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Enjoy a mental Vacation to Hawaii anytime through beautiful photographs taken by Mike & Kim Crinella, owners of this web site and the company A Friend in the Islands. All photos are copyrighted by Mike & Kim Crinella for use on our web sites alohafriendsphotos.com, alohafriends.com, alohafriendshawaii.com, and alohafriendsluau.com and may not be copied or used without our written permission. We no longer offer use of any of our photographs for any purpose. We now offer in our NEW Island Print Shop dozens of clothing options, framed enlargements, tile coasters, mousepads, and other fun items featuring our custom images and many of our photographs featured in this Hawaii Photo Gallery reflecting Hawaii's beauty and lifestyles.

Below is our lava cave exploration experience on the island of Maui...

Click here to see the cave map full size

Ka'eleku Caverns is the 18th largest cavern system in the world. Maui Cave Adventures in Hana offers guided explorations of Ka'eleku Caverns to suit all cave-exploring adventurers! The adventures are not excessively strenuous but you must be steady on your feet, you will be walking on a lava cave floor covered with gravel and uneven rock surfaces. A scenic walking tour and a "wild" adventure tour are offered daily. The walking takes you about a half mile deep into the winding volcanic lava tube system where powerful flashlights enable adventurers to check out interesting rock formations, stalagmites, and stalactites caused by lava flows thousands of years ago. The "Wild" Adventure Tour covers all the same territory as the walking tour but goes deeper into the cave and has optional climbing and crawl adventures that take you to see hidden rooms and interesting formations. On our recent visit to Maui we ventured on the "Wild" Adventure Tour and below is an account of our adventure...

Ka'eleku Caverns check-in house and gardens

Cavern entrance covered in flowers and ferns

Upon checking in flashlights, gloves, water and a snack are provided with a fanny pack to carry your stuff or a spare flashlight. We recommend bringing a camera but don't plan to bring much more than that because you need to travel light. After a quick briefing with a question and answer session we were ready to hit the trail.

The cavern entrance is one of two sources of natural light entering the cave.

Rare "Corncob" Mineral Stalagmite. This is the only one known like it in Maui!

Our guide, Chuck is very knowledgeable about Ka'eleku Caverns and where all of the geological formations on the floors, ceilings and walls can be seen and how they were formed. From the entrance and through out the cave Chuck stopped to point out interesting formations, cracks, and side tube openings. He had a super bright light in addition to our already powerful flashlights to enable us to get better perspectives of our surroundings and for better lighting for photos.

Chuck shows how after the lava stopped flowing through the tube the clues left behind tell what type of activity took place to create what can be seen today.

With no light, taking good cave photos takes a strong light or strobe flash for automatic cameras. Be sure you are stabilized for long exposures.

Being inside the cave is cool, but not cold, and very quiet except for water dripping and cinders crunching under your feet. There aren't any bats, spiders, or mosquitoes found in the cave. It's pitch black in there and you can't see a foot in front of your face without flashlights, except for the areas with skylights. It is amazing to see what surrounds you when you shine your flashlight around.

Hard chocolatey looking stalactites of lava coat the ceiling of one area of the cave.

The Pahoehoe lava filled the cavern and drained quickly leaving smooth gray colored walls in another area of the cave.

Several sections of the cave look like they're coated in smooth and creamy chocolate frosting! A rush of hot smooth brown lava flowed into the already formed lava tube filling up to the ceiling before breaking through. There are areas that look like chocolate brownies caused by the lava hardening on top and cracking as pressure pushed up from within as the gasses in the lava cooled and expanded.

A bit of lava seeping through a crack in the wall.

The edge of the smooth and chocolatey lava flow.

Since it's original formation thirty thousand years ago successive lava flows have entered the cave through fissures, other tubes, or through the entrances of the cave. Flood waters have also come into the cave bringing in some sticks, cow bones, and debris.

The cavern is full of side trails with tight squeezes and narrow ways. Some lead to dead ends and some rooms yet to be explored!

"The Boat Hull" is a solid cylindrical lava flow.

Everywhere you look you'll see one fascinating thing after another. Stalactites and stalagmites abound in the cave as you might expect. If you get confused between stalagmites and stalactites, think of the "g" in stalagmites as standing for the "ground" they rise from, and the "c" in stalactites as standing for ceiling they hang from.

An interesting glob was formed when a sulphurous lava flow coated the ceiling and, because of the nature of the lava not to adhere, this glob fell to the floor into what is best described as "The Dog Poop" formation.

We're only a little more than halfway through the tour and it's time to take a little break and have a snack. Chuck is actually the owner of Maui Cave Adventures and has explored caves around the world. Our group listened as Chuck regaled us with stories of his explorations of submarine and subterranean caves.

We're in a cavern with 30-40 foot high ceilings.

This "brownie crust" form has a smooth cracked surface.

Our adventure had already been filled with "Wild" discoveries and when the really wild part began. We climbed up a chimney tube to gain access to a upper level ledge area with interesting stalagmites including the only known white "corncob" stalagmite. Climbing up a rocky ledge for a view of a unique stalagmite or up a twenty foot ladder to secret chambers are just a sample of the excitement on this exploration.

Suddenly, I'm just half the man I used to be! Be sure when you go to watch your knees and elbows in these tight spots like this chimney vent shown above.

Kim making her way up the cave wall with a rope.

In the late 1990's Chuck single handedly dug out a blockage in the cave which opened access to a portion of the lava cave that was perfectly preserved in the condition it was left when it was created. In the exploration of the cave Chuck found no evidence that any other humans had ever been in that portion of the cave. He has found a couple of skeletons of a variety of bats that are now extinct. There are still many areas of the cave yet discovered. We were fortunate to be able to go into a new area of the cave Chuck recently discovered. It is exciting to know you are one of the few people on earth that will ever enjoy the amazing beauty that was created in the cave. On our adventure we all were very careful not to break off any stalagmites or stalactites in order to preserve the integrity of the cave.

Our group of four in a smooth dead-end cave.

There are golden mineral deposits and calcium and lime from the moisture seeping into the cave

There's no shortage of little nooks to tuck yourselves into, but we never felt cramped or claustrophobic. It's really comfortable in the cave and is a nice place to investigate even for someone who's a little sheepish. All side adventures are optional so if anything isn't comfortable for you then you do not have to do it. But don't be afraid to challenge yourself. It is worth it!

We continue on our journey into the deeper parts of the cavern where we get to scootch and belly crawl into a secret room where we turned off all of our lights and appreciated the quiet, blackness, and the depth of the caves.

It's a little bit of a tight squeeze...

but with a little wiggling and scooching soon your enter into another room in the cave

Cave exploration is something few nature lovers ever get to experience and we enjoyed every inch of Ka'eleku Caverns. Chuck was an excellent guide and was very helpful to us all, we were all very appreciative of his knowledge and guidance.

If our adventure sounds like fun to you we highly recommend including Maui Cave Adventures Tours of Ka'eleku Caverns on your Hawaiian vacation. The 1 hour walking tour takes you about a half mile into the lava tube. The walking tour is usually offered at 11am (subject to changes) and is suitable for adventurers eight and older. The Wild Adventure tour usually starts at 1pm (subject to changes) and was about a 2-2 1/2 hour exploration suitable for ages fifteen or older. The cave can be damp in places so be prepared to get a little wet and dirty. For your protection closed toe shoes (sneakers or hiking boots) and long pants are required. We recommend wearing jeans, we found sweatpants don't offer adequate protection and get stuck on jagged lava rock. Ka'eleku Caverns is located at about three miles from Hana Town and is easy to find. If you're not staying in Hana allow three hours drive from Kihei or West Maui. Reservations for tours are highly recommended, walk-ins are welcomed based on space availability. In 2001 the Scenic Walking Tour was $29 per person and the "Wild" Adventure Tour was $69 per person. For current rates and reservations call 808 248-7308, tell them you heard about their adventures on www.alohafriends.com

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