Is this just a fiery thrill or another disaster waiting to happen?

Iceland is in the news again for more eruptions that make for great television as molten lava spews from a cracked landscape, smoke billows skywards, and the night sky turns orange.

My first instinct is: I’d love to see that. Imagine the heat and smell, the Earth’s groaning, and the fireworks spectacle of it all.

Onlookers watch the volcanic activity in Iceland from a distance on Saturday night.Credit: AP

Volcanoes provide a spellbinding demonstration of nature’s power, and who isn’t drawn to the display? I’ve seen Stromboli spit molten lava bombs, looked into Mt Bromo’s unfathomable smoking crater, and flown over Mt Aso’s bubbling lava lake. All rank among my most awesome travel experiences.

I’d never really considered volcanoes dangerous until the horror of Whakaari (White) Island in late 2019, when 22 visitors were killed and 25 others seriously injured after New Zealand’s most active volcano erupted.

I’d assumed volcano visits were okay because I stuck to marked paths or was on organised tours. But the Whakaari victims thought so too; the New Zealand courts have just ruled that the risks weren’t adequately communicated by the island’s owners.

We take a gamble with volcano tourism. The obvious lava and ash aren’t the only dangers. Poisonous gases, projectiles, mud slides and sudden flooding from glacial melt are the biggest killers.

All volcanoes are unpredictable, and several popular volcanoes have erupted in recent years. And while there’s no evidence volcanoes are erupting more frequently or more fatally, tourists are visiting volcanoes in greater numbers, putting more of us at risk.

When the currently erupting Icelandic volcanic system exploded into life in 2021, it brought 356,000 tourists to the site that year. And when Hawaii’s Kilauea erupted in 2018, national park visitors spiked at 8000 the very next day.

The Kilauea eruption went on to destroy 657 houses. The sightseeing continued at a more discreet but not always safe distance: 23 visitors were injured when lava bombs crashed through the roof of their tour boat.

It may be that tourists are putting themselves increasingly in harm’s way, which some blame on the attention-seeking culture of social media that encourages users to present evermore exciting and adventurous lives.

People watch as lava flows from an eruption from the Fagradalsfjall volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland in May, 2021. Credit: AP

That’s a worry considering eight of the world’s 12 most active volcanoes are in well-tramped tourist destinations, namely Kilauea and Mauna Loa in Hawaii, Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland, Sakurajima in Japan, Mt Merapi in Java, and Etna, Vesuvius and Stromboli in Italy.

A visitor died on Stromboli in 2019, and six were injured from a tidal wave caused by falling magma in 2022. An eruption of hot ash from Mt Merapi in December last year killed 24 young hikers.

You might want to avoid particularly active volcanoes, especially in destinations beyond Hawaii, Japan, New Zealand and Europe where they may not be well monitored. Only a fifth of the world’s 1500 active volcanoes are kept under proper observation.

Wherever you are, mitigate the risk by following local-authority guidelines, researching recent activity, and engaging reputable guides. Never go beyond roped-off areas. In 2017 an eleven-year-old strayed into a prohibited area on Solfatara near Naples: the ground collapsed and his parents too were killed trying to rescue him.

Smoke billows from Sicily’s Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, in February, 2021. Credit: AP

However, the chances of being on the wrong volcano at the wrong moment are incredibly low. A study by the University of Bristol in England says 561 tourists have been killed by volcanic action since 1500. Nearly 100 fatalities have been in the last decade, but most were from a sole eruption of Japan’s Mt Otake in 2014, which killed 63 hikers.

With all due respect to victims and their families, bad things can happen when travelling. I haven’t stopped crossing the road for fear of being run over, nor avoided the tropics for fear of dengue fever. I do take sensible steps to reduce those risks, though.

Worth sensible risk? I’d say yes, because here’s the thing. The Dulux-coloured crater lakes of Mt Kelimutu in Flores are a glorious astonishment. On Vesuvius in Italy you can feel the ground rumble as it spits out stinking smoke. And seeing the Earth created before your eyes in Iceland is mindboggling.

Go and see volcanos – at a respectful distance – if you can. Few other travel experiences are so visceral, or so memorable.

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