“I want to see the lava!” That’s what I would tell anyone who asked about our honeymoon plans. But, sadly, I wasn’t able to witness it. Given the fact that the lava is currently covering land and threatening homes in the Pahoa area, it was probably for the best. Reading about the tight-knit community is eye-opening, and I’m trying to be more sensitive to the plight of the residents. We drove to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the same day we visited the Green Sand Beach and South Point. We soon learned that Crater Rim Road was closed because of dangerous gases in the air. Instead, we viewed the smoke emanating from the vent within Halema’uma’u Crater from the Jaggar Museum and walked to the steam vents. Had we come back at sunset we probably could have seen the red glow, but we decided instead to leave the lava viewing for another visit to Hawaii. We’re thinking we’ll be back pretty soon.
We took in the view from the Jaggar Museum instead.
Update: According to the National Park Service, the Jaggar Museum closed in Sept. 2018.
Marette Flora is the founder of Floradise blog and personalized gift shop. Marette is a passionate storyteller and creator. She attended the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication.
She is passionate about creating helpful and meaningful things.