Lava Flows Directly Into The Ocean At This Hawaiian National Park

Hawaii is home to eight state and national parks in the US, with arguably the most impressive being Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. The reason? At this national park you can watch hot molten lava flow right into the ocean.

If this doesn’t convince you that nature is amazing, then I don’t know what will.

The volcano in question is Kīlauea. Located on the Big Island of Hawaii, Kīlauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world.

Sitting along the southern shore of the island, the volcano is between 300 thousand and 600 thousand years old, with an impressive history of eruption. Kīlauea means “spewing” or “much spreading” in the local Hawaiian language – and if its name is anything to go by, let’s just say this guy likes to spill his guts often.

Kīlauea has been erupting continuously since 1983. Most recently – in August of last year, in fact – Kīlauea begun flowing lava into the Pacific Ocean for the first time in three years. The long lava flow had been moving down the south flank of Kīlauea since May, making its descent to the water a splashy affair.

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Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park has just opened a new viewing platform for visitors who want to see this unique phenomenon for themselves. Following an incident on New Year’s Eve, when the former viewing platform collapsed into the ocean, a new viewing area has been erected 270 metres east of the cascade of lava – meaning visitors can view the natural molten rush from a safe distance.

To get to the viewing spot, it’s a 6.7 kilometre hike via a gravel emergency access road. It’s open daily from 3pm to 9pm, and be sure to check out the local beaches too, many of which have black sand as a result of the volcanic activity on the island.

(Lead image: hawaiivolcanoesnps/Instagram)

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