Anyone that has visited the Hawaiian Islands have likely seen the volcanic mountains either dormant or ones that are active, but there is so much more to Hawaii information to learn of these spectacular formations of nature. Since 2002 visitors and some locals alike have made an evening pilgrimage to the end of Chain of Craters Road in Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks to view the spectacular sight of fiery lava that flows from Kilauea Volcano. The left side flow reached the sea at Highcastle and was followed two days later by the right side where it entered the sea at Wilipe'a. This has been occuring since 1983, but where the interest lies is that it lends a whole new outlook where it meets the sea. This hasn't been witnessed in many years.
The Kohala Volcano that forms the Big Island is believed to be the oldest volcano.Iit emerged from the sea 500,000 years ago and is believed that an enormous landslide removed the volcano's north east flank forming the rugged sea cliffs that we see today. The height of the summit has been reduced by one thousand meters over the years. Kohala has continued to sink and the lava flowing from its two neighbors have buried the southern part of the mountain. Today Kohala is considered to be an extinct volcano.
Then there is the Mauna Key, which is considered to be the tallest mountain in the world if it was measured from the sea floor and certainly the tallest volcano. The words Mauana Key mean "white mountain" and this comes from the several feet of snow found on it's top. It is one of the best places to view the stars. This volcano is also classed as dormant, but is likely to erupt again in the future.
Hualalai, located on the Western side of the Big Island, is the third youngest and the third most active on the island today. In the 1700's, there were six active volcanoes and the Kona Airport is built on top of the larger of these flows. Although building roads and houses still takes place on this mountain today, it is believed that Hualalai will erupt again within the next 100 years.
For more information on traveling to Hawaii please visit: Travel to Hawaii also if you are interested in Scuba Diving in Hawaii be sure to check out our new guide.
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