Lava has Reached the Sea Again - Here's How to See It!

Lava covering the OLD access road on the Puna side of the flow.

Ok, lava has hit the sea again! Woohoo! All that worrying didn't even draw it across Hwy 130 and to Leilani. ;)

So, the county, just today, has re-opened the old access road because the lava is again on the Kalapana side of the old flows. That means driving up to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park will net you views of the old craters and the museum and visitors center, but NO LAVA. The way to see the lava currently is to take a helicopter or plane flyover or try to access it via the new access road the county is opening at 2:00 p.m. Today. I say try because the county is much more cautious about keeping access roads open than the National Park is. It's probably much easier to sue Hawaii County than it is the federal government ;) .

So far, I can't find anything online about the access road, but here's the county's lava site they started when it seemed the lava would head across 130.

So, directions to get to the lava access road, I am assuming are the same as they were years ago, the last time the lava headed over to this side: Follow Highway 130 in Puna to the very end - don't make the left to go to Kalapana, just follow it to the barricades and that is where the new road, which is just a gravel, bulldozed road, will start. It should be easy access for all vehicles. If I make a trip out there myself I'll get you personal confirmation of this.

The hours of the new access road appear to be 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. daily, but you don't have to be out till 10 p.m.