Lava Flow Into the Ocean on Big Island Hawaii

Published October 19, 2017 | By Elizabeth Weintraub

Lava flow into the ocean on Big Island by Josh Amolsch, 2017.

When I first saw the lava flow into the ocean on Big Island, I was a bit disappointed. That’s because you see all of these wonderful photographs of enormous amounts of hot, molten lava spewing forth and rolling down the side of a volcano, eventually dropping like ribbons of icing into the ocean everywhere in Hawaii. You can buy prints, paintings and photographs of this. What you don’t know is much of that happened years ago. That’s not what is happening today. Although the lava still flows.

Until I talked with my team member Josh Amolsch, I did not immediately realize my trip to the Chain of Craters Road and Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii was 7 years ago. Seemed like yesterday in retrospect. Much of the landscape is black lava, of which there are two popular types: Pahoehoe and Aa. The first is sort of ropey and the second it spikey. But lava also comes in many other colors, it can be red, green or gray and variants.

Josh and his girlfriend are staying at my house in Kona on their vacation and exploring Big Island. It would be fabulous if Josh and Vika decided to buy a vacation home in Kona, too. He asked me what I liked about Big Island over the other islands, and probably the biggest thing is there is so much to do on Big Island. There are many micro-climates at various elevations, and the vegetation changes with altitude. We have the tallest mountain in the world on Big Island, Mauna Kea. The people are extremely friendly, even to the haoles. It’s warm year round but if you want snow you can find it.

Did I mention it is affordable? Lots of people who are getting priced out of Kauai and Maui come to Big Island. On Oahu, there are too many people and the city is straining to meet the demand for utilities. Granted, you aren’t gonna buy a shack smack dab on the beach for a million bucks, but there are wonderful homes with gorgeous views that are still affordable even by Hawaii standards. And let’s not forget the excitement of the lava flow into the ocean on Big Island.

Josh and Vika did it the hard way, riding bikes for 8 miles. I am way too lazy for that. Too old, too. We opted for the helicopter tour. Even with all of the photographs I shot from the helicopter as some other person grabbed the puking bag, and I’m not supposed to tell you who that was except it wasn’t me, I did not get a shot of the lava flow into the ocean on Big Island like Josh captured. That main photo above is his. Way to go, Josh!