Kilauea Caldera

This is a picture I took of the Kilauea Caldera. Within the Caldera, you can see the Halema'uma'u Crater. Also visible are some volcanic fumes escaping from the ground.

This area is part of the Volcanoes National Park. Mount Kilauea is considered one of the most active volcanoes in the world. We were told that it is the most active.

The Caldera is about 1200 meters above sea level. The park has a good road that goes around most of the Caldera and even goes into part of it. There is a Visitor Center and a Museum. When we were there, no lava flows were visible. The last lava flow inside the Caldera was in 1982.

On the south side of the mountain, there are two active flows coming from the side of the mountain through lava tubes into the ocean. When we left Hilo, the ship sailed around the south side of the island and we were able to view these flows from the ship. Because it was at night, I was not able to get a good picture of this with the camera I had. But it was a awe inspiring sight.