Chain of Craters Road

There is a winding almost 19 mile road called the Chain of Craters Road. It takes you past lava flows of years past and just shows the magnitude of the lava flows. It's not a tiny little piece of land it's taking, some are football fields wide.

If you would like to read more about the road please click here.  We almost skipped this simply because my camera battery was dying and we were off to a late start.  I am so glad we decided to carry on.  There was so much rawness on the drive.  It's hard not to have your breath taken away when you pause and look around and imagine the black lava rock as the scalding flowing lava it once was.

At the end of the road there is the beautiful Hōlei Sea Arch which has formed within the last 100 years in lava rocks from a lava flow over 550 years old.  It was beautiful.

Volcano Winery

Originally I had all of the days of our trip planned out.   There are so many things to do and see on the Big Island, and we were only going to be there so many days.  I wanted to make sure we were able to see all of the items that really peaked our interest.  Our trip started out with our luggage not making it on our flight.  We may have gotten to the airport just a smidge close to our flight, and had to do curb check in due to the line inside.  Our luggage didn't get to the hotel until later that night so our plans got a little shifted.  It worked in our favor though, we were able to find the cutest little vineyard.  We're wine-o's and proud of it, and having the time to relax and have a wine tasting was the perfect way to start off our vacation.

We learned that there are two wineries in the Hawaiian Islands.  Volcano Winery and one on Maui.  We're hoping to be able to visit the other.  Some of the wines were delightful, while others were a little. . sweet and not really our taste. We brought a bottle of the Volcano Red home. It's definitely worth a visit!

Kilauea Volcano

We spent the first night of our trip in Volcano National Park.  It was a bit risky to put all of our eggs in a basket in terms of seeing the glow of the Kilauea Volcano at night.  You are able to see the glow of the volcano from the Halema'uma'u Crater which is seen from the Jagger Museum.   There is an easily accessible overlook right in front of the museum that has beautiful views of the crater both during the day and at night.  You can also see the crater from the Volcano House which is a cute restaurant with unbeatable views of the crater.

Unfortunately a heavy mist set over the town right at sunset and we weren't able to see the glow.  We tried to wake up for sunrise but got to the edge of the volcano just in time to see a beautiful sunrise, but not to see any glow.  A change of plans during our third day allowed us the leeway to drive back up to Volcano to try and see the glow again. A beautiful sunset later and we were watched the red glow emerge.  It was definitely worth the two hour and forty minute round trip to be able to see a volcano glowing at night!

We stayed at the Kilauea Military Cabins while in Volcano National Park.  Pricing breaks down but what unit you want and the active duty members rank so it's affordable for whatever your ranking may be.  We ended up in a one bedroom cottage with a fireplace at a rate that couldn't be beat.  Around the holidays and peak travel season (summer) reservations fill up months in advance, but our timing allowed us to book the cabin a mere three weeks out.

While you can't guarantee the ability to see the glow at night, seeing the Halema'uma'u Crater is something you must do if you're planning a trip to the Big Island.