Parking across the street and bathrooms/picnic area when you walk up. Venture down the steep staircase and it’s: left or right...? I ventured in a little on both sides, fascinating!! I need a brighter flashlight for further exploration!!

Very long cave and its so much fun to explore!! The surroundings are incredible. Id definitely recommend you to bring a flashlight or headlamp so you can get back out safely though!

Wow. Awesome lava tube. Easy access. Go left or right. Left tube exits out to open. Wear close toed shoes and long pants. Keep going! The right tube goes on and on!

Super cool spot just on the side of the road. Climb down a steep ladder and you can go both left and right. The right side goes back farther than the left. At the end of the part you can stand in there is a small tunnel you can crawl through and then the cave opens up again. Bring a flashlight, and be aware not to go too far because you are warned that the tube extends under private lands that you are not supposed to crawl under. Not sure how they would know, however, it is better to be respectful and stay in the areas designated part of the cave park. @donutadventurers

Holy wow this place is incredible. Your natural instinct will be to go to the right but the left cave is actually twice as cool. It looks pretty small but there is a small opening you can sneak under partway through and then its a really long high ceiling tunnel to explore. A cell phone flashlight will work but a longer, more direct beam would probably be better.

Wear good hiking shoes or sneakers and bring a good flashlight. At times will need to bend down not to hit head. Steep andnarrow steps leading down to cave, but has sturdy hand rail. Great tine to visit

Super easy access but steep steps down. Super beautiful! Be sure to shine you flashlight up on the ceilings! They like glitter gold. ... Oh yeah! Bring a flash light!

Had a great time exploring these caves. Bring long sleeves and head lamp to enjoy the experience. Many spaces to crawl through and enjoy. Don’t go if you are claustrophobic or have issues getting into and out of tight spots. Overall lots of fun and laughter.

These caves are very cool, how often do you get to step into a cave (rather, a tube) that is several miles long? If you are daring to go further than the first 10m, do not forget your flashlight! There is literally zero light or sound only a few steps in.You should expect to spend 15-20 minutes in total here, it is a fun and quick stop to make. Be aware of the staircase descending into the caves, It is very steep and thin, it also becomes quite slippery when wet.

Good place to go. But please remember to bring a flashlight because it’s really dark inside the cave. And you still have to be careful of the rock above your head. Never go into a cave alone.

Bring a good pair of shoes and a couple flashlights. The ground is sharp rock and Its extremely dark.

A great choice when its hot outside. The caves are very cool and slightly humid. You can see your breath in certain parts of the cave. Wear shoes with a good grip. Running shoes and hiking shoes worked well for us. A bright headlamp is better than cellphone lights, but our cellphones worked fine. Just be sure you have enough power left on your light if you plan to hike to the end. The hike took about 1 hour total.

Bring a flashlight and good shoes. Nice experience but not for those who cant be physically exerted.

What a magical place to explore and feel you have gone back in time. Good footwear is a must. Bring a headlamp or flashlight to see all the beauty!

If you like feeling like an adventurer or have kids who do, these caves are totally worth the detour. We didnt bring flashlights, but our phones worked well enough. After going down the stairs, the cave on the right is pretty short and would be great if youre nervous about going too deep underground. On the left, that cave has a smaller place you can squeeze into (just bend over to walk in), which opens into a very tall and wide tunnel that you can walk through. Im not sure exactly how long it took to get to the other end, but Id say maybe 15 to 20 minutes? You do have to turn around and trace your step back though, as the other end goes outside but is on private property.

Took the left tunnel all the way to the end took about 30-40 minutes could take less if we didn’t stop for pictures and exploring. Small spot you have to duck only about 10 feet but the rest was standing. Got to the jungle and took the trail to a road. Would advise to go back through the cave to the car NOT walk through the woods and road.

Great to explore. Super fun, bring headlamps!

Very good examples of lava tube caves. The cave to the right appears not to end and gets very stale. The cave to the left is breezy and after a couple hundred feet opens up to field jungle. Bring head lamps or use your phone, wear a hat and watch your head.

Be prepared for a steep descent down a small staircase. The cave(s) are obviously very dark, so bring a good flashlight or headlamp. You can’t walk very far into them anyways because the land is privately owned, but it’s definitely work checking out if you’ve got some time!

You must come and explore these caves. Be sure to get there early in the morning if you want to avoid the crowds. These are popular with mostly one way in and out. BUT if you rather enter the cave on the left at the base of the stairs at the beginning, you can get out to the other end of it. Easy to walk through it with a couple spots where you need to go over some big rocks and boulders. You can tell that there is another exit at the other end by feeling the breeze hitting your face once you get inside. There are two ways at the end of the cave to make it back to the parking lot. Make sure that you follow the trail to the right. That will take you straight to the starting point. If you follow the trail towards the left, youll basically go around and enter a neighborhood near the Kaumana Elementary School. Be aware that the trails are overgrown since it is not permitted to exit the cave to the back side. This a small adventure in the dark. Bring a good flash light and mosquito repellent. They are going to attack you if you dont spray some on you there.

One of the best free attractions... anywhere.Extremely worthwhile and fun but please be prepared. Bring a head lamp, hiking boots, water, and to feel safe I’d recommend a helmet or at least caution while crawling.Also, note that you can go miles and miles. Go further than you think and make the most of the unique experience.

So fun to see! I would recommend going into the cave on the left and not stopping. You will have to crawl and duck a little bit, but only for a few seconds. It opens up and the floor is pretty smooth. When visiting, make sure to wear very sturdy shoes and bring a flashlight as it is pitch black once you get away from the opening! Great example of a lava tube and is so cool! Highly recommend!

Very special experience. Very much like cave dwelling(duh) but with a bit more...connection to the earth. Never have I felt so affected by an aura, so to speak. Sturdy shoes, gloves, and a solid flashlight/lantern is all you need to appreciate the tubes.

I really enjoyed the cave. It was rainy, dark and fun. I highly recommend having good shoes and a flashlight.Its easy to find, theres plenty of parking, on site bathrooms, its free and its fun.Be careful. The cave is dark, the rocks are hard and sharp.

Need strong flashlights. We did about 0.4mi with cellphone flash and started back as we knew we werent prepared enough. We did the right side cave and an experienced person on our trail mentioned that left side is relatively easier to do but is more rugged

Great way to spend an hour near Hilo and its free. Take a headlamp and sturdy shoes. A helmet or hard hat would be helpful. There are some crouching areas, but most you can stand in, while going relatively deep into the tubes. Its peaceful and quiet inside, except for water dripping.

This is a good substitute for the Thurston Lava Tube in the Volcano National Park, which is closed for now for stability reasons.This cave is located close to Hilo, and is quite long.You will need to take a flashlight (torch) with you to assist you inside the cave.Plus it helps you too do photos.If you afraid of dark enclosed areas I wouldnt suggest going in the left tube,but the right side is larger.

Amazing. Just a roadside parking lot, a sign, and some stairs, but holds suns shaking places to adventure!We explored using our camera phone lights, which were bright enough. Having a headlamp would have helped with pictures or to see some of the higher ceilings, but it’s not needed.We took the left tunnel, and after some tips from friends, you dip under the unassuming rock ledge which opens up to a half mile or so cave that you can explore in complete darkness.A good position if it is very easy to navigate even for beginners, just be careful at your get further into the cave where more has collapsed and the terrain gets more challenging.A great way to spend an hour!

Cool spot to visit on your way to or from Hilo to the other side of the island. Want a free lava tube to explore? Bring a headlamp and enjoy a short walk through one!

Amazing experience. The lava tube goes on and on. It can be slippery once we enter deep. There are places where we have crawl in. A must visit.

Very surprising. I am so impressed. I will definitely go back. Two lava tubes and they are amazing.

Small cave but still fun to visit. Not sure how people can wear flip flops there but of course its their choice, I wouldnt recommend it though. I didnt bring a flash light, only used the one in cell phone and thats good enough.

A must see. No cost and at your own risk. Easy if just going to the opening for some pictures. If going in... Bring a head lamp, too dark and youll need your hands free. Jeans and good shoes you dont mind getting dirty.

Hidden gem on the Big Island! We didn’t get a chance to go to the National Park, so the Kaumana Caves were an awesome alternative. Such an interesting adventure into the lava tube! Make sure you have well charged lights and study shoes!

Absolutely beautiful. Flashlight, solid shoes and some water are highly recommended if youre going to venture in a ways. Would not recommend this place for those who are out of shape or have poor balance.

Really excellent unique cave. You can see the different lava flows over the years contrasted with stalagmite and stalagmite formations. You can explore for a while - it gets maybe 4 feet high at some places but there are 2 caves to explore and lots of wide open chambers... not idea how deep they go. I went during the rain and it doesnt seem to flood at all - good Plan B if your Plan A is rained out. The only bummer is people are desecrating the geological formations with their names and breaking them off in some places. So disrespectful! Definitely worth the excursion...

Went to the right side when entering. Walked for about an hour into the cave taking pictures and making sure to memorize the way out as there were several forks. Didnt go all the way out to the right as didnt feel experienced enough to push through and not get lost. Would definitely enjoyed having more light like a head lamp. Knee pads and gloves would be nice too as there are a lot of jagged rocks and places to crawl through.

Excellent! You can walk for miles into the tubes. We were the only ones there early in the morning and spent a few hours exploring. Headlamps are a must if you want to go deeper, and some work gloves can help with the rock crawling.

Interesting lava cave. Right side is a lot easier than the left side. Remember to bring flashlights! We only use our phone flashlight as we did not bring any, but it still works somehow. Be very careful and watch your step as you walk in the cave. Lava rocks can be slippery and sharp. Parking lot is very limited. Great for adventure.

This was our first stop on our day spent exploring Hilo.The caves are really pretty from the outside. There are two different caves/lava tubes.You can actually walk in and explore them if you bring a head lamp. We left ours in the car and didnt plan to spend a lot of time here, so we didnt go very far in.Located right by the town of Hilo, this is worth at least a quick stop to check out.

It’s definitely a memorable adventure! Our family of 4 and another couple made it all the way into the right cave more than 0.5 mile. Thank goodness we were prepared well with brand new headlamps and good hiking shoes(we are from Colorado and hike a lot). It’s very dark and some places are only about 3 ft of clearance, even we were very careful, still hit my heat 2 times and scratched my finger. High humidity from water dripping down from the top of the cave, getting hot and sweaty and you can feel the oxygen level is decreasing while you go deeper into the cave. There were different colors arrow marks on the cave, the orange one seemed like a good one for us to follow and we stopped when we felt not comfortable to pass the very narrow spaces on both sides. It was very unique adventure and saw lots of different rock formations after volcano erupted in 1881. It’s not a easy hike, I could rate it moderate if you explore deep into the cave. Well worth it!Parking was easy just cross the street.

Really awesome hidden gem! Wear good shoes and bring a flashlight if you plan to explore the caves beyond the entrance area. We followed the right-hand cave for several hundred yards (it kept on going past that, though!) and the left-hand one as far as we could go. It ended at a gorgeous little skylight with plants and vines. Decent parking, bathrooms on site and a water fountain as well - just be careful crossing the road as its on a blind corner! Overall a must-see if youre in the area and have any interest in spelunking or geology/volcanology.

Amazing textures. You get to see the different lava rocks. The cave also goes really deep. Also, there’s parking on the opposite side of the road. There’s a bathroom on top too.

Bring multiple flashlights! Thought this was going to be touristy, but is a very raw experience. You can go either left or right from the bottom of the stairs (recommend heading left). Some crawl through portions but the caves open up and are very cool to see (as long as you brought that flashlight)!

We learned a lot about lava tubes and beginning spelunking on this trip! The formations of the lava and cave stalagmites are fascinating. We could have gone on for many more miles, but got hungry for lunch. Would love to go on the two day to someday!

Awesome place! Simply amazing. Just wish there were some walkways and lights inside.

Great lava tube experience. You are completely on your own here. Bring a light and be prepared to crawl. It is VERY humid inside and you will sweat once you start exerting yourself. Keep in mind the tunnels go very far .

This place is awesome. Free parking on the other side of the road, washrooms for convenience. Bring a head lamp, you’ll need it. The caves just keep going and going. Incredible sight.

Awsome experience.Bring shoes.Bring a flashlight.It really is amazing to walk through these lava tubes.The first part is rocky.But once you go further in it smooths out a bit.

I would definitely recommend coming to the kaumana lava caves if you’re on the Big Island. They were a little creepy, but if you can get over that they’re really neat. I kept waiting for the predator vs alien noises to start happening when we got back pretty far, but we ended up being okay. Be super careful, because it’s very slippery. When entering the caves we saw a girl with her head busted open. Be super careful

Loved this place. Just watch your step. Its very dark and slippery. Work of nature

Must visit in Hilo. Bring flashlight and wear closed toes shoes. The parking lot is across the street and on a blind curve so be careful when crossing the street. Very steep set of stairs descends into the cool darkness of the cave. It’s also very damp and cool, with vines and roots hanging from the ceiling. Watch your step and be especially aware of moist lava rocks that can be very slippery, and also sharp, loose rocks.

Bring a flashlight, even better a head lamp if you want to explore the whole cave. Some places get pretty tight.

Fun! Fun! Tough hike in and out. A great adventure! Be ready with a head lamp, and water!!! Also to climb up and over and under. And to crawl through small spaces. Something you just gotta do!!!

Bring a flash light, you will need it.

Cave tubes for lava to escape from. Its a nice place to visit. Bring a flashlight if you wanna go deeper into the caves. You can see the various formations from previous lava.

Cool place to visit if you are near the area make sure to bring a flashlight a phone flash light will not work to well they go really deep if you want to hike you most likely will not be able to reach the end little bits of water will fall on your head while your walking and it will get humid far into the caves

The kids really enjoyed exploring the caves. They go far back. please make sure you bring a headlamp. This gives you hands free in navigating your way around. I had read in a previous post about having a flashlight so we bought the headlamps and I have to say ot was so much easier to get around and catch yourself as some areas are a bit treacherous. Also watch your head in spots. So many people were coming out with cuts and scrapes on their heads from exploring.

A favorite of mine while visiting Big Island! Make sure you have a rain coat, hiking shoes, lantern and have fun. The cave has 2 wings, and if you feel adventurous, you can walk for miles!

These lava caves are great to spend an hour. It can be easily missed if one’s driving fast as they are in the middle of residential area. Once you get down to the caves, you walk around 30 metres before it becomes narrower.

This lava tube is really primitive and you must bring flashlight to explore a little further. It is free to visit here and there is restroom at the site. Because of heavy showers we did not try to walk too long inside. Highly recommended if you have spare time in Hilo.

This place is awesome. Bring a flashlight because you will need it. There are two caves which look like old lava vent tubes. The right one is the deepest and the better of the two. The different layers of lava in these caves are remarkable. Its a must see - is free - and right along the roadway so no hiking is required except to enter the caves. There are still a lot of loose rock inside each cave so beware. Enjoy. Aloha.

Very cool, make sure you have good shoes and a flashlight.

Awesome 10 min to as long as you want adventure. You really want to bring the proper flashlight - phone flash is not strong enough

Nice quick spot with parking. Interesting caves

Fun to explore the Lava Tube here. Wear good shoes and bring a flashlight. Be careful of the rocks as you walk through.

If youre claustrophobic I would highly highly suggest going through the tunnel on the left to really go out of your comfort zone. Its vacation be adventurous! DO NOT WEAR OPEN TOED SHOES. Bring a flashlight, water and a hat due to tight spaces and very pointy rocks. I loved it.

Excellent caves. Its a steep Cement staircase, hold the railings as you go down. The cave on the left as you go down is smaller, bit if you take a flashlight, try and reach the ledge that splits the cave in 2. The cave to the right as you go down, is much bigger, but you still need a torch if you are going through the entrance. Spectacular spot. Theres a restroom and picnic tables at the top provided by the Lions Club. We spent about 1 hour here in total. You can get some amazing photos from inside the cave. Be careful, the rocks are loose and slippery, so good shoes are a must.

Interesting walk though the lava tubes. Self guided, bring a good flashlight. Wear good shoes. Go explore!

Dark, dank, and interesting. Definitely need a bright light (500 lumens) or more to really see everything. Also good footwear and a hat.

Best part about Kaumana Caves: FREE & SPOOKY. At first I was incredibly terrified but once youre in there for a few its not that scary and not hard at all. You definitely NEED good sneakers and head lamp flashflights. Other than that youre all set, some places you might need to crawl but super easy, just watch out for your head. Very easy and super cool looking at lava rock!

Great cave! Lush green on the outside. Dark on the inside! Need a flashlight. You must watch your footing! So many variations of rock. Almost a grotto with water dripping everywhere.

Frightening and anxiety inducing when the only light in the cave is coming from your flashlight, but well worth it. Scenery inside the cave is unbelievable. It truly is like visiting another planet. Must experience if you are able.

Very cool cave system (pun intended). I walked about 10 minutes into the left tunnel and enjoyed the experience. Wouldve gone farther but the flashlight I packed wasnt the greatest so I turned around.

Bring headlamps and explore the caves, with some crawling you can get in there pretty deep, but there are no guides or ways so be sure what you are doing.

The lava tube caves were so cool! The yellow stairs are pretty steep down to left and right cave. We went down the left cave first which took us about an hour to get through and there was an end that went out into the forest but there weren’t any trails to go out on. The right cave was easier to walk through but there were some lava shelves we had to climb down in and walk through. We went through there for about an hour but it just kept going and going. Bring hats to keep the water from dripping on your face, watch footing, watch for low hanging rocks, bring a powerful flashlight to see all the caves beauty otherwise a phone flashlight can still get you through. They have bathrooms before the stairs and parking is limited. Unfortunately some parts of the cave have graffiti over the walls though. Will do again!

Two caves, basically you enter from a collapsed roof in the middle. Two the right it is a short walk, to he left once you clear the short cat walk, you enter a large and long cave system.It is a must see attraction. And it is free. Just bring a flash light, make sure you have proper shoes, and watch your head.

Convenient location above town. No long distance hiking involved to enter cave. Parking across Kaumana Drive.

Definitely an amazing place. The roof of a lava tube collapsed in and gave access inside. You can go down both directions, but it is of course very dark inside and shoes with support are highly recommended. I would also say that I wouldnt go during or after it rains, as the floor gets slippery and the rain water seeps in through the roof.

An excellent lava tube. There are two tubes, one left and one right. For both tubes you will need a headlight/torch as its pitch black inside, good footwear is also recommended.The left is quite high and open once you enter at the rear of the primary cavern and you can easily wander down the tube and admire the geology.The right tube, after the main cavern, is a smaller tube which may affect claustrophobics, but its very interesting. There are numerous basalt outcroppings and mineral patches. The first 75 metres is as far as we went and it was easy going.I highly recommend a visit here as an excellent trip for anyone interested in geology/volcanism.

Small but interesting. There was parking across the street, free entry to 2 caves, water fountain and bathrooms on site. The caves were very clean, running water on the ground, very dark (bring a proper flashlight, mine was 1000 lumens which proved right). It is not a place for people who arent wearing stable footwear or arent steady on their feet (with strong-ish ankles and wrists). They are very dark inside, warm-ish, and dont go back very far (40 yards) without you getting considerably more adventurous as they turn into a tunnel that is maybe 3 ½ high that curves and no light escapes from(the story i heard is that there was a collapse in 2018 that closed off these caves at the other end). I did not see any wildlife inside, or smell any foul odors(which is weird i thought). The places were lousy with etchings from people scratching their names into the lava flow(better than tagging gangster garbo i guess). I had fun, and they were interesting; i recommend dropping in if on this side of the island.

It is a great lava tube to explore. The one to the left of the entrance takes a little effort to get into but once you get about 40 ft in and duck under the entrance it opens up into a very long cathedral looking tunnel as you walk along the old cooled lava stream. Bring a bunch of flashlights of your own and explore. It only takes about 20 minutes to get pretty deep in. Your cellphone wont work inside so I recommend you have someone that knows you went in stay outside and trade off so everyone can experience it.

Nice visit into the cave. We didnt go far.

Such a great last minute stop. Bring headlamps or a flashlight, and good shoes. Venture further than just the opening, and you wont be disappointed. A right and left entrance are available to explore. The many different geologic formations are awesome.

I highly recommend walking into this lava tube. It goes on for kilometres, and is one of the last publicly accessible tubes around.

This place is so cool! Two caves to explore - and one goes pretty far back. Bring bug spray and a really powerful flashlight!

Must see. Lava tube cave to the left at foot of stairs has a beautiful waterfall a short distance back. Be sure to take a powerful flashlight.

Awesome. Wear shoes. Can be quite cool.

I’m very courageous and went really far into the cave. If you are like me, make sure you have plenty of light and water. There is no cell service so don’t do it alone.

Nice place to visit, definitely a must if in Hilo areaIt’s a must to have flashlights as it gets pitch darkHowever your phone flashlight may be sufficient... I used my iPhone flashlight and was enoughParking seems to be limited, be aware

The floor is lava! You have to climb over lava rocks so bring good shoes and a flash light

Fun lava tube stop while island touring. Right next to road and in S turns. BE CAREFUL CROSSING STREET. Stairs down can be slippery so use rails. You can crawl in tube as far as you field comfortable. Has a small opening shortly into 1 of the tubes that maybe claustrophobic for some. Great experience glad we did it, but be safe climbing over boulders/rocks

Such a unique place to visit. If youre able bodied, definitely try it. Theres about twenty steep steps to go down and you have two choices of tubes to visit. We went to the left one, the smallest crawl space was about three feet and then the tube opened up to some areas of thirty feet. I loved how it wasnt crowded. When we went we were the only ones until we were exiting. Its quiet and oddly peaceful inside. Must take headlamps with at least 100 lumens. The more lumens, the better experience you will have!

The Cave you Fear to enter.. holds the treasure You Seek

Spooky place. Traveler be careful, very slippery

Amazing caves! Looks so majestic!

Seriously, this place is awesome! Bring a good flashlight and/or headlamp to explore the cave for free! It is quite slippery and wet in there, so wear good shoes and watch your step (and head!). We didnt go very far, so I cant tell how long the cave is, as it is getting narrower the further you walk. Definitely not suitable for claustrophobic people.

Really fun place to test your fear and push through clostrophobia.

Good place to explore since the one in the volcano national park is closed, better come with a guide

Amazing experience... A must do. Dont forget the head lamps...its easier than using your phone due to loose rocks and having to hold on to certain areas. Watch your head it tends to get low even for a shorty like me.