bocastephen

In the lava viewing thread, I alluded to a private tour I had booked to view the flowing lava based on the recommendation of another person from Konaweb.

Last week we took the tour, and the experience was so incredible, I felt it deserved its own thread. As many of you know, no flowing lava is visible inside Volcano National Park, nor is access allowed to the Kalapana flows during viewing hours (and you'll never find the flowing lava on these flows during the day if you sneak in when Kalapana is unguarded).

The tour starts early - and by early, I mean really, really early. We met our guide, Chris, at 4am a couple miles from the Kalapana gate. Since we were staying at Keauhou, that necessitated waking up at 1am, departing the hotel at 120am and driving the Mamalahoa Hwy to Saddle Rd to Hilo, then down to Hwy 130. Much of Saddle Rd is redone and easy to drive, but the total trip was still just a little over 2 hours.

After meeting, signing the waivers, and getting the gear together, we drove out in Chris' truck to the road inside the Kalapana gate, parked and began our hike out to the lava. Since we're hiking at night, we wore headband flashlights which were very good at illuminating the lava as we walked, but you still needed to be extra careful. If you have trouble walking, keeping your balance, pregnant, elderly or have children under 14/15, this tour is not for you.

The hike took about an hour, although with the darkness and excitement, it was hard to tell. However, the red glow of flowing lava was soon visible, and shortly thereafter, we were in the middle of four different slow moving flows.

The heat was incredible, but a stiff breeze carried much of it away unless we got very close. We spent a good 2 hours at the flows, taking photos, videos and even walking over recently crusted over lava - you can really feel the incredible heat through your shoes (if you take the tour, wear sturdy thick-soled hiking shoes, not sneakers).

We were literally within toe-dipping distance of the lava (although toe dipping is not recommended ).

Soon the sunrise was visible and after it became brighter, the red glow disappeared and it was time to head back. I'm not a morning person, but I was so energized and excited by this experience, I didn't need to rest or sleep until later that night.

Chris also does private tours to the summit of Mauna Kea for sunset and stargazing, and gives an insider view of the summit, away from the various (and more expensive) tour companies and their vanloads of tourists.

The cost of the lava tour is $150 per person plus tip, and probably worth double that.

Once I have the photos done and uploaded, I'll post a link in this thread so you can see what we experienced. Chris prefers to stay low key and take out small groups of guests individually. He has family in the Kalapana area who own land there and has the right to enter the area at any time - although we saw a few tourists sneaking in past the unguarded gatehouse on our way back, but they would never find the flows we did in the daylight.

Here is Chris' contact information for anyone visiting the Big Island who would like the lava or Mauna Kea tour:
http://www.bigislandoutfitters.com/_...utfitters.html

We're probably returning in February and will go to Mauna Kea with him at that time.

Also, for those of you interested in wild dolphin swims, I spent about 90 minutes swimming with a large pod of Spinner dolphins in Kealakekua Bay last week with my dolphin guide and friend Sheoli - if anyone is interested in this experience, PM me and I'll provide her contact information. She also takes people out on boat tours to see the humpback whales during season and swim with dolphins offshore.

Experiencing the best of Hawai'i involves finding creative tours and staying off the beaten path.

jcanary

really anxious to see your pictures. I hope that when we go in May there will be a lava flow and we can go on this tour. HOw many people does Chris take in each group?

bocastephen

We were a group of 2 - I think he wants to keep the group size manageable so everyone keeps up and he can keep an eye on people so they don't wander off and do something stupid.

I don't think he would take an overly large group - but the best thing to do is contact him directly with your plan and see what can be arranged.

The pics are almost ready and will be uploaded tonight, then I can do <img> links to them back here.

Once you book the trip, he will ask you to check with him a couple days in advance so he will know where the lava should be based on his last trip - however, since these flows change by the minute, it's no guarantee you will hike out and see lava. The flows we found were moving pretty briskly when we got to them, but had slowed considerably by sunrise and pretty much stopped by the time we left - there was surface glow visible, but it really wasn't moving much.

There is a trick to tell how the surface flows will be acting. If the ocean entry is robust and plenty of lava is flowing at the entry point, surface flows are unlikely. If the tube gets backed up because the ocean entry has begun gumming up for some reason, the surface breakouts will be more prevalent.

I will add one related data point - for those of you considering the lava boat tours, bear in mind that the larger boat operator is very reckless. He takes visitors back and forth through the 'steam plume' - this is actually not steam - it's steam vapor mixed with high doses of hydrochloric acid and tiny suspended glass particles which can become embedded in your throat, lungs and nasal passages. The small boat operator hasn't been doing this, but neither option is good. There was a recent incident where the larger boat moved along literally moments before part of the lava bench collapsed, causing chunks of lava and rock to rain down on the very spot the boat was sitting moments earlier. Not a good way to end a tour.

bocastephen

Here are some of the photos from my lava tour....there is a small amount of zooming involved, but we were as close as these photos indicate - literally close enough that the only impediment to getting closer was the heat.

I shot a couple videos with my iPhone, and the heat was so intense I could feel the case softening in my hand and the back of my hand began to scorch (same feeling you might get if you reached across a BBQ to grab something at the back of the grill).

Inline imaging is not working here, so I'll post the links - if someone can fix it so the images appear in the thread, please feel free...

Enjoralas

Nice shots. I'll share some of mine next April.

jcanary

MAGNIFICIENT!!! Those pictures are out of this world. Thank you for posting. It is definitely well worth getting up at 1am to see this. Keeping my fingers crossed that there will be something come May.

bocastephen

Thank you for getting the inline to work for me!

Ski Ag-'82

Wow---and again--WOW!!

I have been waiting for your trip report since you posted you were going to do this a couple of weeks ago and as my wife and I are going there next summer. We have the flights booked, but I have been trying to decide on activities to know number of days on each island (Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu), and then make the appropriate hotel/B&B arrangements.

This is definitely going to be in the plans now--will have to keep Chris' info to arrange it with him.

Oh, and thanks for the update on the boat tours as well.

beckoa

Thanks for the pics ^

Reminds me of the time in 2001 when my family hiked out to the flow from HVNP... an awesome experience even though it was daylight. Ever since I've started going back, having the Hawaii Civil Defense take it over has been a drag. You mentioned 'tourists' snuck in past the guardshack- was there someone manning it or what... would be interesting to take a peek next month w/o all the folks restricting your movement... even if its wayy late.

Good to know the saddle road is passable at night too... I know its been improved a ton in the past coupe of years ^

Bishope2

What form of payment does this operator except? I went to his website and it is very basic. It sounds like a great tour for a great price.

Ancien Maestro

Wow.. excellent score of a tour to see all that. The closest we got was a mere distance away looking a the flows in the evening.. and I thought that was cool.. But this takes the cake!^

bocastephen

CD is not manning the guardhouse in the early morning (we passed it at 4am, and again at 7am and no one was there). I think they show up around noon or early afternoon.


We just paid cash - I'm not sure if Chris takes credit cards, but we figured cash was preferred.

beckoa

Good to know... ^

I think the answer is dollar coins @:-)

Ancien Maestro

Use of cc is key to collection of miles.. Hopefully the operator understands that this could mean more coin in the coffers. But, awesome show stopper. I guess the dolphin pics went to another thread?

bocastephen

Yes, they were moved to the Consolidated Dolphin Swim thread - but at least I got the links to show full size