The Kilauea Volcano Bike tour on Hilo

 
After 2 glorious days in Maui we sailed over night to Hilo.  I really wanted to do the bike ride from the Kilauea Volcano and CJS wanted to see the town, and take it easier after all our heavy-duty touring in Maui.  So I took the tour through the cruise ship because it was easy, and I do not think too expensive.  

                              There were about 8 of us on this trip.  The van pulled up right at the cruise ship terminal and picked us up.  It was about a 45 minute ride to get to Kilauea.  The fascinating thing about biking from Kilauea down through the rain forest is the change in the landscape as you ride along.  The Kilauea Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes on earth  It is located 30 miles from Hilo where your ship docks.

The volcano is located in Hawaii Volcano National Park on Hilo.  You start your tour at the Kilauea Visitor Center.  You will spend a little time at the center with your guide, they have films that introduce you to the park, there are Ranger Talks through out the day and several displays showing the history of Volcano's.  

There are several bike tour companies, and I did not do my usual research, so I just got really lucky because we had a fantastic guide, named Daniel, who you could tell loved his job.  

a week after we were there!

one of our 2 guides

You will spend time around the Crater then begin your ride.  It is a very dramatic ride. Kilauea was not erupting while I was there (just a lot of smoke), but one week after I did this ride, it began an eruption, with is still currently going on.  They say it could continue for years or stop tomorrow, but it was wild to see the pictures of the eruption on TV knowing that I had been at the craters edge the week before.

        You bike around the rim of the crater on off road trails & paved 
 roads,  It is not a difficult ride.  Besides your guide, there is a follow van, so if for any reason you need to stop, it is no problem, you can always take a break in the van.  Periodically throughout the tour, our guide would tell us about the geological scenery we were experiencing. I was wonderful that he also included information on the Mythology of Hawaiian cultures and how they viewed the volcanos.  

After biking the trails around the summit of the crater, you begin your journey down through the lucsh Hawaiian rainforest.  We made several stops along the way, where Daniel related botanical facts to us about what were were seeing.

We took a short hike to the Thurston Lava Tube.  This 500 year old lava cave was formed with a river of lava gradually builds solid walls & a ceiling.  

Entrance to Lava tube

Our group coming out of the tube

          












When the lava flow stops & the last of it passes down hill, a cave is formed.  The Thurston Lava Tube is a fantastic example of a huge lava cave.             It is lit by electric lights with a flat rock floor.  The ceiling is high enough for you to walk through.  The solidified drips & waves of the once hot liquid lava clearly show the molten forces that created the cave.  It is full of beautiful colors of minerals in the rocks.  After walking through a short lighted section there is another section that is a little uneven on the floor and darker, walk about 50 yards or so int to the tube and it leads to a lush tropical rainforest.  So intensely beautiful.




Below is Daniel explaining how this beautiful plant, Yellow Ginger is bad for the rain forest because of its invasive root system.  As I am a gardener and a plant-lover, I found it interesting that they are trying to eradicate this plant from the rain forest.  It is not native to this area.

More beautiful pictures from the rain forest.  I am not a great photographer like CJS, but since she was not on this ride, I did my best to capture the feel of it

Me sitting on a lava 'mushroom'

a couple from our group exploring a lava field

This was pretty much a full day adventure.  It is about 45 minutes to Volcano National Park, the ride is about 5 - 6 hours depending on stops & questions.  I do recommend you go to Volcano National Park one way or another if you have the opportunity.  You will see a live volcano and the effects of lava and ash on the environment.  You learn so much in a fun relaxing way, it's a blast!




While in Hilo:

Do this:   Visit Volcano National Park. 
See this:  Kilauea & the Rain forest
Take:        A bike ride through if you can or
take a van tour - either way, the sites are amazing!

Until next time, Travel Safe!