alldaytravel

Hi All - we have 1 day to see the volcano on the Big Island and would love to see some lava! We are considering a helicopter tour from either Sunshine or Blue Hawaii. We are also considering a Volcano Explorer tour which will give a little more of a scenic drive to the volcano, tour of Kona coffee farm, Volcano Winery and also Jaggar a museum at night to see the lava lake glow. Ideally, I would love to do both, but we don't have enough time.

Helicopter tour will enable us to see more of the island, including some waterfalls, but not up close/on the ground.

The Volcano Explorer tour doesn't stop at any waterfalls and not sure how much lava we will see from the Jaggar Museum at night.

I welcome your ideas! I am literally on the plane Hawaii bound now so need to decide. Thanks!!

DebitNM

We had more time on the BI but we did do Blue Hawaiian helicopter tour and it was excellent; so close to falls, you could almost touch them!

IF you are able to see the volcano/lave at night that's good too, but we did that once and it wasn't visible; we had to go back a 2nd night. No guarantees as it can be foggy, so I'd opt for daytime flight. There's a cost difference as well, I'd guess. To me, coffee farm and winery are meh. The flight was amazing.

emalloy

Just a short drive north of Hilo is Akaka Falls State park. There is a short walk to view the falls - less than half a mile.

FaceInTheCrowd

It's my understanding that there are no surface flows currently viewable, so your best or only option might be the glow you can see from Jagger Museum. We were there last May and saw the glow; very cool to watch and contemplate what's actually happening there. I will say, though, that next time I see flowing lava, I hope it's from a helicopter.

alldaytravel

Thanks! We have 5 days on the Big Island - staying on Kona side at Fairmont. But, we have some other activities and relaxation planned so that will only leave us 1 day for the volcano. Leaning toward helicopter - wish I could do it all. Would really love to see volcano at night but they don't offer night helicopter tours. Thanks for your advice!

sylvia3

Check the VNP website: there might be spatter visible at night in the lava lake (depends on lake level). You can drive to waterfalls in Hilo. Best site Imo is the usgs hvo Kilauea status one.