Has anyone tried the Lava Roy sunset trip? How does the view of the flow after dark compare with walking to the flow to see it after dark?

topping for the resident B.I. expert matnikstym..
he's done so many lava hikes that you can see his size 12 thong rubber that disintegrated over the years

it's really an incredible experience and you do get to see more of the lava as opposed to walking to it. you'll see the lava going into the ocean like a waterfall and at a closer distance. due to the instability of the land now, the park rangers are not letting people close to the sea cliffs. i haven't used Lava Roy as I have a friend with a fishing boat. How much does Lava Roy charge and where does he set sail from? Hilo or Pohoiki?

He sails from Poihoiki. Pricing ranges from $75 to $125 per person. He has a sunrise trip as well as one at sunset.

i'd go for the sunset cruise...the lava is more dramatic at night. price isn't bad.

Mat, so this is a good size boat that is not dangerous? Not like the guy who lurks around Hilo Hattie.

I'm not sure about Lava Roy's boat. my friends fishing boat is just that, a fishing boat...nothing fancy and probably not legal to take passengers but he only takes his friends. if Lava Roy is licensed then it should be safe but haven't heard of any licensed tour boats going out from Pohoiki.

just checked out lava roy's webpage and he is licensed and sounds like a good trip.

Thanks, everyone. Yes, at least by his website, he sounds on the up and up. I first heard about him from a report on tripadvisor.

laphroaig: Please let us know your experience if you go on that trip.

I'd love to hear more information from someone who's been on the Sunset cruise as well.

I was ready to book with Lava Roy for our family of 6 and my mom said that the surf whips up later in the day and she thought the boat ride might not be so much fun with my 2 and 5 year old girls. She figures it might scare them more than be fun.

So I'd love to hear if my mother's concerns are unfounded or not.

The ocean in that area also depends upon weather patterns. Currently we have weather coming up from the SW which is not the normal Easterly tradewind flow. With the rains, the water ranges from choppy to very strong waves and current. I'm sure Lava Roy will take this into consideration but it's worth asking when you book.

I definitely recommend Roy's sunset lava trip. My husband and I went a month ago and it was awesome! The lava was falling into the ocean like waterfalls only a few hundred feet from us.

He hung around the area for about an hour. The whole trip took about 3 hours. This is much better, easier (and probably safer) than hiking to the lava, which at the time was 4 miles from the end of Chain of Craters road. The national park rangers tried to dissuade us from taking the trip but I think they were afraid of the competition. ;-)

The boat is a zodiac with a cover and seats 6 passengers. I think Roy was previously in the Coast Guard. He was certainly a sharp guy & knew what he was doing. It wasn't very bumpy and he gives everybody motion sickness pills anyway, but they made my husband groggy the next day. Stick to the ginger pills. Also, I don't think he takes small children.

itravelmore: What did the park rangers tell you to try to discourage you? We are also considering Lava Roy but wonder how safe it is?

The rangers said we wouldn't see much from the boat ride. Wrong!

I thought the boat ride was safe and actually not that rough. I've been on much worse. The boat is a rigid-hull inflatable (i. e. zodiac) and it looked like it was in good shape. He gives everyone life vests, motion sickness & ginger pills. He has a Coast Guard certificate and uses GPS. He said he won't take children.

Like I said, much safer and easier than walking miles on a lava field. You're far more likely to fall during the hike than to fall off the boat. By the way, falling on volcanic terrain is NASTY: I did last year and it's like falling on a glass shard/knife combo. OUCH!!!!!

ITravelMore - Where did you stay the night after doing the boat trip? We are currently booked for Kilauea Lodge, but I'm not sure we will want to drive all the way back to VNP after the boat trip since we are flying out of Hilo the next morning.

Also, do you get very wet on the zodiac? Only reason I ask is because we will definitely want to bring our nice camera if the viewing is that great..just don't want to ruin it!

Sounds like a great alternative to the hike, especially with the recent news of earthquakes and closures. We are not going until August so that could all change by then..how far in advance did you book Lava Roy? Thanks!!!

Put your camera inside a ziplock bag. Put that ziplock bag inside another ziplock bag. You won't have to worry about it getting wet and it is pretty easy to get out when you want to take a picture. Unless it is pretty rough there shouldn't be water splashing into the boat when you are at the viewing area.

check with the park service or Lava Roy's before going out on the boat because as of today there is no lava going into the ocean. Of course it could change any day, but for now it would just be a boat ride, not lava viewing.

As most stated Lava Roy uses an inflatable Zodiac to view the lava. Once again inflatable that means air filled right, near lava? If your looking for another option try the original Lava Boat Tour Lava Ocean Adventures who have multiple twin hulled cat boats to provide you a safe comfortable ride to view the lava. The LavaKai can take up to 24 passengers legally to the flow & back.. All tours depart Isaac Hale Beach park daily

Bringing up a thread that is more than 16 months old so you can advertise is not a good practice here at Fodors.