Volcano Adventure from Hilo: 19 Miles of Chain of Craters, Helicopter Optional

A day on the wet, north-eastern side of the Big Island, run out of Hilo. The driver-guide covers the legends, the history and the culture as the road goes. One condition first: hotel pick-up is available in the Hilo area only. Not Kona. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park takes the centre of it, with Kilauea and Mauna Loa, both active. Kilauea is a shield volcano, and it erupted again in June 2023, with vents throwing lava inside Halema'uma'u, the pit crater in its summit caldera. The Chain of Craters Road runs 19 miles, 31 km, through the East Rift and down to the coast. Some sections of it are inaccessible. At the steam vents the mechanism is visible: groundwater seeps down into hot volcanic rock and comes back up as steam. There is the Thurston Lava Tube, and Akaka Falls, seen from a lookout with jungle around it. Hilo itself gets driven twice over: along Banyan Drive, the tree-lined coastal stretch known as the Hilo Walk of Fame, and through the historic town. Tsunamis in 1946 and 1960 destroyed enough of it that the town was rebuilt further inland, and the wooden storefronts that survived are still in use. Lili'uokalani Gardens, Japanese in design, and Rainbow Falls, where the rainbows form in the mist, close the day. A helicopter flight can be added.