joyfultraveler

Would appreciate some info. from all you seasoned travelers: I will be in Oahu for one week the first of May. Want to travel for one day to Hilo to see only Kilauea. I spoke with the concierge at the hotel and she suggested I contact Robert's Hi tours. It looks like they have a tour that goes there, but it includes other areas to visit including a NUT FACTORY, I just want to visit the Kilauea Volcano Park, so I would love hearing your thoughts, thank you!

DebitNM

I am not an expert. I think that you are confusing Volcano National Park and Kilauea, the volcano.

If you do this on your own, you will most likely have to rent a car.

As far as "seeing" Kilauea, " lava flow is currently within the Kahaualeʻa Natural Area Reserve, which has been closed by the Hawaii State Department of Natural Land and Resources (DLNR) due to the ongoing volcanic hazards "
and
" According to the Hawaii County Civil Defense website (http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts/): "The public is reminded that the flow is not visible and cannot be accessed from any public areas." "

So, are you looking to see lava? If so, that doesn't look possible.
Do you want to go to VNP?
Do you want to just "see" the mountain top?

I am sure others will answer with better replies.

suze

You can do it on your own. I've seen people describe how they did arrangements over on the Trip Advisor forums (fly over, rent car, drive to volcano, etc.).

For me I would go with a tour company instead. But look around a little more, I'm pretty sure there are ones that only do the volcano. I know there are helicopter tours as well. Know that the volcano isn't always "active" so you may or many not see anything particularly exciting on any given day.

taitai

The active lava flow is not accessible so you won't see that. If you want to see the glow from the crater at night, which is cool, you will most likely need to spend the night as it could be tricky to catch a flight back to HNL that late.

It is a very, very easy trip to do on your own. Just fly into Hilo, rent a car and drive the 45 minutes to the park. Spend the night in Volcano if you want to see the glow. If not, take the last flight out back to HNL.

Have a good trip.

SAB

Second the idea that it is an easy trip to do on your own. Fly to Hilo, rent a car, drive up to VNP visitor center, get a map and explore the caldera and other accessible areas of VNP. If you don't want to explore on your own, look into something like a private tour something like NativeGuideHawaii or a smaller tour like Lavaland that pick you up in Hilo.

ChiSue

I would only consider this if you've already 'done' Oahu or if you had much more time there. IMO it's a waste of time and money to fly to Big Island and only see Volcanoes National Park. I'd advise coming back and staying ON Big Island for a week to ten nights, splitting your time with two or three nights in the town of Volcano and the rest along the sunny and (usually) vog-free beaches of the Kohala Coast. I'd also only do this during a time (unlike now) that the volcano is less active.