We took the tour to the caldera with the volunteer - it was outstanding. He spent time talking about the geology, age of the islands, the volcanos on Hawaii and history of the park itself. Plus, he knows his stuff about volcano's, the rain forest we went through to get to the floor of the caldera. Wow. Takes about 2 hours round trip and it's a haul back up out of the caldera. Wear good shoes, bring your water and enjoy. We then ate lunch in the lodge overlooking the volcano. Excellent service, good food and the view! Nice gift shops in the lodge, too.

Be prepared for a full day adventure if Driving From Kona area. Absolutely stunning area. A lot of the park was closed due to gas levels being high including the Lava Cave we had hopped to see. Be prepared to do some hiking if you want to see things up and personal. Otherwise, you can drive a lot of it. No volcanic activity while we were there but still so worth the visit.