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Big Island Trip Planning: A One-Day Volcano Itinerary

By Kevin Whitton and Bree Kessler

The must-see here is Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. For the best day in Big Island’s Volcano area, though, make sure you spread your time in the park around so you can experience both some daytime and evening highlights, and add in a little mingling with the locals.

  • Wake up early and walk the Crater Rim Trail.
  • Stop at the visitors center to chat with a park ranger (before it gets crowded).
  • Visit the Thurston Lava Tube and hike the Kilauea Iki Trail.
  • Get back in the car and drive the Chain of Craters Road, stopping at a lookout to have your packed lunch.
  • In the later afternoon, after a brief rest, stop by the Volcano Winery for a tasting.
  • Have an early dinner in Volcano Village.
  • Return to the park to watch the glow from the Thomas A. Jaggar Museum.
  • If you’re not too tired, go bowling at Kilauea Military Camp or visit the Lava Lounge for some karaoke with the locals.
Stop by Volcano Winery for a tasting. Photo © Wehi Lono, licensed Creative Commons Attribution No-Derivatives.

Rainy Day Alternative

I’ll try to break it to you as gently as possible: It can rain at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Sometimes it’s a spritz and you can continue on with only getting slightly damp, and other times it can rain hard and outside activity is not really possible. There are a few inside places you can go while waiting for sunshine.

From facials to pedicures to traditional lomilomi massages, Hale Ho‘ola: Hawaiian Healing Arts Center and Spa does it all and does it well at half the cost of spas on the Kona side. What makes this a truly great rainy day activity is that you can call last minute and owner Suzanne Woolley will try to accommodate you.

Art enthusiasts will love 2400 Fahrenheit Glass Blowing, just a few minutes north of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Even if glass blowing isn’t taking place, this gallery makes for a worthy stop.

If the weather still hasn’t cleared up, try the Volcano Winery for a tasting or drive to Hilo. Often the weather in Hilo can be drastically different than in Volcano (you can see the clouds moving as you drive north on Highway 11).

Kevin Whitton

About the Author

Avid surfer and nature-lover Kevin Whitton has traveled extensively throughout Mexico, Indonesia, and Australia. He’s volunteered as a trail guide in a private Costa Rican rain forest preserve and as a snowmobile guide in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. When confronted with the choice between living in the mountains and visiting the beach, or living at the beach and visiting the mountains, Kevin refused to choose, deciding to call O’ahu home instead. Now when he waits for a wave at one of his favorite windward or North Shore surf breaks, he can gaze at the verdant mountains and revel in the best of both worlds.

Kevin is the author of the award-winning Green Hawai’i: A Guide to a Sustainable and Energy Efficient Home and A Pocket Guide to Hawai’i’s Botanical Gardens. He writes for Hawai’i’s most notable publications, is active in the island’s surf media, and is the co-founder and editor of GREEN: Hawai’i’s Sustainable Living Magazine.

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Bree Kessler

About the Author

Bree Kessler‘s first visit to the Big Island of Hawai’i was as a summer volunteer, picking pineapples on an organic farm. This experience with farming sparked an interest in urban agriculture; she returned to academia to pursue a PhD at the City University of New York in environmental psychology-the study of how people and places interact with one another.

Bree has taught courses on a variety of topics at the University of Hawai’i-Hilo, Hunter College, and the School for International Training. Outside of academia, she has a second career as a freelance writer. Her work has appeared in publications such as Honolulu Magazine, Edible Hawaiian Islands, Women’s Adventure, and Wine Enthusiast. Bree has lived abroad in China, Honduras, India, South Africa, and Thailand, volunteered with the National Park Service in northern Alaska, and traveled extensively throughout Latin America.

Although Bree currently splits her time between Hawai’i and Alaska, she always returns to the Big Island and her true vocation: exploring her island home and sharing its spirit of aloha. Learn more about her writing and research at breekessler.com

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