Hilo, Big Island

Hilo and Volcano National Park


Big Island of Hawaii



The captain did a sail-by of Kiluea at night and we saw faint lava flows sliding down the mountain. We docked early in Hilo, on the opposite side of the island from Kona. Kona is the dry side of the Big Island and Hilo is the wet side and it is lush, green and lovely. It is the location of the active volcanoes as well.



We met our private tour guide who we were with for the entire day. It rained all day but that did not stop us. We went up into the clouds to see Kiluea, a volcano which is extremely active these days. The central crater spews smoke and ash. All over the mountain side vents spew smoke and gasses. You can walk on cooled lava. We went througha cooled lava tube. Fascinating. We also went through a rain forest We saw Rainbow Falls, A beautiful waterfall. We watch five seismographs showing all activity on the volcano in real time. The needles moved constantly, showing constant volcanic activit righ beneath us. The guide told us that ifwe hear rumbling we should follow him and run like hell!