White Island

Walking towards the inner crater.

Amazingly, White Island is privately owned. Well, perhaps not amazingly. After its initial sale into private hands, several attempts to mine the island’s sulphur all turned sour (see what I did there) and eventually brought an end to any dreams of commercial success. Only the decayed remnants of those mining operations remain.

I don’t know how many active volcanic islands there are that you can visit, but this is one of them. It’s very accessible at a leisurely 1.5 hour boat ride from Whakatane and the tour itself is a gentle walk around the crater.

Hot tip: The tours to White Island are run by White Island Tours who also run the adjoining motel. You may as well stay there too so you can roll out of bed in the morning and walk the few steps to the tour office. You’ll also get a discount for staying and touring with them.