Ijen Voyage Tips and guide

Ijen volcano complex is a group of composite volcanoes located on the border between Banyuwangi Regency and Bondowoso Regency of East Java, Indonesia. It is known for its blue fire and acidic crater lake.

Near Banyuwangi and Bondowoso, this is a spectacular area of volcanic activity. The Ijen Plateau is the centre point of the large mountain range west of Banyuwangi and abuts the Baluran National Park to the north.

From Bondowoso you are best off finding a guide with a car (preferably a 4x4) who will drive you through the village of Wonosari and eastwards up a very basic potholed road which winds its way up the mountain. You will pass through the native casuarina forest and extensive coffee plantations before the road end at the village of Jampit where there is some shelter available (Pos Paltuding). If you are travelling late in the day, you could actually bed down with a sleeping bag or camp here as you could in the disused vulcanology station huts slightly further up the mountain.

From Banyuwangi to the parking lot takes about 1.5 hours by car. Most tourists will have a tour that includes transport on a 4x4, but the road is made of asphalt, and any car in good shape will be able to make it to the parking lot. However the road is narrow, curvy, and very steep in some parts, and driving at night can be dangerous.

Tours to Kawah Ijen vary in price depending on the travel agency/hotel where it is booked, but all of them offer the same services, which are broken down as follows:

• Transport to/from Ijen: drivers will wait at the parking lot while tourists hike. Around Rp200,000 per person.
• Entry fee: Rp100,000-150,000 (Sunday) per foreign person.
• Guide: Rp150,000-250,000 per group.
• Gas masks: professional "proper" masks are available for Rp50,000 each. They can be rented in the caldera, next to the trail that goes down to the bottom.
• Snacks and water: extra.

Some of the places that offer this and other tours are:

• Osing Vacation: Rp350,000-750,000 per person (July 2021).(+62 85204932963)
• Kampung Osing Inn (+62 87852738711): Rp350,000-400,000 per person (August 2015).
• Berlin Barat Hotel: Rp750,000 per person (August 2015).
• Hotel Blanbangan: Rp700,000-1,200,000 per person (August 2015).

Discounts for the transport part are offered to groups of people that get into the same car.

• -8.058114.2421 Ijen Crater (Kawah Ijen). It's famous for its blue flames and stunning sunrise views. It can be approached from Bondowoso in the west or Banyuwangi in the east. Both come together at the parking, from where you can go up to the crater. Neither road is good, but the Bondowoso route is easier. The trip can be done during the day or night (departing around 01:00). The latter is the popular choice as that's the only time the "blue fire" can be seen. (updated Mar 2025)
• Many other post-caldera cones and craters are within the caldera or along its rim. The largest concentration of post-caldera cones forms an E-W-trending zone across the southern side of the caldera. Coffee plantations cover much of the Ijen caldera floor, and tourists are drawn to its waterfalls, hot springs, and dramatic volcanic scenery.

At 2:00, the trailhead to the crater opens and entry fees are collected. The hike takes about 90 minutes and gains about 500 meters. The trail is wide and easy to follow, but is sandy and slippery in places. The colour of the water in the lake is scarcely believable, being an extraordinary vivid aqua blue. Evidence of volcanic activity is everywhere with steaming water and brilliant yellow crystalline sulfur deposits. You will see many workers trudging up and down the mountain carrying sacks of sulfur, sacrificing their long-term health for about Rp1000 per kg of ore. At night, when the proper conditions are met, you may see the famous "blue fire" (ignited sulphuric gas) down near the lake.

From the rim, the hike into the crater and down to the lake is an additional 45 minutes. The trail becomes a rocky, steep, single-person trail, where only a few meters have a handrail. Have your gas mask accessible, as the fumes get thicker as you go down. Once at the bottom, the exposure to white smoke coming out of the sulfur pipes can be irritating to the eyes and it's difficult to breathe without a gas mask. You can see the mining operation at work, and if you made it to the bottom before first light, you can see the dazzling blue flames up close, between the plumes of noxious volcanic steam.

• -8.164312114.2539381 Ijen Resto & Guest House, 100 Jl Licin 20km in desa (village) Licin, Ijen (west of Banyuwangi on the way to Ijen), ☏ +62 333 8914747, +62 811 9844 665, [email protected]. Rural budget accommodation near Desa (village) Licin, to the west of Banyuwangi, on the way up towards the Ijen Crater. The road is quite bumpy for the last kilometre or so after turning off the main (sealed) road.  

• -8.222812114.2658122 Ijen Cliff Resort, Near Desa (village) Licin, ☏ +62 858 68611921, [email protected]. About 25 min out of Banyuwangi to the west, climbing up towards the Ijen plateau (turn west at Licin village). This is nice hotel with bungalows and private villas. Offers a range of activities at Ijen including climbing up to the crater, trekking in the foothills and visits to local villages. In May 2014 the 3-km entrance road (leading off the main sealed road) was in a poor state, making travel into the hotel quite difficult. Price: over US$150 per person per night.  

Safety is not up to western standards, so enter the crater at your own risk. Some people decide to not go down to the lake. Officially, access to the crater is restricted, and signs warn you not to enter. In practice, this is only enforced when volcanic activity is high, and guides explain this as a way for local government to avoid liability.

At night, the otherwise obvious path can be challenging, so you may want a guide. It can be as cold as 5° C at the top. Proper hiking gear is useful: at minimum you need sturdy sports shoes, a flashlight, and a layer warmer than a t-shirt.

• Baluran National Park to the north.