It was humbling and mesmerizing experience to watch lava flowing into the ocean. I struggle to find the adequate words to describe it. If you are able to get out to the Big Island to see if for yourself, then I strongly encourage you to do so.
I wanted to share some tips for viewing the lava so that you can make the most of your experience. Here are my suggestions.
When to Go
Try as best as you can to see the lava around sunset and just afterwards. We were able to see the lava during daylight hours and then at sunset and about an hour afterwards. The sun’s rays wash out the incandescence of the lava, so you can’t really see as much of it in the daytime. We were fortunate enough to see the contrast of daytime viewing and nighttime viewing. There really is a huge difference in what you can see. If you go to see the lava just before sunset, you’ll be able to walk to the lava viewing point more safely in the daylight hours. Note that the current viewing point does not open until 2pm and closes at 10pm. (Note: starting April 2010, the viewing point will open at 2pm.) Cars are not allowed to enter past 8pm.
Where to Find the Lava
At the present time, you’ll find the lava flowing at the end of Highway 130 on the East side, not far from Kalapana. See this collection of useful links to help you find out what’s going on with the active lava flow. May 2010 update: lava has re-started flowing into the ocean at the end of Hwy 130,
What to Wear
- One of the most important things to wear is shoes with a rugged sole and good gripping tread, such as hiking shoes. You’ll be trekking over very uneven surfaces (hardened lava) and a shoe with a firm or semi-firm sole will help you keep your balance. If you’ll be very close to the actual flow, a shoe with a good sole will protect your feet from the heat. I observed a few people wearing flip flops or fancy shoes and they had a very difficult time walking. I wore my hiking shoes and I was so glad I did.
- If you’ll be seeing the lava during day light hours then be sure to wear sunscreen and a hat or visor. Sunglasses are also helpful.
- You should try to wear long trousers to protect your legs if you fall. Hardened lava can be sharp as glass and quite dangerous if you fall. I wore a light weight hiking trousers.
- One reader, Ben, advises to wear gloves to protect your hands should you fall. Pick up a pair of work gloves from the dollar store.
What to Bring
- Water is a must, particularly if you’ll be going to see the lava in the daytime.
- Snacks or energy bars may come in handy. There are no restaurants in the area.
- Flashlight for finding your way in the dark. The county has installed some reflective poles and some yellow tape on the ground to help you navigate to and from the viewing point.
- Binoculars will help you get a closer view. You may be a couple of hundred yards or more from the lava.
- Cameras with well charged batteries and plenty of memory or film. Near the water, it’s quite windy, so if you have a tripod, do bring it
- A hiking stick or pole helps to keep you steady over uneven terrain.
- Sunscreen and lip balm with sun protection.
- Wet wipes. (There are port-a-johns, but no way to clean your hands.)
- If you have long hair, you may want to bring something to tie it back because it can be very windy near the ocean.
- Band-Aids and antibiotic ointment, in case you fall.
- Depending on where you’ll be going, you may want to have some mosquito repellant. After viewing the lava in the daytime, we walked back to our car to escape the sun and sit on cushioned chairs while we waited for sunset. We rolled down the windows and ended up getting some mosquitos in the car. Luckily we had our mosquito repellant with us.
Other Important Considerations
- The earlier you get there the better parking space you’ll get. The current lava viewing point opens at 2pm. We got there just shortly after it opened and had a prime parking space. As we left the parking area later in the evening. We noticed several people having to walk for at least a mile on a dusty, gravel road.
- Be aware of the many dangers of being around active lava. (Mahalo to Angie for the link.)
- Obey all signs and instructions provided by the county employees. (Hey, how about thanking them for establishing this viewing point for visitors to see.)
- Lock your car doors and put valuables out of sight.
- If you are thinking of going to see the lava from the West side of Hawaii, then plan on about a 2.5 hour one way drive.
- Finally, enjoy this rare and awesome display!
ENJOYED THIS POST? SUBSCRIBE BY RSS OR EMAIL AND GET FREE DAILY UPDATES!
| 
Email This
| 
Print This
Stay on the trail! – We have lost several people who tried to take a “Short Cut” back to the car. This poor guy He got lost out in the lava fields for five days and was featured on a TV show called something like “I should not be alive”. After about three days, he walked about 10 miles across the lava trying to get to where the helicopters were flying. He found small amounts of water here & there but, he had to stop because his brand new running shoes were shredded and the lava was cutting into his feet with almost every step. http://outside.away.com/outside/news/20070725_1.html
[Reply]
Be careful near the waters edge. The lava looks solid but it frequently breaks off in large pieces or collapse into the ocean. Move inland quickly if you hear cracking, booming sounds or other unusual noises.
[Reply]
Hey Dave – thanks for your comments. Whoa…that dude really got himself lost. Eek! With the set up at the current flow, it would be sort of hard to get yourself lost, but I guess it could happen.
Last year a 16 acre lava delta fell into the ocean on the Big Island. That must have made a slight splash.
You can watch some pretty cool time lapse video showing a 2005 lava delta colapse on this site: http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/gallery/kilauea/volcanomovies/#oceanentry
[Reply]
Great article! See, I told you it’s mesmerizing! Nothing like it. I saw the show Dave referred to which is one of the reasons we ALWAYS carry a small mirror with us and we even have white reflective tape for the black lava but the most important thing we carry with us on any hike is our GPS. We’re geocachers so we have it with us for that but we always mark where we parked on the GPS so we can always find our car. (And of course tons of batteries for it) Mahalo for a great article!
[Reply]
Thank you Angie for your comment and kind words!
We’re kind of lucky right now in that the path to the official viewing is very well defined on each side, so it would be really, really hard to get lost. As you walk towards the ocean, there’s thick shrubs on the right and left. County employees are stationed along the way to keep you pointed in the right direction with flashlights at night.
We’re lucky that it’s also a very short hike now. I believe it’s only about 3/4 of a mile.
Are you going to be able to get out to this flow? We overheard a gentleman say that that he has been coming to the Big Island for over 10 years in a row and this particular lava viewing was the most spectacular he’d seen yet. We were really glad to hear that since we’d been unlucky in the past for lava viewing.
[Reply]
I would give anything to get out there right now to see this flow, it looks amazing but hubby’s work schedule doesn’t let up until Sept.
But the times we saw lava were flows that had lasted months so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the volcano keeps doing its thing for that long though be both agreed if fountaining ever became involved as it was in the 80′s then we’re on the first plane there! LOL
[Reply]
Haha! I hear ya about the fountaining! I do hope you’ll get to see the flow later this year when your schedule permits.
[Reply]
[...] presents Advice for Viewing the Big Island Lava Flow posted at Hawaii Vacation Blog – GoVisitHawaii.com, saying, “Getting to see the active lava [...]
I just had to cancel a trip to the Big Island at the last minute, but the airline will let me use my tickets some other time. I’m really hoping to make the trip while Pele is putting on such a spectacular show!
Mahalo for participating in the Carnival of Aloha!
[Reply]
Hi Skeet – I hope you get out to the Big Island to see it. It really is amazing!
[Reply]
Nice picture.
Not sure “One reader, Ben, advises to wear gloves to protect your hands should you fall. Pick up a pair of work gloves from the dollar store.” will help much
[Reply]
Amazing
[Reply]
We went on 10/4/2009 it was awesome.We were 3/4 of a mile from the flow and it was spectacular. Easy 20 min hike to the viewing area,it is well marked but a flashlight is mandatory for the trip back.try not to get distracted when walking as the terrian is very uneven and you will fall if not 100% focused.My ankle still hurts from twisting it when aperson talked to me and I answered her not paying attention to where I was going..But well worth it.A must see
[Reply]
sheila Reply:
October 6th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Ken – great to hear you got to see such an amazing sight, despite the injury. Hope you heal soon!
[Reply]
We went to the Big Island in February 2009 and we only were able to see a large cloud of steam from a distance and we wanted to hike to the surface flows but the people at the viewing area said that we couldn’t get any closer. Now I know that they knew best but Ive seen hundreds of pictures of up-close surface flows.
We’re going back this October and I wanted to know if we would get to see the lava flow this time around, if they actually stopped letting people hike to it or if that was just a temporary precaution. Can someone please help me out?
[Reply]
sheila Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Daniel – it all depends on if and where the lava is flowing. The Kilauea lava flow has moved dozens of times.
Did you see my post last week? Lava is once again on the move.
As your trip gets nearer, check out this post on how to find out what’s going on with the lava: http://www.govisithawaii.com/2009/10/07/how-to-find-out-whats-going-on-with-the-lava-on-hawaiis-big-island/
[Reply]
Daniel Reply:
February 13th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Lava was flowing when I visited but I was only able to see it up on the pali way off in the distance from a viewing area and I was extremely disappointed with that after seeing pictures and videos of people just a few feet from the lava. I was also disappointed because I read that you could hike right to the surface flows from multiple guide books. I would love to go back and see it, but only if theres more to see than just a tiny orange spot miles away.
[Reply]
sheila Reply:
February 13th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
That’s misleading for guidebooks to say you can just hike up to the lava flow. While that may be true at times, it is NOT always the case.
See the lava flow depends one where and how it’s flowing and that is very, very unpredictable.It’s impossible to say where and how the lava might be flowing next week,next month, etc.
Daniel Reply:
February 13th, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Well thank you Sheila, hopefully my next visit will be more exciting than the last but I really do appreciate your words and time. Mahalo!
[Reply]
sheila Reply:
February 14th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Daniel – I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.
Your comment triggered my memory of our first visit to try to see the lava in 2004. Like you we had read that you could hike to see the lava and we saw these amazingly close photos of oozing lava. Well, our experience that time was much worse than yours. While technically we could have hiked to get a closer view of the lava….get this… it was an 18-mile round-trip hike across rugged terrain. While we love hiking, that was way more than we cared to do. We ended up having to take a helicopter tour that hovered briefly over Pu’u O’o just for a glimpse of a small sliver of red lava. So, I understand what it’s like to be disappointed that the lava doesn’t look like the things the glossy brochures and guide books tell you.
sheila Reply:
February 18th, 2010 at 10:28 am
Daniel – not to pour salt on our wounds, but check out the recent lava video that I posted today http://www.govisithawaii.com/2010/02/18/another-great-volcanochaser-lava-video/ If I had a crystal ball, I’d bet it would say this flow has a good chance of continuing to the ocean and hopefully be flowing while you are there.
One thing to bear in mind with these surface flows is that once they get a flow to the ocean established, the lava starts to form tubes, so the surface flow ceases, but there should be a spectacular ocean entry.
Sheila,
How do I get to the area where photos like these were taken? http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/images.html
I’ve also seen photos where lava is on a black sand beach taken very recently. How do I get to those areas for photos?
Coming to the Big Island on Tuesday with first-timers and heard the ocean entry wasn’t quite active, but want to get them to some lava nonetheless. Please help.
[Reply]
sheila Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 10:20 pm
Jay –
Based on the recent HVO reports, you can see lava flowing down the pali (hill) at the lava viewing point that’s located at the end of Highway 130 in Kalapana.
The photos in the link are in Royal Gardens. I doubt there is a specific trail there and don’t really advise going there without knowing the terrain very, very well. It’s easy to get lost, dehydrated, and disoriented.
The lava at a black sand beach — are you talking about moving lava or hardened old lava flows?
Keep an eye on the resources referenced in this post: http://www.govisithawaii.com/2009/10/07/how-to-find-out-whats-going-on-with-the-lava-on-hawaiis-big-island/ Also, make sure you visit the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park for their up to date advice.
Try also to see if Halemaumau crater is glowing at night from the embedded lava lake.
[Reply]
Just curious if anyone knows how far/long the hike is to/from the lava? We are trying to decide if we will have time to do it before returning to our cruise ship to depart at 6:00 pm.
[Reply]
sheila Reply:
June 4th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Anne – I hope this reply gets to you in time for your cruise. (I’ve been out of town for the last 3 weeks and I’m just now catching up.)
The Kilauea Eruption Update page that Hawaii county operates used to provide a map indicating the trails, but they don’t have it anymore. My advice would be to call their hotline (808) 961-8093 and ask close to the time you’ll be there. Since the flows can and sometimes do move, it can be a little bit of a moving target.
[Reply]
Can anyone advise on the best place to view the lava flow with young children? I don’t think the hiking sounds very suitable for kids but I would really like them to experience it. I have a 2yr old and 5yr old and I’m guessing the terrain is not suitable for a stroller!
Any help would be much appreciated. We will arrive on Big Island on 21st August.
Thank you!
[Reply]
sheila Reply:
August 11th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Fizza – at the moment, there’s really no other alternative other than the county viewing area.
You might want to consider that volcanic fumes can be hazardous for young children. This sign is posted at the lava viewing area. http://www.flickr.com/photos/govisithawaii/2335958900/
There is a boat tour offered by the folks at Lava Ocean Adventures http://www.lavaocean.com/ It can be a bit of a rocky ride. You might call to see if you think it might match your needs. 808.966.4200
[Reply]
Thanks Sheila
I called Lava Ocean Adventures and they won’t even consider taking anyone under 6yrs – which is completely understandable since they don’t have seatbelts on the boat. Can you tell me is there some way to stop the fumes being inhaled? Some mask of some sort? I’d really like to go to the volcanoes and that means taking the kids but I don’t want to put them at risk.
[Reply]
sheila Reply:
August 12th, 2010 at 9:44 pm
Frizza – there probably are masks, but unfortunately I don’t have any information on them.
It might be worth your while to speak to someone at the visitors center of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Maybe they have some ideas.
Another alternative might be to go on a helicopter tour, but I’m not sure if they would have a minimum age restriction. Safari Helicopters is offering a good deal that I blogged about in today’s post. They have a great safety record.
[Reply]