iahphx

Thanks for the update, Richym99. I sure wish that boat trip wasn't $200 -- but I'm not surprised it is. Hawaii activity costs are always high. I assume there's not a materially cheaper boat option?

toadman

Ditto. Thanks for the report. Headed to BI end of April. Lots can happen between now and then. Thinking of doing a heli trip, or maybe the boat trip. Boat trips sounds really cool though. I suspect either option books up quick though.

Lavarock7

Old news but I thought I posted this already.

In November I took a trip around the top of the island for en eventual nightime view of the lava flow.

After this video was shot, the place where I was standing was soon in the ocean when 45 acres of lava broke off.

http://itskona.com/fire-2/

beckoa

Thanks for the link.

I've done some serious driving on that island in a single day- craziest was probably with jackal where we had a late arrival, drove across the saddle at night- ate at some plate lunch place for breakfast in Hilo, saw sunrise at HVNP before the park opened, and ventured back to Kona via Punalu'u and a few other beaches. Flew out that afternoon.

Richym99

A recent update coming from a couple of sources.

The vast amount of lava coming from the firehose is now starting to form a delta below the flow according to the usgs updates.

Presumably as a result of this, the Department of Land and Natural Resources in conjunction with Hawaii Volcanoes National Park are putting in place a 300m exclusion zone around the outflow of 61g for all boats. Apparently, the coast guard commenced enforcing the restriction earlier this week.

Obviously, the tour boat companies are not happy about this and are emailing former customers to get them to petition the state governor on their behalf to remove the restriction.

Richym99

As a further update, Hawaiian, Kalapana and Moku_Nui lava boat tours have been granted permission to enter the exclusion zone, subject to carrying out certain safety procedures prior to doing so. Copies of the letters granting permission were posted on their individual Instagram accounts.

I have not seen anything posted by Ocean Lava Tours to date.

iahphx

Does anyone have an update on land-based lava viewing? I'm always kind of surprised how difficult it is to get updated information on this. It always seems like the authorities don't really want to tell you want you can do (which I assume is safety and crowd control-motivated).

_kurt

No change to land-based viewing since Richym99's update in mid-march. You can see the flow into the ocean by hiking in from either side. If you respect the NPS boundaries (and I'd encourage you do to so), you'll see more steam than lava but you can definitely see flowing lava.

Viewing from the Jaggar Museum varies day-by-day depending on the height of the lava lake.

I don't think anyone is intentionally hiding this info. All the Park Service employees I met were really enthusiastic about getting folks to where they could *safely* see the active flows. Yes, the cordons have been pushed back based on the volume of tourism. But even following the rules you can see flowing lava on this island. Nowhere else in the U.S. can you do that...

747FC

Here is the latest:

https://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/maps/

Some additional, very good information:

https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2000/fs152-00/

iahphx

Thanks. It seems like this thread on tripadvisor is a good source of recent traveller information:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopi...ii_Hawaii.html

It doesn't seem particularly easy to see the lava right now if your "commitment level" is, say, a one-hour walk in from a parking lot. The bicycle option looks better, but I'm a little concerned about it. We're not really mountain bikers, and I know lava is sharp, so I'm afraid one of us could get hurt.

747FC

The bike option is quite easy. One is not using the bike over lava, but on an unimproved, but even, road. However, at some point, one must leave the bike and walk over the lava to a viewing site. This over-the-lava trek was not a long walk when I did it, but it does take some balance. Due to fall risk, t is advised that people wear hiking boots that cover the ankles, ong pants and protective gloves. The lava can be quite sharp. My new hiking boots were very cut up by the time I returned, however I was also hiking for hours into an interior viewing spot.

Dehydration can be your worst enemy, so take 2-3 times more water than you think you need.

Lavarock7

Make sure you get a very comfortable seat on the bike. I ended up not paying extra for one and had lots of problems with the 10 or 20 gears on my bike. I also huffed and puffed. Note that I had quadruple bypass surgery a few years ago, so that explains some of my discomfort. :-)

A Yelp listing said at least one place had electric bikes.

Arthurrs

My wife and I paid for a tour that included the mountain bikes as part of the package. There were just three of us tourists for our sunset tour group. I'm glad we chose that option, because it saved us at least a hour or two of walking each way which gives us more time in the fields. I hadn't ridden a bike in years, but you don't lose that sense of balance and reflex to ride one, within a few minutes I was perfectly fine, though I gotta admit I was out of shape and it was a bit tiring riding up the hills. When you get past the final roadblock, the gravel is very loose on the road, so it is advisable to use the rear brake instead of the front one, unless you want to do a somersault over the front of the bike when you stop abruptly.

The actual hike part of the tour is a bit tiring, because you're constantly going up and down several feet in elevation, climbing over the hardened lava. 1 mile of hiking feels like 2! Definitely bring some very sturdy shoes/hiking boots that you don't mind getting a bit scuffed up. Some of the lava you will be climbing on will be very hot, our guide measured 180 degrees F on some parts, with the temperature in the cracks as much as 300-400 degrees F! We saw some stupid ladies trying to hike it on their own with croc shoes, betcha their shoes were melted after an hour of slogging, not a fun hike back in bare feet!! Really the best time to be in the lava fields is either at sunrise or sunset, because the heat of the sun is not bearing down on you, and hopefully the winds are in your favour, and it's simply amazing to see the lava glow in the dark. Bring your flashlight, and even a headlight. Our tour guide provided the headlights for us.

We also saw the lava firehose entry into the ocean, obviously behind the safety line. That was an incredible sight, even from as far back as we were.

Oh and bring lots of water. I carried three liters worth myself, was just enough for our adventure. We went to Walmart in Hilo beforehand and got a nifty dual bottle fanny belt pack in the bike accessories section for around $10 each. We filled each bottle with ice and water at a fast food restaurant in Pahoa on our way in.

Overall it was an awesome 5 hours of exhilaration and exhaustion, but so well worth it!! I'd say it was the highlight of our week in Hawaii.

Link to the tour we booked:
https://www.activelavahawaiiantours.com/

Fire Hose Ocean Entry:


Slow moving lava:


Lava skylight peeking into a lava tube!

FlyinHawaiian

Spectacular photos; thanks for posting them along with your detailed comments! ^

p.s. The middle photo is a great example of pāhoehoe lava.

toadman

Just back from the Big Island. The lava was not flowing like it had been in prior months. But we still enjoyed our time in VNP and environs. I highly recommend the bike rental, and bringing lots of water to drink.

I'm an avid cyclist mostly road but do occasionally dust off my mtn bike. It's an easy 4 miles out with tail wind, and more down than up. Takes about 20 minutes at an easy pace on the outbound journey. Or 30 minutes if you want to go really easy and enjoy the views. Coming back with the head wind and a bit more uphill will take a few more minutes. We passed lots of hikers, sweating and looking pretty ragged. I'm sure they wished they had our bikes!

We decided to do a Blue Hawaiian Heli tour so we could get a better view of the Lava from the Pu'u O'o vent. We got some great pics of the lava flowing into the ocean that was not readily visible.