GUNUNG · Selandia Baru

Whakaari / White Island

Te Puia Whakaari

Information

Elevation: 321 m
Country: Selandia Baru (NZ)
Location / Range: Teluk Plenty (Bay of Plenty), ~48 km lepas pantai timur Pulau Utara; kota terdekat Whakatāne dan Tauranga
Mountain type: Gunung berapi andesit kerucut (pulau vulkanik), puncak muncul di atas gunung api bawah laut yang jauh lebih besar
Volcanic?: Yes — volcano
Coordinates: -37.5200, 177.1825
Difficulty: Kunjungan wisata terpandu (dulu berjalan di lantai kawah), bukan pendakian teknis — tetapi berisiko ekstrem karena aktivitas vulkanik. Akses hanya lewat kapal atau helikopter. Pasca-letusan 2019 tur pendaratan dihentikan.
Best Season: Historisnya tur berjalan sepanjang tahun tergantung cuaca laut dan tingkat siaga vulkanik; laut Teluk Plenty paling tenang pada musim panas (Des–Feb).
Permits & Rules: Pulau milik pribadi (keluarga Buttle) dan hanya dapat dikunjungi lewat operator tur berlisensi. Sejak letusan 9 Desember 2019 pendaratan wisata dihentikan; status dipantau GeoNet. Klaim di sini bersifat historis/edukatif, bukan ajakan mengunjungi.
Hazards: Aktivitas vulkanik aktif tak terduga: letusan freatik mendadak, gas beracun (SO2), semburan uap dan abu, serta lantai kawah asam. Letusan 9 Des 2019 menewaskan 22 orang. Tidak ada perlindungan alami di dalam kawah.

Description

Whakaari / White Island (321 m) is New Zealand's most active volcano—an andesite cone rising from the Bay of Plenty about 48 km off the North Island's east coast. What shows above the sea is only the summit of a far larger submarine volcano; the roughly 325-hectare island has been built by continuous volcanic activity over some 150,000 years. Since James Cook sighted it in 1769 it has been in a nearly constant state of releasing volcanic gas, with a long eruptive phase from 1975 to 2000 and further eruptions in 2012, 2016 and 2019. Sulphur was mined here until the 1930s—ten miners died in 1914 when part of the crater wall collapsed. For decades the island was one of the world's most popular active-volcano tourism sites: visitors arrived by boat or helicopter and walked the crater floor among hissing fumaroles. But a sudden phreatic eruption on 9 December 2019 killed 22 people and injured dozens, and landing tours have since been suspended. Whakaari now stands as a stark reminder of the hazards of active volcanoes—this entry is educational and historical, not an invitation to visit.

Gallery

Foto bersumber dari Wikimedia Commons — klik untuk memperbesar & lihat sumbernya.

Routes

Tur berjalan lantai kawah (via kapal dari Whakatāne) — historis, dihentikan sejak 2019

Bukan pendakian teknis, tetapi berisiko vulkanik ekstrem — helm & masker gas wajib

Tur sehari (~5–6 jam total termasuk pelayaran; ~1 jam berjalan di kawah)

For decades the main way to visit Whakaari was a crater-floor walking tour: licensed boat operators carried visitors from Whakatāne, landed, and led them—in helmets and gas masks—among fumaroles, an acidic crater lake, and derelict sulphur-mine ruins. This is not a climb (the high point is just 321 m) but an exploration of an active volcano at very high risk. Since the phreatic eruption of 9 December 2019 that killed 22 people, all landing tours have been suspended. This information is historical and educational.

Source

Tur helikopter / pemandangan udara (tanpa mendarat di kawah)

Wisata pemandangan — tanpa aktivitas berjalan; bergantung status vulkanik

Penerbangan singkat dari Whakatāne/Rotorua

An alternative to viewing Whakaari without walking the crater is an aerial tour: helicopter or light-aircraft flights from the mainland (e.g. Whakatāne or Rotorua) that circle the island to see the active crater, gas plumes, and sulphur shore from above. Since 2019, viewing from the air or sea has become the primary, safer option rather than landing. The volcano's profile and status are monitored by GeoNet (GNS Science).

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Safety Statistics

High risk

Aggregated for prevention and awareness — not a casualty list. Read alongside the safety tips below.

Indicative — small sample size.

22 Recorded deaths

Period 2019–2019 · Whakaari / White Island is New Zealand's most active volcano (Bay of Plenty) and a crater tourism destination — not an altitude climb. Its chief hazard is PHREATIC (steam-driven) ERUPTIONS that can occur with little or no warning. On 9 December 2019 a sudden phreatic eruption killed 22 of the 47 people on the island at the time, and all 47 suffered serious injuries — mostly critical burns. At the moment of the eruption the Volcanic Alert Level was 2 (raised from 1 on 18 November 2019) and tourist visits were still permitted. Because eruptions are episodic and unpredictable, there is no meaningful per-visit fatality rate — the 22-of-47 figure is the casualty proportion in a single event, NOT an annual death rate. Framing = prevention: obey the volcanic alert level, understand that Level 2 still carries an unheralded-eruption risk, and do not enter the crater area during heightened unrest.

Causes of death

Rockfall

💡 The eruption hurled rocks and blocks (ballistic ejecta) across the whole crater alongside the pyroclastic surge. There is no effective shelter inside the crater once an eruption begins — the only prevention is not being in the ejecta zone when risk is high; keep your distance and respect exclusion zones set by volcanology authorities.
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Other

💡 The dominant cause of death in the 2019 eruption was burns from a surge of superheated steam, gas, and ash that swept the entire crater area within seconds. Phreatic eruptions give almost no warning: do not enter the crater of an active volcano when the volcanic alert is elevated, minimise time inside the crater, and wear full protective clothing (not a T-shirt and shorts) if you must approach.
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Notable incidents

1914 1914 — crater-wall collapse & lahar kills 10 sulfur-mine workers

In September 1914 part of Whakaari's western crater wall collapsed, triggering a lahar (mud-and-debris flow) that swept the sulfur-mining camp into the sea; all 10 workers died and their bodies were never recovered. The event shows the island's danger is not only eruption but also crater-wall instability that can fail at any time. Prevention lesson: this volcano is structurally unstable — any human presence inside the crater carries a risk that cannot be fully mitigated.
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2019 9 December 2019 — phreatic eruption kills 22 of 47 people on the island

On 9 December 2019 at 14:11 local time, a sudden phreatic eruption swept Whakaari's crater area while 47 people were on the island on tour visits. Twenty-two died (including 2 long-missing people formally declared dead on 23 January 2020) and 25 others were seriously injured, mostly critical burns. The Volcanic Alert Level was at 2 and tours were still operating. Prevention lesson: phreatic eruptions can strike without warning even at a 'moderate unrest' alert level — the decision not to enter an active crater is the most reliable safety control.
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Statistics source: Source Source

Climbing Experiences

For decades Whakaari / White Island was one of the world's best-known active-volcano tourism destinations: visitors came by boat from Whakatāne or by helicopter, then walked the crater floor in helmets and gas masks among hissing fumaroles, an acidic crater lake, and derelict sulphur-mine ruins. The footage and accounts below document that 'crater walk' experience—and the sudden phreatic eruption of 9 December 2019 that killed 22 people and ended all landing tours. This material is educational and historical, a reminder of how hazardous active volcanoes are, not an invitation to visit.

References

The summary above is compiled from the following sources. Click to explore them yourself.