The “Big Island” of Hawaii – Home to the World’s Tallest, Largest and Most Active Volcanoes
With the most unique and largest array of volcanoes in the world, a trip to the Big Island affords you the very best volcanic exploration and photographic opportunities available on our planet.
Kilauea
The youngest volcano on the Big Island, it is the most active in the world. With a circumference of eight miles, and a summit of 4,000 feet, Kilauea’s oldest eruptions date back over 300,000 years. A “shield” volcano, with a broad baseline rather than a large cone, Kilauea’s flows and caldera can be viewed as part of a myriad of Big Island tours as well as helicopter adventures.
Its current eruption started on 1/3/1983 and is still flowing 28 eight years later! During 1986, its flows swept over the coastal highway, closing portions of the Chain of Craters road, destroying multiple homes in Kapa’ahu and inundating Kalapana’s famous Black Sand Beach. From collapsed vents to fountains of erupting magma, to fingers of molten lava steaming into the ocean, Kilauea has given the world its most spectacularly accessible and up-close volcanic observations in human history.
Mauna Loa
Mauna Loa (the Long Mountain) is the world’s largest active volcano, in terms of volume and total area. Like Kilauea, it is a shield volcano, with an estimated volume of 18,000 cubic mile, and the mystic home of Pele, the zealous and over-protective Goddess of the Volcanoes. Bins in the local island post offices at times brim over with piles of lava rocks, returned by visitors who have ignored the superstition of Pele’s curse that the rocks would bring bad luck if removed from “her” islands.
Mauna Loa typically has very fluid eruptions, over 39 since 1831; its earliest estimated to be over 700,000 years ago. The last eruption in 1984 marched to within 6.5 miles of the heavily-populated city of Hilo, prompting evacuation preparations. Both visitors and locals flocked to see the evening 3-week extravaganza of Mauna Loa’s hillsides, lit up with neon-like lava fingers.
Mauna Kea
Hawaii’s tallest volcano at 13,796 feet, and the world’s tallest from its ocean floor base to its summit; with a total height over 33,000 feet it is taller than Mount Everest. Home to thirteen international observatories, Mauna Kea’s summit affords one of the world’s “clearest visibility” sites from which to observe the solar system. A visitor center offers stargazing programs from 6:00 to 10:00pm nightly and summit tours are plentiful. A couple of notes to keep in mind: a) you must have a 4-wheel drive vehicle to visit the summit on your own (due to the steep inclines), and b) the air is very thin at the summit and you should not overexert; don’t plan on this trip if you suffer from any respiratory impairments.
Hualalai
Currently dormant, this shield volcano peaks at nearly 8,300 feet. Though its last eruption was in 1801 it is not yet extinct and unfortunately sits directly above the densely populated town of Kailua-Kona, its Keahole Airport and Honokohau Harbor. With only three eruptions during the last one thousand years (hence the dormant status), it is considered due for another one in this twenty-first century.
Kohala Volcano
The oldest of the Big Island’s volcano family (at over one million years), it sits above the Kohala Coast and slopes eastward toward the lush rolling hills of Waimea and the steep cliffs of Waipio Valley. The summit is covered with forest, flourishing in the now fertile lava rock broken down over 500,000 years. An enormous landslide removed a large portion of its northeastern flank approximately 300,000 years ago. Kohala Volcano hasn’t been active for over 120,000 years and is considered extinct. The first King Kamehameha was born at the northern tip of Kohala and his original famous statue is located there in Kapa’au (the statue in Honolulu is a copy).
The Big Island is probably the least tourist-oriented of all the islands of Hawaii. With over 4,000 square miles to explore, it is larger than all the other islands combined. There is something for everyone, from the gentle snorkeling waters of Kahaluu Beach Park to the rainforests and thundering Akaka Waterfalls, from an evening sail replete with hula dancers on Kailua Bay, to the frequent sight of wild dolphin schools in Kealakekua Bay.
Before having children, Loretta Pleasant worked full time for a reverse phone lookup service in Los Angeles. She now spends her time with her family and, when the kids are asleep, writing.
Image by by ~*Melia*~
