Reviewed On: 4/21/2008

Price/Period: $29.99/30 days



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Reviewed by Cupids Reviews Staff

Lava Life was one of the first dating sites I joined when I was newly single. There were ads for it everywhere and I knew a few friends on it. I checked it out and through a combination of referrals from friends and what I found on the site, I decided to join. Revisiting the site, there have been quite a few changes to its design. They've added some features and also changed their membership structure.

Previously, LavaLife.com had a system of credits used to pay for the services. On the one hand, the credit-based services allowed you some flexibility without needing to commit to a monthly plan. However, in the end, it worked out to be rather expensive compared to their new unlimited monthly plan. Unlike many online dating sites, there's only a single subscription option rather than a two-tiered system, where you get only partial access if you pay less money.

"...Lava Life continues to attract a large number of eligible singles and offers reasonably priced unlimited services."

That said there's a small catch: Although it's free to reply to instant messages, you cannot answer emails without upgrading your membership. In the old system of credits, only the person initiating an email message needed to pay. Now, both parties have to subscribe for a monthly membership, so it definitely hampers your chances for success in launching contact with fellow members who haven't already become premium subscribers.

You have many options available to help make your mind up as to whether or not LavaLife.com is for you. You can run geographical searches that are as narrow as a mile radius from your zip or postal code. You can also see when members last logged in, which, when combined with a search in your local area, should be able to give you an idea of how many people visit regularly. I should mention that you can turn this feature off in your profile settings. However, all search results are based on last login times, with the most recent visitors showing up first.

Some people surfing our site have left feedback that implies that not all of the profiles on LavaLife are the genuine article. That's an issue on many other sites as well. There are very few personal recommendations I would make for dating sites. However, just as the negative comments are anecdotal, over the years this site has served me and many of my friends quite well, including one couple I know who've been happily living together for the last three years.

The popularity of the site has declined slightly, perhaps in part to email communication only working if both members pay. Nevertheless, Lava Life continues to attract a large number of eligible singles and offers reasonably priced unlimited services.

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