Hawaii lava tube tours don’t show up on a typical itinerary, but the people who do them never forget the experience. You’re standing inside the literal plumbing of a volcano, a tunnel that once carried molten rock so hot it glowed orange, now cool enough to walk through with a flashlight. (For the geology of how these form, see the NPS overview of lava tubes.)
Here’s the catch for summer 2026: the Maui cave many travelers search for first, Hāna Lava Tube (Kaʻeleku Caverns), is currently closed. The operator says it is temporarily closed by the government while officials schedule an archaeological inventory survey. Booking aggregators still list it. Don’t drive out the Hāna Highway for it.
That leaves three good lava tubes, all on the Big Island, all open right now. One is paved and family-friendly. One is free and self-explore. One is a guided trip into the longest known continuous lava tube on Earth, booked by phone.
