Kilauea Volcano Reviving The Big Island's Tourism?

Above, red-hot lava in a Kilauea Volcano crater. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When I took a helicopter flight over Kilauea Volcanon on Hawaii's Big Island five years ago, the volcano was quiet. 

Even though quiet, the volcano treated the helicopter's passengers to a visual treat of red-hot lava in a crater. 

Now, after the volcano has erupted again, hope has risen that people wanting to view it will help revive tourism to the Big Island.

CNN Travel reported:

(CNN) — Five days before Christmas, Cheryl Gansecki, a volcanologist at the University of Hawaiʻi Hilo, was in bed when a small earthquake shook her awake sometime after 9:30 p.m.

She checked the webcams at the summit of the Kīlauea Volcano, and her eyes went wide when she saw it -- the bright, bold glow coming from the crater.

The lava. It had returned.

She promptly made the 45-minute drive to the crater rim, adjacent to the Visitors Center at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. By the time she arrived at 10:45 p.m., word had spread far and wide.

"Tons of people were already there, and there were traffic jams," Gansecki said.

The last time Kīlauea spewed lava was more than two years ago in the summer of 2018, when it mercilessly flowed through neighborhoods and destroyed more than 700 homes.

Still, many felt compelled to go and see. Hundreds of cars showed up within a few hours, according to the park. It was a mix of curious locals, scientists, photographers and business owners.

They gathered at the Kīlauea Overlook, where a brilliant, orange glow illuminated the crater, reflecting against the green of the trees and the brown of the rock.

Everyone was asking variations of the same questions that night: What would this eruption become? Would it stabilize and provide an opportunity for the island's economy, which has been devastated by the pandemic, to rebound? Would it entice people to travel to Hawaiʻi and see one of nature's greatest displays?

Taking a helicopter flight over an active volcano is something everyone should do. The helicopter tour I took was with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters out of Hilo.

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