Caves!!! (Hilo, Wailuku, Kilauea: buying, camping, living in)

[Sweetbeet]

We were wondering if there are any caves in Hawaii (this came up as a side issue after we found out about the only native land mammal, the Hawaiian hoary bat). Well, there are! Not just Thurston Lava tube, and one other on Maui, but a whole network of lava tubes near south point on the Big Island. You can take an extensive tour complete with hard hats, knee pads, and lots of crawling around on rocks and shimmying through narrow passageways. Some guy bought the land because he knew there were caves under it, and developed it a bit into an educational attraction.

How cool is that!!! (Well, for caveheads like us anyway - we once went on a whole summer vacation designed to get us to almost every cave in Pennsylvania.)

Just thought there might be someone out there interested in this. We are definitely going to check it out next time we get to the BI.

Google Kula Kai Caverns for more info.

[leilaniguy]

There are many lava caves in Puna too. Some contain burial bones and are considered kapu. Kazimura cave is well known to spelunkers, runs about 25 miles from Kilauea volcano all the way down to Kaloli pt. and drops from nearly 4000' altitude down to about 100'.

[Sweetbeet]

Wow! That's amazing. Are there places along the way where you can get in and out? Or once you're in do you have to hike the whole 25 miles?

Sounds like we can put together a whole spelunking vacation on the BI.

[Jungjohann]

Wasn't there a guy years ago outside of Hilo that had a rather large "agricultural" project going on inside a lava tube, and we're not talking shiitake mushrooms. He ended up getting busted because he kept on buying fertilizer from the same store, and gas from the same station to run the generator to run the "lights"........Ahhh, the Bigger Island........

Aloha

[leilaniguy]

There are skylights (openings) along the way but most, if not all are on private property. There is someone in Orchidland offering tours from their skylight, they have a tiny sign on a phone pole along hwy 130 at Aulii drive that just says "cave" with an arrow. Sorry, no other info.That "farmer" who got busted was down at Oceanview. He had also built a huge deck over the cave entrance to hide it and was reported by a helicopter pilot.

[sevenofsix]

I remember reading about this one WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) -- The state has evicted a Maui woman from a lava tube she has lived in for the last three years. Karen Mayfield, 50, has pleaded innocent to three misdemeanor charges for illegal camping, disturbing a geological feature and littering. Her trial is scheduled to start May 31. source: Hawaii Evicts Woman Living in Lava Tube

[Mar0]

There are a few caves on the North Shore of Kauai- but nothing like the caves of the Big Island and Maui...

[109*]

Attention: to anyone going on or organizing a tour of a Hawaiian lava tube, (cave).You need to be aware, that in Hawaii you own your property down to the core of the earth, you are tresspassing, unless you own all the property. You may also be endangering ancient Hawaiian burial sights or artifacts. Please no one endorse this radical behavior. You could be arressted for tresspassing! Please unless you are on state or county property, do not tresspass on others property! You can contact the dept. of land and natural resources to see if you would be tresspassing. If you get hurt in a cave on private property, the owner could be sued. Would you like tourist running around under your house? Big island.