Page 96 - Volcano and Geothermal Tourism

The Lure of Lava Tubes: Exploring Lava Tube Tourism on the Big Island of Hawai‘i 73

‑
Nahuku interpretation and leave unaware of the significance
Most Hawai‘i Volcano National Park visitors pay a of Big Island lava tubes and their contents.
‑
‑
visit to Nahuku lava tube (also known as Thurston Sites such as Nahuku, damaged decades before
‑
lava tube). Nahuku is a park destination frequently cave conservation values were widely recognized,
highlighted in a variety of tourism media including are frequently used by parks and others around the
TV programmes, travel books and guides, travel world as ‘sacrificial’ lava tubes to satisfy the public
magazines, post cards, the park’s official web site demand for an easily accessible cave experience, as
and a plethora of internet blogs. The well known well as for visitor education and appreciation
lava tube is visited by between 600,000 (King et purposes. However, more could be done at the
‑
al, 2008) and one million tourists annually Nahuku site to better transmit Big Island lava tube
‑
(Halliday, 2004). Nahuku consists of two distinct values to the public.
segments. The first 120m ‘show cave’ segment is Small group adventure tours
highly developed with a metal entrance bridge, a
paved walking path, interior electric lighting and promote cave conservation
exit stairs (Halliday, 2004). The entrance is through Public understanding of and support for lava tubes
the wall of a small pit crater while the exit is and their protection is a vital element in long‑
through a natural tube skylight (Hazlett and term cave conservation efforts on the Big Island.
Hyndman, 1996). The lava tube can be quite Small group adventure tours into a few of these
crowded during peak hours and noise levels high caves play an important role in fostering and
as people socialize while walking through the maintaining this support. Carefully guided small
cave. group adventure tours are now offered by a
Self‑drive visitors walk through the cave at handful of entrepreneurial cave entrance owners
their own pace and with minimal interpretation. in a limited number of Big Island lava tubes.
Of the numerous large commercial tour buses
which stop at the lava tube, a few of the bus Kula Kai
drivers accompany their group to the beginning
‑
of the Nahuku trailhead and provide nominal Located on the southern part of the island and
interpretation before releasing their clients to walk along Mauna Loa’s southwest rift zone is the
‑
onward and explore the show cave segment. Small Klpuka Kanohina lava tube system of which Kula
group tours visiting the site receive significant Kai Caverns (www.kulakaicaverns.com) is a part.
interpretation about Big Island lava tube values Soluble minerals make the walls of Kula Kai much
from their generally well trained guides. The park lighter in colour than most Hawaiian caves
service offers periodic small group interpretive (Halliday, 2004). Kula Kai Caverns provides a
‑
tours through Nahuku; however, only a small show cave experience as well as a variety of
percentage of park visitors are able to participate adventure tours of various lengths through the
in this opportunity. braided passageways of this lava tube system.
‑
The second segment of Nahuku consists of Owners of Kula Kai Caverns work closely with
about 330m of unlit lava tube. Visitors pass through the Cave Conservancy of Hawai‘i, whose mandate
‑
an open chain link gate and down cave rubble to includes protecting the Klpuka Kanohina lava
‑
enter the dark side of Nahuku. Visitors supply tube system, to ensure proper management of
‑
‑
their own light to explore this part of Nahuku. their cave segment. The Klpuka Kanohina lava
Approximately 85,000–90,000 visitors pass tube system is currently the second longest lava
through the dark side gate unguided annually tube in the world (CCH, 2003).
(King et al, 2008). Though undeveloped, this cave
segment is also heavily impacted and must be Kazumura
cleaned regularly (Stone et al, 2005). The vast Kazumura lava tube, starting near the summit of
‑
majority of visitors to the show cave side and the K l lauea and descending to the east, is currently
‑
dark side of Nahuku lava tube receive minimal the longest lava tube in the world (Halliday, 2004)

Ch04.indd 73 3/28/2010 1:27:10 PM