Matthew G.
Yelp
This attraction is difficult to rate, because there are some nice things about it and some not-so-nice things... so I'll just break it down:
Pros:
1) Right on the Hana Highway. We weren't planning on coming here, but stumbled upon it by accident... I was actually interested in seeing the Heiau at the nearby gardens, but for some crazy reason that place is closed on weekends... Instead, we saw the sign for the lava tube and, even though I have been in some before (on the Big Island and a other locations), I love caves and caving and volcanoes (and I am a teacher who just started a unit on volcanoes with my students), so we had to give a go.
2) The lava tube is fairly large, not too crowded (unlike the ones at Volcano National Park on the big island), and somewhat interesting -- there are a few formations (numerous brown stalactites and a few stalagmites)
3) There are numerous informational signs inside, which teach you about the formations, the geological forces causing the shapes of the interior, and the history of the cave (both geological and more recent, as fallout shelter and as repository for cow bones from local ranching/slaughtering.) The cave is not lit, but includes a bright flashlight -- I prefer it this way, I think.
Cons:
1) The price is a bit steep. I mean, for comparison the cost of Haleakala is $10 PER CAR; here it's $12.50 per person (there were only 2 of us; if I had kids to pay for as well, I don't think I would have done it)
2) There is a definite creepy factor here. Maybe it was seeing the blatant uber-conservative Teabertarian signs prominently displayed in front of the property, unavoidable from parking lot and purchase area ("End the Fed!"; "Get rid of the IRS!", stuff like that); maybe it was the story of the thousands of bones of slaughtered cows that used to fill the cave; maybe it was the sign inside that said something like "This used to be a fallout shelter, but the government doesn't seem to worry about that anymore. It couldn't support more than 15 people for 6 months anyway, so the owner has made sure to stock enough supplies for himself and 14 women." (joke? Hard to tell with this guy...)