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Hawaii’s Back yard  Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi
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Underground wonderland
awaits in a Maui lava tube
CHUCK Thorne's first memory of caving was tunneling through the front yard of his home with a toy shovel when he was 5.Since then the 52-year-old avid spelunker has explored caves all over the United States, from California to Missouri to Pennsylvania. Last year, he traveled to Slovenia, which boasts more than 7,000 caves -- the most per square foot of any country.
Maui cave adventuresWhere: To get to Kaeleku Caverns from Kahului, drive east on the Hana Highway (360). Past mile marker 31, turn left on Ulaino Road. Drive about four-tenths of a mile to the Kaeleku Caverns visitor center entrance. The drive will take about two hours. Allow three hours from Lahaina, Kaanapali, Kihei and Wailea.Tours: Two tours are offered daily except Sunday. The Scenic Walking Tour lasts about an hour and is open to ages 6 and older. Although there is no paved path, most of the trip is easy. Some parts require walking over rough, uneven lava. You'll have to duck in a couple of places, and crawling is optional for those wearing long pants. There is a maximum of 20 participants for this tour, which starts at 11 a.m. The cost is $29 per person, including flashlights, hard hats and hip packs. Children 6 through 17 must be accompanied by an adult. Kamaaina receive a 10 percent discount. You must be at least 15 years old to go on the 2 1/2-hour Wild Adventure Tour, geared for the physically fit. Participants must climb a 20-foot ladder and crawl through tight spots. Required attire is jeans, T-shirt and closed-toe shoes. There is a maximum of 10 hikers for this tour, which begins at 1 p.m. The cost is $69 per person, including everything provided on the walking tour plus gloves, purified water and a candy bar. Call: 808-248-7308. Those without transportation can call Temptation Tours, 808-877-8888. E-mail: info@mauicave.com Web site: www.mauicave.com
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The molten lava flowed down toward the sea, carving a hollow tube measuring what Thorne believes to be at least four miles long; massive chambers with ceilings rising more than 40 feet, housing otherworldly stalagmites, stalactites and other intriguing formations.
A building contractor by profession, Thorne moved to Maui from Indiana in 1979. When he settled in Hana in 1988, he heard rumors that there was a lava tube hidden in the woods. It took him a few days to find Kaeleku Caverns, which at the time could only be accessed via a small, overgrown hole.
"There was so much underbrush it blocked the sun's rays from penetrating the entrance," Thorne recalls. "I tied a rope to a tree to find my way down inside. I explored the cave, mostly alone, until 1996, when the 10-acre site it was on was put up for sale. Scraping every dime for a down payment, I submitted an offer at full price."
Surprised, the owner, who had several other lots for sale, discouraged him from buying that particular parcel because it had a "hole" on it and he might encounter liability problems.
Says Thorne: "He said he could sell me another lot with no hole for the same price, no problem! I told him this one had a better mountain view and I'd stick with it. With the exception of a small section of Thurston Lava Tube on Big Island, no one in Hawaii had shown a cave to the public before. I saw it as not only a business opportunity, but also a great chance to educate people about vulcanospeleogolgy (the science of exploring caves formed by volcanoes)."
The more challenging of two tours offered at Maui's Kaeleku Caverns requires crawling.
Over the course of a year, one 5-gallon bucketful at a time, Thorne removed every bit of garbage and cleared loose and fallen rock. Today, it's a geological wonderland that's perfectly safe to explore.
"Caves are open to the public all over the world as one of the most interesting educational experiences people can have in the natural world," says Thorne. "Ninety-five percent of them are limestone caves; only 5 percent are lava tubes. At Kaeleku Caverns, we're beneath a rain forest, inside a volcano vent that last spouted lava just a thousand years ago! To my knowledge, it's the only place in the world that you can do this!"
Maui Cave Adventures leads 4,000 visitors into Kaeleku every year. Most of them, Thorne says, are amazed by the immensity of its passages, some measuring 100 feet wide. Fresh, clean air flows through the cavern; there's virtually no dust; and it's free of mosquitoes and bats. Temperatures range from a cool 64 to 70 degrees year-round.
The variety of cave formations also astounds tour-goers. Thorne said few people have seen lava stalagmites, formed in Kaeleku when flowing lava trickled through cracks and dripped into the cave below. Piles of lava were created, some measuring several feet high. It took only minutes for these stalagmites to appear, and they never grew after that. (In comparison, the stalagmites in limestone caves developed over millions of years as calcium deposits slowly built up, often only an inch in 200 years.)
Visitors to Kaeleku also can admire thousands of stalactites dripping from the ceilings as well as flowstone -- a thin, runny, brown flow -- that fills most of the tunnel at one point. "It even covers all the broken rocks and side walls," says Thorne. "Formations appear as Hershey kisses, chocolate-covered macadamia nuts and perfect brownies."
TWO TOURS OF Kaeleku are available. The Scenic Walking Tour is a relatively undemanding journey through the lava tube's large passages. The Wild Adventure Tour goes through the same passages but diverts into offshoots along the way. To get to some of these side chambers, participants must squeeze or crawl on their stomachs through some low, tight areas.
A member of the National Speleological Society, Maui Cave Adventures adheres to "cave softly" guidelines. "That means our tours are nontouching activities to protect the precious features in the cavern system," explains Thorne. "My guides and I are educated in geology and the sciences, which adds 'meat' to the fun and excitement of our tours. We keep the number of participants small to enhance the eco-experience."
Thorne estimates he's been in Kaeleku more than 5,000 times, but the thrill has never waned.
"Each time I enter the lava tube, it's a whole new adventure," he says. "When you're exploring it, the outside world melts away, leaving you only in the present, mesmerized in an utterly fascinating alien world."