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Marriott:
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HGVC:
HGVC at Sea World
I haven't seen much posted lately on here about the recent string of eruptions at the Kilauea summit in Halema'uma'u crater. Since December 23, there have now been 9 eruptive episodes that have each lasted for just a few hours to as long as over a week, with pauses between each episode lasting usually for several days. The latest episode 9, began yesterday, Feb 11, at around 10am or so HST and ended today, Feb 12, at about 8:30am. What makes these episodes unique is the episodic fountaining of lava that hasn't been seen in Halema'uma'u since 2020. The last few episodes have started with lava fountains that initially reached over 300 feet in height, before settling down to average about half that.
We were on the Big Island last week, and were lucky enough to catch the previous episode 8 in action. Just before bedtime on Monday, Feb 3, I checked the USGS Volcano update website and saw on the web cam that an eruption had apparently just started within the last hour or so. We got up early Tuesday morning and drove from our lodging at Marriott's Waikoloa Ocean Club to Volcanoes National Park. I knew from a previous visit that the best spot to view Halema'uma'u was the Keanakako'i Overlook, which is about a 0.75 mile walk down a paved road and a short unimproved path from the Devastation Trail parking lot. So we went straight there, arriving about 9am HST. Here are a couple pictures, both taken with a Canon R5 Mk II camera with a 100-400mm zoom lens.
I've seen Kilauea lava flows before, but I've always wanted to see the famous Kilauea lava fountains. It was spectacular. You could also hear the lava from our vantage point about 1.5 miles away. Those fountains were said to be 100 to 150 feet high. I can only imagine what the initial 300+ foot fountains would have looked and sounded like. Episode 8 ended later that day, a little after sunset. Glad we went when we did.
Anyone who has plans to visit the Big Island while these regular eruptive episodes are occurring at somewhat predictable intervals should absolutely keep an eye on the USGS Hawaii Volcano Observatory update for Kilauea. ( https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/volcano-updates ) It is updated every morning or whenever major changes take place. There is also a link in each update to a live web cam. The web cam was how we discovered episode 8 had started, as the text update had not yet been issued.
The USGS has predicted the start of last couple episodes within a day or so, but once they begin, there is no guarantee how long they will continue. The shortest episode has been about 13 hours, I believe. Episode 8 and 9 both lasted about 21 to 22 hours or so. So, you need to move fast.
We were on the Big Island last week, and were lucky enough to catch the previous episode 8 in action. Just before bedtime on Monday, Feb 3, I checked the USGS Volcano update website and saw on the web cam that an eruption had apparently just started within the last hour or so. We got up early Tuesday morning and drove from our lodging at Marriott's Waikoloa Ocean Club to Volcanoes National Park. I knew from a previous visit that the best spot to view Halema'uma'u was the Keanakako'i Overlook, which is about a 0.75 mile walk down a paved road and a short unimproved path from the Devastation Trail parking lot. So we went straight there, arriving about 9am HST. Here are a couple pictures, both taken with a Canon R5 Mk II camera with a 100-400mm zoom lens.
I've seen Kilauea lava flows before, but I've always wanted to see the famous Kilauea lava fountains. It was spectacular. You could also hear the lava from our vantage point about 1.5 miles away. Those fountains were said to be 100 to 150 feet high. I can only imagine what the initial 300+ foot fountains would have looked and sounded like. Episode 8 ended later that day, a little after sunset. Glad we went when we did.
Anyone who has plans to visit the Big Island while these regular eruptive episodes are occurring at somewhat predictable intervals should absolutely keep an eye on the USGS Hawaii Volcano Observatory update for Kilauea. ( https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/volcano-updates ) It is updated every morning or whenever major changes take place. There is also a link in each update to a live web cam. The web cam was how we discovered episode 8 had started, as the text update had not yet been issued.
The USGS has predicted the start of last couple episodes within a day or so, but once they begin, there is no guarantee how long they will continue. The shortest episode has been about 13 hours, I believe. Episode 8 and 9 both lasted about 21 to 22 hours or so. So, you need to move fast.
