Kīlauea’s summit crater has been erupting in on-and-off episodes since December 2024, and the park entrance sits just past Volcano Village. When an episode runs, you can watch the Halemaʻumaʻu glow from the overlooks after dark. Between episodes there’s no glow. Check the USGS eruption update before planning your evening around it.
If you’re deciding whether Volcano deserves a night instead of a drive-by: from Kona, Waikoloa, or Waimea the round trip is 4 to 5 hours in the car, so sleeping in the village beats day-tripping. The rental houses here run cheaper than the Kona coast, and many come with a fireplace or a hot tub. Nights are cool and wet at this elevation, so you will use both.
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If you’re using Volcano Village as a base to explore the surrounding area (Hilo, Puna and the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park), these are the destinations we recommend.
#1: Explore the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
The Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park starts just up the road from Volcano Village.
The Kīlauea Iki hiking trail takes you over the still-fuming floor of the Kīlauea Iki crater.
The park is BIG: you can easily spend a couple of days here. Start with these five:
- The easy/intermediate difficulty Kīlauea Iki hiking trail.
- A road trip down Chain of Craters Road.
- The Volcano Art Center to pick up local art for home.
- A hike through the Thurston lava tube.
- Seeing the glow from the Halemaʻumaʻu crater at night, during an eruption episode.
The Halemaʻumaʻu glow after dark is the reason to sleep nearby, and it comes and goes with Kīlauea’s eruption episodes.
#2: More things to do in and around Volcano Village
Outside the park, Volcano Village has a few stops of its own, such as the Akatsuka Orchid Garden or the local Volcano Winery. You can find a complete list of all these activities in our article on things to do in Volcano Village.
Beaches, hot springs and road trips
Hawaiʻi’s most famous black sand beach, Punaluʻu Beach, is close to Volcano Village. It’s also known for the turtles that often spend time on the beach and in the water.
The east side of the Big Island also has a few scenic drives. The Puna coast’s “red road” lost its northern end and the old Kapoho hot ponds to the 2018 eruption; our hot ponds guide covers what survived, including the new thermal ponds at Pohoiki.
The Kapoho-Kalapana road (“red road”) in Puna, photographed before the 2018 eruption buried its northern end and the Kapoho-area hot ponds
#3: Spend the night in the rainforests of Volcano Village
A day trip is always too short for a visit to Volcano Village, especially from the west side. Visiting the park means a full day on your feet, and the drive back home after sunset is a challenge.
Spend at least one night in the village. Check out our favorite vacation rentals in Volcano Village.
A typical back road in Volcano Village: Anuhea Circle Drive, hemmed in by hāpuʻu tree ferns
Sunrises in Volcano Village
The other highlight of spending the night is waking up here. We wake to this dawn chorus every morning: the birds start before first light, and the video below is what a village morning sounds like.
