Kalapana Cultural Tours — Local services in Hawaii

We did sunset lava hike. 5 stars for the lava field, hike and the sunset. 3 stars for the guide and safety.

Hike - Amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience. It took us 4.5 hours of hiking time for a round trip of 5 miles. It feels a little longer though. It may vary depending upon the lava flow when you visit. Except for first quarter mile, entire hike is on hardened lava rocks. The terrain is not slippery as some other have mentioned. But it is uneven, fragile, crunchy and have cracks all over. We were a group of nine. No one completely fell down. 3 people somewhat lost balance at times but managed to stand. Falling down can badly scratch the skin because the rocks are almost like broken mirror pieces. People who wore hiking boots with ankle support and carried one pole were completely in control. They ask you to carry 2 liters of water, but I think 1 to 1.5 is more than sufficient because it's not hot during sunset hike. Also, there are no restrooms there, of course. During the last quarter mile of hike, you will feel the heat from the lava flow. Sometimes you can see the orange lava in between the cracks and you will have to walk over the cracks. Scary. Though we were so excited to see surface lava flow, all of us just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible because that felt so unsafe. There is surface lava, slowly moving a few feet in front of you. You are standing on hardened lava rocks, but underneath you can see lava slow in the cracks all around you. No one knows when a rock will burst or in which direction lava will start flowing. That's the most unsafe thing I have ever done.

Tour company - Our guide, while he knew how to safely hike around, he didn't know much about the geology or any other scientific facts. Also, he didn't pay much attention to the entire group. He was just talking to the person in the front and moving on. When someone in the group needed help in navigating, we helped each other. He kept going and wasn't close enough even to hear us ask for help. The check-in, snacks, parking and the shuttle van...

Most people hearing of the lava flows near Kalapana might be wondering if you can't just save the money and experience this without a guide. Definitely make sure to have a guide. Especially if you go at sunset (which you should).

Even by day, navigating the vast lava fields (there are no marked tracks here, as flows shift daily) is a treacherous activity. The surface is crackling beneath your feet, it can be very slippery and you do not want to spend too much time in the fumes emanating from the lava. And once you found your way, and experienced some glowing lava from really (really!) close, it will be dark, and you want to try and find your way back.

We're glad to have heard about Kalapana Cultural Tours from a friend.They and our awesome local guide Herbie made sure we had everything we needed, found a safe path to the flowing lava and, most importantly, got everyone from our group back and healthy to the same spot where we left the road. Quite a feat of navigation.

Other people have hurt themselves in these lava fields, some quite badly. You have to be careful, and be aware of the dangers that do exist. This hike is not for everyone. If you go, use a guide. If you go, have Herbie (or one of the other guides from Kalapana Cultural Tours)...

Don't be deceived like we were. As we neared the end of Highway 130, we were stopped in the road by a man in a orange shirt. He flagged us in to a "Public Parking" lot on the right. In the driveway my husband told him we were looking for "See Hawaii Adventures". He said that is us! He waved us in with an orange flag. We drove in and parked. Then we were scurried on a white van and driven down to a bike place. We were told to rent bikes there, at "Kalapana Cultural Tours". There we were, a mile away from our car and this was not See Hawaii Adventures!!?? As the van pulled forward we saw the business we were looking for. It was across the street. I asked my husband to get back on that van and go get our car. There was plenty of parking right there. Despite argument from Kalapana Cultural Tours. He went back and got our car while I rented our bikes from See Hawaii Adventures. The people at See Hawaii were so nice even though it seemed like this happens to them a lot!! They were recommended by our good friends. See Hawaii Adventures is the local owned original bike rental company and I feel horrible that this was done to us and them. Kalapana Cultural Tours should...