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Volcano NP
Big Island Hawaii
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Volcano National Park on the south east coast of the Big Island is Hawaii's most unique attraction. Here you'll find the stark black volcanic landscape, lava tubes and the Kilauea Caldera which has been oozing hot lava continually since 1983 making it the most active volcano on earth. Very rarely does the kilauea volcano erupt in spectacular fashion. Instead, Kilauea volcano oozes very slowly from the caldera towards the sea. Predicting its path is impossible - sometimes the lava flow will be very close to the accessible Chain of Craters Road - in parts this road has been eaten up by a lava flow - sometimes the flow will be nearing or even spilling into the sea with impressive after effects - at other times you may have to walk for two hours across the bleak and glass like lava rock and then hike 700 metres into the hills to see the edge of the flow - this is the way of nature. When you do reach the edge of the lava flow, what you will see is a slow trickle and perhaps a small bubble of red hot lava forming bizarre patterns as it cools. If you can bear the unbelievable heat, you can walk right up to the flow, and in parts where it has cooled, you can walk over it knowing that just inches below is the essence of all things created. This is the power of Kilauea - not in any spectacular form but in a deeper appreciation of beauty. If you are to explore the lava flows, it is highly recommended to take a walking tour with Arnott's Hiking - they offer the only supervised hike to the edge of the lava flow and have been doing so for over four years - however placid the lava might appear, this is a dangerous region.
Apart from exploring the lava flow itself, Hawaii Volcano National Park maintains more than 150 miles of trail exploring the legacy of past lava flows including craters, first generation vegetation, sea-arches, lava tubes and black beaches. Outside the Park entrance at an elevation of 4,000 feet is Hawaii Volcano Village wrapped in tropical rainforest and mists. This quaint mountain settlement has more than a dozen lovely country inns and guesthouses and some fine restaurants. If you plan to spend the night in Volcano, make sure you bring some warm clothes, especially in winter.
Inland from Volcano is the towering summit of Mauna Kea, standing at 13,796 feet, making it the tallest mountain in Hawaii. Snow capped in the winter months from November to April, the summit dominates both the views and climate around the Big Island - there are even ski lifts here for snow boarding and downhill skiing. However, the summit is more renowned for its exceptional star gazing with NASA telescopes keeping an eye over the northern hemisphere. Public assess to telescopes is available and tours to Mauna Kea summit can be arranged to arrive for the sunset and then enjoy several hours of night time star gazing - these generally depart from Hilo on the east coast of the big Island although access can be via the remote Saddle Road from the west coast.
Several fine black sand beach locations can be found along the south coast of the Big Island. These are created when volcanic lava spills into the sea causing instant cooling and shattering of the black lava to create a black sand beach. These are often washed away in just a few months but when one is created in a natural bay with the right currents, the beach can last for hundreds of years. Two such beach spots can be found at Punalu'u on the south coast and Kehena east of Volcano National Park.
At the very southern tip is another unusual beach which is khaki green in colour. Green Sand Beach is carved into an extinct cinder cone and requires either 4WD access to within a mile of the beach or a 3 mile trek along the dirt road before descending a steep trail to the beach.
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continue to ... Kona Coast, West Big Island
Readers may also be interested in the following destinations:
Cook Islands Travel Guide
Fiji Travel Guide
Samoa Travel Guide
Tonga Travel Guide
Tahiti Travel Guide
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