Despite the news that 23 people were injured Monday when a lava bomb hit a Lava Oceans Tours boat, the isle’s other three certified lava boat tour operators reported they were still getting calls from customers wanting to venture close to the lava flow.

“We got mega calls this morning from people who heard about the incident but still wanted to book a trip. We’re full,” said Kanoa Jones, who shares the 36-foot aluminum hull boat Ohana with two other boat captains, Ikaika Marzo, who owns Kalapana Cultural Tours, and Kainoa Hauanio, who owns Hawaiian Lava Boat Tours.

Still boat operators are worried about future regulation.

Jones, whose company is Moku Nui Lava Tours, said, “There’s a concern that (the U.S. Coast Guard) could shut us down over someone else’s wrongdoing.”

Following the Monday incident, the Coast Guard told owners of the four permitted lava tour boats that they must remain 300 meters away from the ocean entry. Previously, Lava Ocean Tours was allowed to get within 50 meters of the ocean entry.

The 300-meter limit is fine while there is heightened lava activity, Jones said, but it’s not generous enough during mellow flowing periods. “Now it’s an experience. But if the lava mellows, it would be like going to a drive-in movie theater and seeing the picture on a 20-inch screen,” he said.

Currently, there aren’t any commercial options to view lava by land, so lava boat tours are one of the best ways to see the new fissure eruptions that began in the lower East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano. They’ve been important to the visitor industry, which has been working with the state and the county to expand lava viewing access — a move seen as pivotal to offsetting the loss of business that is related to the closure of two-thirds of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

If lava boat tour bookings fall, Jones said it would bring hardship for the community, which relies on the “tremendous amount of income” that lava boat tour passengers bring to the region. The 39-seat Ohana typically makes at least two to four runs daily at $250 per person.

“When they get off our boat, they go to eat, fill up their cars with gas — the business helps out our whole economy,” Jones said. “We need it. Many people have lost so much. I lost my childhood home, and another of our captains lost his home.”

Jack Richards, president and CEO of Pleasant Holidays LLC, said the company also fears that the incident could hurt Hawaii’s visitor industry as a whole.

“I gotta tell you this isn’t good. We’re already down by double digits,” Richards said Monday. “We won’t know how bad this is until we see the evening news. I’m bracing for calls tomorrow.”

Performance already was off enough that the Hawaii Tourism Authority last month approved an extra $700,000 for emergency marketing for Japan. The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, which was given $250,000 in emergency marketing funds for the U.S. market, also has put HTA on notice that it would ask for another $1.2 million to market Hawaii island to U.S. customers once lava viewing sites open.

Japanese wholesalers reported last month that the booking pace to Hawaii island was down 50 to 77 percent, depending on the month, through December. U.S. wholesalers have reported that forward bookings in May were down as much as 50 percent.

Mufi Hannemann, president and chief executive officer of the Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association, said, “This (Monday’s injuries) makes it very difficult for us who are trying to assure the public here at home and the tourists that Hawaii is still open for business and safe and we want you to come. When something like this occurs, it takes you two steps backward.”

Most major media outlets, including CNN, CBS and USA Today, covered the lava bomb story. There hasn’t been anything as dramatic to report in terms of human injuries since late May when Noni Farms Road resident Darryl Clinton’s leg was shattered when lava splattered onto his porch.

Ross Birch, executive director of the Island of Hawaii Visitors Bureau, said, “I don’t think it will have a huge impact, but it will definitely arouse attention and show that the volcano still is very dangerous.”

The incident’s magnitude is still uncertain, said Keith Vieira, principal at KV & Associates Hospitality Consulting LLC.

“Accidents happen, so we hope that this won’t have an immediate impact, but it’s really hard to tell. Bad news is never good for any leisure destination because our travelers don’t have to come,” Vieira said.