Video: Viewing Lava at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

An overview of viewing lava at Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park, produced by a tour guide. See a video on Ecuador's Avenue of the Volcanoes at the bottom of this article.

Volcano Honeymoon

Remember Joe Versus the Volcano (Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan jump into a volcano and live happily ever after)? While we don't recommend starting your married life by jumping into a volcano, touring volcano country on your honeymoon is one sure way to put a little fire into your newlywed romance.

A lava flow in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. (Photo: U.S. Geological Survey)

Although there are literally hundreds of active volcanoes around the world, there are many more that are extinct. You can still appreciate the awesome power of nature from such places without the hazards that go with active volcanoes. If you choose to visit a dormant or active volcano, be sure to take the appropriate precautions (see the articles referenced in the resources section).

Here is a sampling of some of the many volcanoes you may want to work into your honeymoon vacation:

Oceania

• Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Tongariro in New Zealand's Tongariro National Park. Ruapehu, New Zealand's highest volcano, has a crater lake that forms and fills when the volcano is not erupting.

• White Island, also in New Zealand, is the most active volcano in that country and is a volcanic island in the Bay of Plenty southeast of Auckland. Organized tours are operated out to this volcano.

• Kilauea in the Big Island of Hawaii, has been erupting continuously out of its flank vent, known as Pu'u O'o ("Hill of the O'o bird" in the native Hawai'ian language) since 1983.

• Mauna Loa, also in Hawaii, is the state's highest historically active volcano and is topped by the Moku'aweoeo Caldera. It is also the largest volcano by volume in the world. Don't be fooled by its gentle slopes - with its highest point at 4170m/13,683 ft), the altitude can be hard on inexperienced hikers and its summit is often covered in snow during the winter.

• Mauna Kea is the highest volcano in Hawaii at 4205 m (13,796 ft), and is pockmarked with cinder cones. Its high elevation is also a magnet for astronomers with their giant telescope facilities - and even skiers.

• Hale'akala ("House of the sun" in Hawai'ian), is the tallest volcano on the island of Maui, and is renowned for its erosional crater and the cinder cones nestled inside.

Asia

• With 167 known active volcanoes, Indonesia is the world's most volcanic country by far. Mount Batur in Bali is a very accessible active volcano which takes just 2 hours to climb. Mount Rinjani in Lombok is Indonesia's second highest volcano with a stunning crater lake. For much of 2009 the summit of the mountain was closed to the public due to eruptive activity. Mount Tambora in Sumbawa is one for the truly adventurous. Only about 50 visitors a year make it to this very remote volcano. In 1814 Tambora was 4,200 metres high. It erupted with such force the following year that 1,400 metres was lost from its top.

• Mount Aso on the island of Kyushu in Japan, is one of the largest active volcanoes in the world with the largest caldera.

• Mount Fuji in central Japan near Tokyo, is Japan's highest and most beautiful volcano. It is also the most climbed mountain in the world because so many people climb it to view the sunrise from its summit crater.

Europe

• El Teide in Tenerife, is the highest active volcano in the Canary Islands at 3715 m (12,188 ft). A flank vent at El Teide was observed erupting by Christopher Columbus and his crew in 1492.

• Vesuvius near Naples in Italy is an active (but presently "dormant") volcano. It has not been smoking since it last erupted in 1944, but it is still very closely monitored because of its seriously hazardous proximity to Naples, which is southern Italy's largest city.

• Stromboli in the Aeolian Islands of Italy and Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy are two of Italy's most active volcanoes. At 3350 m (10,991 ft), Etna is Europe's highest volcano. Stromboli has been in near continuous activity since at least the time of the Ancient Greeks and has been billed as the "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean".

• Nisyros in the Greek Dodecanese islands is mildly active with smoking fumaroles. It is possible to walk into the crater floor for a closer look.

• Santorini in the Aegean Sea, is probably Greece's most famous volcano because of its eruption that destroyed the Minoan civilization over 3,600 years ago. It is still active, for it last erupted in 1950 out of Nea Kameni ("New Burnt" in Greek), an island made up of lava flows in the middle of the caldera bay.

Americas

• Mount St. Helens, in Washington State, USA, is famous for its May 18, 1980 eruption. Since late 2004, it has been erupting once again, but not nearly as violently - this time, a new lava dome is slowly being extruded in its crater.

• Popocatepetl, near Mexico City, often has a volcanic plume above its crater which is 5,450m high. The name means "smoking mountain" in the native Nahuatl language.

• Cotopaxi in Ecuador, often misquoted as being the highest volcano in the world ( despite its elevation of 5911 m (19, 393 ft), it does not even make the top ten list of highest active volcanoes - see this list here), is still one of South America's most spectacular volcanoes.

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Video: Avenue of the Volcanoes, Ecuador

A gorgeous tourism video showcasing the beauty of Ecuador's "Avenue of the Volcanoes."

Resources

Volcanoes (at Wikitravel)

This article was adapted from portions of the article "Volcanoes" at Wikitravel; find the original, updated article, with considerable additional information (including volcano tour agencies) at the link above.

This article was adapted from the following Wikitravel article under a Creative Commons 3.0 license: Volcanoes