The Best Hawaiian Islands To Visit For Volcano Adventures, According To Reddit

Many visitors descend on Hawai'i, eager to explore its beautiful beaches, like Kolekole Beach Park, where waterfalls spill into the ocean, or to discover the spectacular and diverse marine life in the waters around the archipelago. But bubbling under this serene beauty is the molten chamber that gave rise to it all, known as the Hawaii hotspot, a "roiling spot of magma deep under the ocean floor," as explained by National Geographic. 

Volcanic activity arising from this hot spot has shaped each one of the Hawaiian islands over millions of years. Witnessing active eruptions firsthand — known as volcano tourism — and checking out the fascinating land and seascapes they leave behind make for memorable travel experiences. But which Hawaiian island is best for volcano tourism? And what kinds of volcano-themed adventures are available? We did some research on Reddit to learn what visitors had to say on the subject, ranking each of the archipelago's largest islands in order of their volcano adventures.

Both the Big Island of Hawai'i and Maui have active volcanoes, but the Big Island earns the top spot on our list. As noted by Redditors, it's the place you're most likely to see active eruptions. While Maui only has one active volcano, Hawai'i has a whopping four. Two of these — the shield volcanoes of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park — are among the most active in the world, erupting every two to three years on average. Meanwhile, Maui's Haleakalā, Hawai'i's-third largest volcano and the namesake of Haleakalā National Park, has only erupted around 10 times in the last thousand years. In addition, its volcanic scenery may be slightly less impressive than what you'll find on Hawai'i: "Between Haleakala on Maui and Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, I would recommend the latter as you can actually see into the caldera better up on the rim and the park is beautiful," said Redditor u/YellowFew6603 on the r/nationalparks thread. 

When Hawai'i's Kīlauea or Mauna Loa volcanoes are actively erupting, climb aboard a local helicopter tour to see the fireworks, according to Redditors on the r/nationalparks thread: "I haven't been since the big eruption a few years ago, but the helicopter was by far the best view." If your visit doesn't coincide with an eruption, you can tour the island's volcanoes and volcanic landscapes on foot or by vehicle. Redditor u/rsharasu2 gushed about their experience in the national park, "We walked across a volcano, drove out to the sea arch, walked through a lava tube ... The park rangers were super helpful and told us exactly what trails to take to get out of our trip, what we wanted. I loved it!" Another Redditor recommends a trip to Mauna Kea, the island's highest peak at almost 14,000 feet above sea level. This volcano's impressive height makes it the perfect place for stargazing tours.

Maui's 10,000-foot-tall shield volcano, Haleakalā, is still considered active but hasn't erupted since the height of the Renaissance, sometime between A.D. 1480 and 1600. Although it's slumbering, the mountain is still a sight to behold — a looming, massive presence in the southeastern part of the island, bedecked in swirls of black lava rock and speckled with colorful mounds, which are actually deep green and fire-hued cinder cones. 

Just gazing out at these sights from the volcano's summit during one of the Haleakalā National Park's famed sunrises is an experience in itself — one that Redditors have been willing to get up extra early for. "If you are thinking [about] Haleakala on Maui, I can't recommend enough booking the sunrise tour (hope you're early risers) ..." said Redditor u/YellowFew6603 on the r/nationalparks thread, who also spoke highly about the experience of cycling down the mountain. Guided and self-guided cycling tours with companies like Maui Sunriders and Bike Maui come highly rated on Tripadvisor, but Redditors on the r/MauiVisitors thread reported erratic drivers and dangerous drop-offs on the road used by the bicycles. 

According to the Haleakalā National Park website, other experiences you can have in the national park are hiking on trails through old lava flows and vibrant pu'u (hills), sunset watching and stargazing from the volcano's summit, and ranger-led talks and demonstrations on all subjects related to fiery mountains. Note that Redditors on the r/MauiVisitors thread advised that national park visitors should be prepared for high altitude and potentially cold and changeable weather conditions.

Given the absence of active volcanoes, you won't see fiery lava sprays on either Oahu or Kauai. But you can still have fabulous adventures exploring their respective volcanic landscapes. Because of the range of experiences you can have in Oahu's amazing volcanic craters, we ranked this island slightly ahead of Kauai. One of the most notable of these Oahu experiences is hiking to the top of the volcanic crater and tuff cone at Diamond Head State Monument, which was formed during a massive eruption 300,000 years ago. The steep, .8-mile hiking trail takes around two hours. It starts at the bottom and climbs 560 feet to the highest point along the crater, with panoramic views of nearby Honolulu and the glorious Pacific Ocean. Redditors on the r/VisitingHawaii thread complained about the crowds on this popular hike but said they enjoyed it anyway. "The hike was great, but a lot of people at the top. Most were super polite and friendly, but a few were pretty selfish and annoying. Overall, it was a good experience," reported u/Minimum_Rooster2818.

An even more adventurous experience awaits on the southeast end of Oahu. The Koko Head Crater Hike involves climbing a set of old military tramway tracks up the side of the volcanic crater. The round-trip distance of this hike is less than 2 miles, but Redditors advised taking periodic breaks due to the trail's incredible steepness. On the r/VisitingHawaii thread, u/Equivalent-Rush5563 described their epic journey to the top of Koko Head Crater, "At the bottom, it starts off easy. As you continue to climb, it gets steeper and steeper until it's just unbearable ... but it is doable. Just take breaks as you climb 1,000+ steps, and you'll get there!" At the summit, hikers are rewarded with views of nearby Haunauma Bay State Park, located in yet another volcanic feature — a shallow cone filled with seawater, creating dreamy conditions for hundreds of species of fish and other marine creatures as well as for snorkelers and swimmers. 

Kauai stands out as being distinctly different than the other islands when it comes to volcanoes. It's the oldest island in the archipelago and hasn't experienced any volcanic activity for more than 100 thousand years. As a result of wave, wind, and rain erosion, its volcanic features are gorgeous, but tend to be softer, greener, and more weathered than those on the other islands. From both a geological and a touristic perspective, this transformation isn't boring. On the contrary, visitors may find these effects to be quite fascinating, especially after viewing the rawer landscapes on the younger islands. For the most sweeping vistas of Kauai's stunning volcanic terrain, board a helicopter tour. "You definitely don't want to miss the helicopter tour, it's unbelievable," wrote u/AromaticSun2855 on r/VisitingHawaii.

Redditors also discussed exploring Kauai's mature volcanic landscapes on foot. Consistently mentioned were the hikes in Waimea Canyon State Park, a deep gorge sometimes referred to as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" that formed when a huge volcano on Kauai collapsed. Trails in the state park vary, ranging from short and easy to lookout points and longer, arduous treks that descend into the canyon. For serious adventurers, another recommended hiking trail on Kauai is the long and difficult Blue Hole Falls Trail near the 5,000-foot-tall Mount Wai'ale'ale, a dormant shield volcano. This area receives around 500 inches of rain per year and is actually one of the wettest places on earth, with glorious waterfalls streaking down the mountainsides in some places. Several Redditors recommend hiring a guide when hiking here, as navigating the area can be quite tricky. For example, u/OMGFdave noted, "Not a hiking trail, but rather picking your way through the jungle ... lots of trip/slip hazards, multiple rock-hop river crossings, and non-stop bushwhacking... Unparalleled waterfalls."

Our ranking of the best Hawaiian islands to visit for volcanoes is based on user input from several Reddit threads. User responses to specific questions enabled us to compile our ranking of the kinds of volcanic experiences Redditors said were available on each island. Islands with more experiences tied to active volcanoes were ranked higher than those with fewer such experiences or none. Of the two islands without active volcanoes, we ranked Oahu ahead of Kauai because of its experiences with extinct volcanoes.

We supplemented our Reddit analysis with information from websites like U.S. Geological Survey and Hawaii.com to cross-check facts and provide more details on the archipelago's volcanoes, volcanic landscapes, and geological history. We then examined destination websites like Hawaii.com and Shaka Guide, along with travel blogs, to flesh out the details on the specific volcano adventures available on each island.