Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was established just over 100 years ago. It is located in the southeast side of the Big Island of Hawaii. There are two active volcanoes, Kilauea and Mauna Loa located within the park. We had the opportunity to visit the park twice – once near the top by Kilauea and a few days later we biked and hiked to the lava flows near the ocean.
With about half a day to explore the park, we started in the Kilauea visitor center to get our bearings, and then decided to go for a hike. The Kilauea Iki trail was the perfect hike. We hiked along the crater rim trail and then dropped down through rainforest into the Kilauea Iki Crater. Not much is growing in the crater and steam was rising in spots. We got to walk on old lava and climb back out of the crater on the west side. We then did a quick stop at the Thurston Lava Tube, where we were able to hike down and then took a short walk through the tube. Lava tubes were once giant lava flows. The outer crust hardens and the inner lava continues to flow. When the flowing lava stops, the outer crust remains as a tunnel.
No visit to Hawaii Volcanoes would be complete without a visit to Kilauea Overlook to look into the active crater. We saw lava spewing, flowing and rumbling, from a safe distance. Shortly after our visit, the volcanoes became very active in Hawaii, so many of the places we visited may now be closed to the public.
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
2 days ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
2 days ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
1 week ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
1 week ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.