POA Seeing the lava

I have been convinced not to take the lava boat excursions because they are too dangerous.

But when Pride of America sails around the Big Island will we be able to see the lava flowing into the ocean? We're bringing binoculars & cameras with telephoto lenses.

I saw a video yesterday of the lava flow and a small boat near the steam and waves that the lava made when going into the ocean. Nope, don't want to see it that up close and personal. Looked really dangerous to me. The POA is supposed to sail by the Volcano/lava, but not so close that it would pose a danger to the passengers. We are leaving Honolulu on the 25th of Feb and should be able to report back when we get back home.

Sorry to report that we saw on the news last night that the lava shelf has just collapsed where the "fire hose" flow was going into the ocean, so as of right now the flow has stopped. When it did collapse, those boats that you saw so close had passengers hit by flying debris - just what people warn about. I'm sure they had to sign very detailed releases to get on the boat, so they probably have no recourse at this point.

You can keep up to date on the conditions on the National Park Services website. Here's a link to the 'what's going on with the volcano' page:

https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm

I was down in the Kalapana area today and there is a large steam plume in the distance which means there is still some lava flowing into the ocean. Probably just not that incredible lava hose that was active last week. There should still be good viewing from the cruise ships.

I hope we'll be able to see it. Nature sure is an awesome force that we can't control or predict.

Do the tour boats really get that close that they pose a danger to the passengers?How close do they get to the lava and what would be a safer, more reasonable distance?

For me, if I was running a tour boat, yes, I'd want my passengers to get their money's worth, but I certainly would not put them (and me) in a dangerous situation by getting too close.

Never been there but hope to in the next 3-4 years.

Just returned from our cruise. You will have a good experience if you take your binoculars with you. The ship sails by slowly with the narration but it's still pretty far. You see the orange glow but if you want to see the lava hit the ocean and form steam plumes binoculars will help. Also, the flow changes constantly so no guarantees on what you will see on the day.