The latest phase of the eruption is attracting more than 2,000 people a day.

Light winds yesterday morning kept the steam and haze along the eastern and western deltas of the so-called "banana flow," obscuring what had been described in recent days as gorgeous and incandescent displays of nature, said Don Swanson, scientist-in-charge at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Lava was pouring into the ocean near the end of Chain of Craters Road, from several places on the eastern delta and along the western delta. The lava reached the sea May 30 for the first time since last summer.

Rangers from Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park have marked a trail for visitors as well as a line of rope that keeps people away from unstable areas.

But ever since the lava hit the sea last month, many visitors have continued farther than was thought safe by the park service, tromping over the heated outer crust of lava. Areas on the ocean-side of the rope can crumble into the sea without warning.

The geological survey reported small breakouts of lava Tuesday between the end of the trail and the rope barrier.

The flow along the eastern delta, which originates upslope from the Pu'u 'O'o vent, has increased slightly in the past four days, Swanson said.

"Not all the lava that is being reported from Pu'u 'O'o is making it down to the water," Swanson said. "It is being diverted. It comes out on the surface. If you are down there at night, you can look up the palis and see it. There are a lot of breakouts that are robbing the lava from coming out of the tube."

Even though Kilauea has been erupting continuously since 1983, Swanson says it remains a wondrous sight.

"You never get tired of it," he said. "There is always something new to see. And then there's the beauty of it, and you can't get tired of beauty."

The deluge of visitors has prompted park rangers to put up more warning signs and 1,000 yards of additional rope to keep them away from the dangerous outer edge of the coastline, said Mardie Lane, park spokeswoman.

The additional rope, in the shape of a horseshoe, guides hikers over "relatively safe" coastline, Lane said. Because they are walking over lava tubes, they can feel the heat and see and smell the gases associated with the eruption, she said.

At the end of the line, they can look back at lava entering the sea, she said.

"At this point, because of Pele's whim, the ocean entry is at that site," Lane said. "But it could flip over. That could happen today or tomorrow. It's nature. The unpredictability of the viewing is something that nobody can plan for."

Even with the warnings — and two to three rangers on the trail — visitors are still going too close to the lava and the huge steam plume where it instantly boils the crashing waves.

So far, no one has been hurt.

"The plume has a come hither effect," Lane said. "It is almost waving at you. And we understand the temptation."