The hours were kind of confusing. The park website has it as 3pm- 9pm for the viewing area but we…read moredidn't want to drive back to Kona in the dark so we took the chance going there around noon. Another review mentioned being stopped by the ranger before the opening viewing time? Maybe we were lucky because there were a lot of people there even at noon and we didn't see any rangers stopping people from walking or biking on the public paved road. We parked and started our trek. Advantage of hiking from Kalapana side is we didn't have to pay for parking. The hike itself was very easy. Flat road but it was really hot and about 8 miles round trip. Saw a lot of people hiking with exposed skin. Being Asian, I had a long sleeve shirt on and I wished I had packed my hiking pants because it would have come in handy as my legs ended up getting kind of dusty and being the clumsy walker that I am, I ended up getting some dried up lava on my legs. At the end of of the road, you have to carefully go down to the viewing area. Once you get there, the lava flow was so amazing!! I'm glad we did it during the day so we didn't have to deal with carrying a flashlight and end up falling since I'm clumsy like that. Bring a lot of water if you plan to do an earlier hike as it was super hot.

The Kalapana flow is active again. Luckily, I happened to be on the Big Island at the time. This is…read morenot at the volcano. This is where the lava flow meets the ocean; follow the signs to Kalapana to get there and you'll run right into it. Upon arrival, you'll see a parking lot and pass a few souvenir tents and tents renting bikes, which are permitted on the hike. Let's back up a bit. The first choice you have to make is whether you're going to make this 9-mile round trip hike and when you'll do it. We wanted to see the lava in the dark so we left at 5pm or so. Our group was made up of 4 adults of varying ages and one tween. It's often hot there so you'll have to carry all the water you'll need. About 2.5 miles in, some of the tiny house owners that live in the lava field may be available to sell you beverages like coconut water, water, and soft drinks. However, you should plan on bringing all the liquid you need. You can find more advice about what to wear and bring online. The path is the old emergency evacuation road. It's gravel. There are portable toilets along the way. As I mentioned earlier, there are bike rentals or you can bring your own bike. Biking on this terrain is not easy but you have to decide whether walking or peddling is better for you. Depending on the weather, this can be a very hard hike. I'd have to say that it's worth it. Seeing the lava enter the ocean in the darkness is something I'll remember forever. Do it!

The Island of Hawaii is…read more 1. one of seven islands making up the Hawaiian Islands chain. 2. largest land mass (approx 4000 sq. mi) of all the islands (and the youngest) 3. southern most of all the islands geographically 4. only island with a LIVE volcano(s) - Kilauea Iki and Mauna Loa 5. island with 3 named and recognized national parks- Hawaii Volcano National Park, Honokahau National Park, Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Park also referred to as the City of Refuge 6. island with the most Hawaiian history and legacy- Captain James Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands when he landed on the south west side of the island now known as Kona, King Kamehameha 1st, also known as King Kamehameha the Great as he united the people of the islands in the late 1700's. Then in the 1800's the missionaries came for a visit, never left and the rest my reading friends is history. I am born and raised on the Island of Hawaii, city of Hilo. While I'm a Honolulu resident all of my adult life, I still consider the Island of Hawaii; nicknamed the Big Island (for obvious reasons) my home. If you love nature, history and a laid back way of life, then, the Island of Hawaii is the place for you to visit. Fun Facts- Modern day Iron Man Triathlon held on Island of Hawaii. Cruise ships stop in two ports; Hilo and Kona, and if you are lucky, you might get to see and experience a live volcanic eruption

A third island for us (Oahu and Maui previously), our fourth visit to Hawaii. Just as gorgeous as…read morethe other two, and less visited. This large island mass could contain the entire rest of the chain in its boundaries alone. But beware of those lava flows if you're even thinking of relocating here. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is this island's biggest tourist drawing card.

The black sand beach that was formed by the 2018 eruption - the newest black sand beach! The sand…read moreitself is super black, and the waves at this beach are super strong - so I wouldn't recommend going in to swim. As time goes, the sand won't be as black anymore - so better visit soon! Also there is no cell phone signal around this area, so you better take note of how you came here.

Very cool new beach that formed post lava flow in the beach park. It may not be here for long and…read morehas a very odd energy being it is new land. I'd recommend taking a trip to check it out before it erodes away. Isn't that a crazy thing to think about.

I haven't seen black sand since I was a kid. This beach is awesome. The waves are amazing. We…read moredidn't even plan this, just found it driving. The first thing I noticed was the abandoned resort. There is a long history of neglect from property owners over the years. It's truly sad. Just beware. I've seen a lot of how Hawaii is still suffering from oppression. Breaks my heart. On the ocean side of life. This park is amazing. The day we went, the sun was unforgiving. I meant, it was a typical day in Hawaii. We're from Oregon. It was He'll on earth for this white boy. I didn't care. It was awesome to see the black scorching sand. Pro tip. Keep your flipas on. There are a couple shad covered picnic spots. Plenty free parking. Showers to rinse off after swimming. Good easy beach access. A life guard. Boogy Bord rentals and turtles. We enjoyed the big waves crashing into the rocks. Pro tip. Never turn your back to the ocean. There was a bunch of teens and kids having a great time surfing. We even watched a Green Sea Turtle eating near the shore. I also discovered nearby is a place with Green Sand. Gotta see that one day. Didn't even know Green was an option. The memories we made here are amazing. My Wife is having the time of her life.

I'll admit that we probably did this one wrong. Trying to do both green and black sand beaches in…read morethe same day with the drive to/from Hilo is a lot. Compared to the green sand beach that we had just been to, this one, to be honest, was sort of underwhelming. If you're going counterclockwise around Ninole Loop Road, the first, to me the main, parking lot was full, so we went to the second lot or middle lot. There is probably space for twenty cars if people parked normally or weren't meandering around, but we didn't get that. Instead, we got the last space all the way up front on the left side and most people were parking like douches - sort of diagonal here, there and everywhere. Add in the roaming chickens and the people selling a few different produce items like sugar cane or coconuts while taking up multiple spaces and it was a show. Sadly, no turtles that day but on the plus side, it was windy and overcast so the sand was not blazing hot. Overall, nobody was in the water. Just a lot of walking around and looking at the Temu grade black sand beach merch for sale from the bodega next to the lot. On the off chance that a return trip was ever made, we should probably just focus and spend more time here to give it a fair chance. In the meantime, I'll give it a generous four spot but in reality, it was more like a three.

On the West end of Molokai where the Kaluakoi Villas are, There lies one of the biggest stretches…read moreof white sand beaches in the entire state of Hawaii. About a mile wide and three miles long, the view is just breathtaking and the pictures don't do it justice. It was just awesome to take in the view with the cool breeze and NO ONE else around! Picture perfect scenery, peaceful, tranquil, and undisturbed.....only on Molokai......ALOHA!!!! YELP 365 CHALLENGE-(178/365) "One of Hawaii's Beautiful Beaches"

I've been to most beaches in Hawaii (except for Lanai, which is a smaller island with smaller…read morebeaches anyway). Popohaku Beach is probably the third biggest beach in all Hawaii. Polihale Beach on Kauai is the biggest at 17 miles long. Waimanalo Beach on Oahu is probably the second biggest at more than 5 miles long. Popohaku Beach is about 3 miles long (and up to 100 yards wide) and is informally named "3 mile beach". Kailua Beach in Oahu is about 2.5 miles long. Eighty Mile Beach in Western Australia is the world's longest beach and is actually 140 miles long. Ninety Mile Beach in Australia is just over 90 miles long. Padre Island in south Texas is about 112 miles long and I think may be all beach, but I never drove to the end. I digress... Papohaku Beach has large-grained reddish-golden sand and has a different vibe to the other Hawaiian beaches. First of all, there is pretty much no-one there. When we went there was just one other person walking the beach, and some random recent footprints. Probably the only time there are more than a few people is for the annual Ka Hula Piko Festival for three days in May. Each May the annual Ka Hula Piko Festival is held here as a celebration of the hula dance. Molokai is widely held to be the birthplace of hula. The Hawaiian legend is that Laka, the goddess of the hula, began the hula dance at a sacred hill in Kaana, named Puu Nana. Laka then travelled the Hawaiian islands teaching the hula. It is said that the spirit of Laka remains at Puu Nana hill. This is a walking beach. What a great beach walk with no-one else around. But when doing the long walk from the parking area to the beach, be careful of the kiawe tree thorns and don't go barefoot. View a spectacular sunset to the west over the water. If it's not too hazy you can see the coast of Oahu to the west and north a little bit. You can see Makapu'u Lighthouse at night and the lights of Kailua. This is not a swimming beach. An Aussie will swim at most places, but I definitely would not swim here. If the waves are not strong it is deceptively enticing. But if you watch the water carefully you will notice that the current does not move in just one direction, but swirls in many different directions. The 22 mile channel between Molokai and the east side of Oahu is one of the most treacherous in the world (Did you notice there is no ferry from Oahu to Molokai?). Also, there is a rock platform just under the water. I could imagine slipping on the rock, getting injured and then getting swept out to the ocean. BYO lifeguard. Halawa Bay was bad enough, and I swam at Sunset Beach in the winter till it kicked my butt. But I'm not going in here. As Amy Winehart said: they tried to make me [go to rehab] and I said No, No, No! Go early in the day when the tropic sun is less fierce, and the winds are calm. Facilities include outdoor showers, restrooms, drinking water and picnic grounds. To get there you take Highway 460 west toward Maunaloa. Turn right on Kaluakoi Road before you reach Maunaloa town. Continue on Kaluakoi Road, past the entrance to the Kaluakoi Resort. Papohaku Beach is two miles past the resort entrance. You can camp here if you get a permit from Department of Parks, Land, and Natural Resources at Kaunakakai (I think $3 per night). Be respectful of the Molokai people as they take this place very seriously as the most Hawaiian of all the islands. Say no to cruise ships. Mahalos yeah fo' checkin' out dis place.

Whenever there's an eruption, steam is left from the displacement and is seen throughout the…read morevalley. It has no odor or particularly hot, but is an interesting feature...

one of the most incredible and unique things we have ever done. we poked lava with our stick until…read moreit was all burnt up. it seems rude we know but we wanted to throw more stuff into the lava just to see it burn up (but we didn't). be prepared when they say it's demanding - it really really was. and there isn't much to see during the hike - lots lava rock and a fern here and there. usually not even any ferns. sad. it was about 3.5 mi hike one way over this crunchy glassy creme brulee like lava fields, up and down. at times brutally hot and at times brutally cold and rainy. still it was worth it, just makes you feel so small when you how powerful nature is. steve and ken were very kind and accommodating and laid back. wear long pants - i wore capri length pants and little glass shards kept getting stuck in my socks and shoes. bring lotsa water. wear sunscreen. i got a wicked burn on my shoulders. no mosquitoes. actually nothing alive b/c the terrain is so barren. LAVA!!

My husband and I did the surface lava flow hike on Feb 13, 2011 with Steve and Ken and it was an…read moreamazing experience! We felt totally safe the whole time. Steve and Ken were very experienced, informative and all around nice people. This is the reason we went to the Big Island - to see Lava! The other tour companies we tried failed us. Kupahua Adventures and Ken and Steve were just what we were looking for - a personalized tour, not a hug group. The best part? We got to poke a stick into fresh, red and yellow LAVA! Yes, we got to poke it? How cool is that. The pictures were amazing and looking at them makes me want to go back again and again. We did the 5:30 pm tour so we got to see the sun set and walking back in the dark really wasn't bad as the moon was almost full and they supplied flashlights, gloves and the sticks! If you haven't done this, it is worth the trip and the tiny price Ken and Steve charge (we gave them a big tip as we think they could charge hundreds for the experience) for this lifetime adventure. Mahalo Ken and Steve!

I have lived in Hawaii for several years, and NEVER go on tours. I decided to hire Native Hawaiian…read moreLava Adventures to take me down to the lava once i realized how dangerous venturing into the lava field would be alone. I couldn't be happier that I chose to do this. The guides were very informative, and experts at navigating through this very very harsh landscape. I was really lucky on my trip, when we got back to the parking, the family's Kava-Kava ('awa) bar was full of happy Hawaiians, playing live Hawaiian music. Come to find out its a pretty regular thing,but i really enjoyed it. Every one was super friendly, and it was one of the better experiences i've had on my numerous trips to The Big Island. tip: wear fully covered shoes, bring a good flash light with fresh batteries, bring lots of water (more than usual) and take lots of pictures! You dont want to get lost in the lava field... trust me... Hire a professional if your going to enter the field from the kalapana side!

I took the hike from Kalapana to the lava flow ocean entry -- "Kalapana Lava Walk" which is…read moreorganized from right near the Kalapana Village Cafe. There were 10 people on the tour which cost $50 from some kids who were related to "Uncle Robert" who owns most of the land in and around Kalapana. We left at 5:30 pm and it was light out but it was still rough going over the lava field. The scenery was beautiful, but when I asked our 20-something guide (Bryan) to stop for some photo ops, he said there wasn't time -- I took the pictures anyway and just fell behind, along with some of the slower members of our tour. But Bryan didn't slow down for anyone or anything except to stop other hikers that were out there independently to warn them that they were on private property and would be prosecuted (the Aloha spirit?). We finally got to the lava flow in the dark with our flashlights and it was truly spectacular. I'm not sure if I could have actually seen just as much from the end of highway 130 than from a 2 mile hike/run in the dark over a very rough and dangerous lava field. Then another 2 miles back. The most amazing thing was that when we were almost back, Bryan actually found a glowstick trail marker left by some of the other independent hikers who had gone out later and he TOOK IT! Not only is that greedy (because they didn't pay up the $50) but incredibly irresponsible and dangerous. I hope those other hikers got back safely. Finally, nearly running over rough lava in pitch blackness with little flashlights, inevitably, one of our group tripped, fell on the lava and got some (minor I think) cuts on her face. Maybe look for another way to get close to the lava.