Getting in close

It isn't hard to walk up to a lava flow in Hawaii, if you can stand the heat.  Trained geologists do it all the time.

And you can take boat trips to see the lava entering the ocean.  The professional tourist boat captains keep a safe distance from the lava entry.

Adventure kayakers, not so much.  But hey, it looks like fun.

I couldn't embed the video, so click the link.

Video shows kayakers venturing into boiling waters near lava 'firehose'

Here's a still image from the adventurous paddle, when they were at a safe distance.