At night something blue burns in the crater. It isn't lava – it's gas.
When it gets light, a turquoise lake lies beneath it. It's acid.
And on the path you pass men carrying 75 kilograms (165 lb) of sulfur.
Scroll –
from night into morning
Kawah Ijen is closed. The conservation authority BBKSDA Jawa Timur closed the park on 4 September 2026 “until further notice” because of a forest and brush fire. On 17 September, the news agency Antara reported: fire extinguished, visits still closed, no circular yet on reopening; the authority spoke of cooling and remaining hotspots. We found no reopening as of 21 September.
That doesn't mean it's still closed on your travel date – it means you have to check before you book. Hotels and drivers in Banyuwangi usually know fastest; the BBKSDA circular is what's binding. Tours keep being sold in the meantime.
This has nothing to do with the volcano itself: the volcano authority PVMBG has Ijen at Level I (Normal), the lowest of four levels. Everything below describes normal operation.
The entire nature park is closed, so this includes the standard route to the rim and the sunrise point. According to press reports, the fire reached as far as the hiking trail. The authority named no reopening date on 17 September.
Even under normal operation, PVMBG recommends at the lowest alert level against descending to or approaching the crater floor – meaning where the sulfur is mined and the blue fire burns.
You can reach the gate at Paltuding, about 1,850 m (6,070 ft), without a ticket. Beyond it the park begins – and it's currently closed. A trip only pays off again once BBKSDA reopens.
Regardless of the fire: on the first Friday of every month, Ijen is closed for 24 hours – trash collection, trail maintenance, a rest for the ecosystem (“Ijen Rijik,” since January 2019). Next date: 2 October 2026.
Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · CC BY-SA 3.0
Around midnight your driver picks you up in Banyuwangi. The gate at Paltuding opens at 2 am, and then it's uphill by headlamp: about 3 km (1.9 miles), a good 500 m (1,640 ft) of elevation gain, an hour and a half to two hours.
The path is wide and sandy, flat at first, then steep. Six rest posts line the route. It's cold and windy up on the rim, and you smell the mountain before you see it: sulfur. If the wind turns, the cloud drifts across the path – then mask on, breathe calmly, walk out crosswise to the wind.
With the first light, the lake appears below. Turquoise, a kilometer (0.6 mile) wide, with a pH under 0.5 – it's considered the largest strongly acidic crater lake in the world. Solfataras smoke yellow-white along the shore. The sunrise over this lake is the reliable part of the tour. The whole visit takes four to six hours; the park closes at noon.
The blue fire is not lava. It's sulfur gas that escapes from fissures at up to 600°C (1,112°F) and burns in the air; part of it condenses into liquid sulfur that flows off burning blue. It's only visible in complete darkness, roughly between 2 and 4:30 am.
Whether it burns isn't only up to nature. The gases are part of sulfur mining – and burning sulfur reduces the yield. From 1 November 2025 to about March 2026 the blue fire was out for months: the concession holder PT Candi Ngrimbi was replacing the sulfur pipes, and the descent to the crater floor was closed. Press reports say it was visible again from about 10 March 2026.
On top of that: the fire burns on the crater floor, and PVMBG advises against the descent there. If the wind turns, the basin can fill with sulfur dioxide within seconds. Only a gas mask with a filter helps against that – not a surgical mask, not a cloth mask. BBKSDA lists a mask, a light and warm clothing as mandatory gear. We could not determine whether there is a current official ruling that permits or bans the descent. A tour with “Blue Fire” in the title cannot guarantee it.
As of 21 September 2026, Ijen is closed – the tours below are still being offered regardless. Book only once the reopening is confirmed, and choose a rate with free cancellation. Under normal operation, a tour from Banyuwangi takes care of the night drive to Paltuding for you; there's no scheduled transport to Paltuding.
Affiliate links to GetYourGuide: if you book, we earn a commission and the price stays the same. Prices and ratings as of 21 September 2026. Ijen was closed on 21 September 2026: check the status first, choose a cancellable rate. Whether entrance (150,000 IDR), the certificate and a gas mask are included in the price is stated in each tour's description – worth checking for prices around €11. No operator can guarantee whether the blue fire will be burning.
Two documents, without which nobody gets through the gate at Paltuding: the BBKSDA's online ticket and a doctor's health certificate. The second one surprises a lot of people – and it's taken seriously.
About €7.30 per person per day, the same on weekdays and weekends. Booked at tiket.bbksdajatim.org; the barcode is exchanged for the ascent ticket at the gate. Tickets are, per BBKSDA, neither rebookable nor refundable. Many travelers let their driver or hotel book it.
The “surat keterangan sehat” is required at the barcode exchange. Anyone with a history of asthma or heart disease is not admitted. Get it the day before from a doctor, clinic or health post in Banyuwangi; per press and blogs it costs about 25,000–40,000 IDR (not official).
Set by a BBKSDA circular of 9 August 2023. The 1 am you often see cited is the departure time from Banyuwangi – not the gate opening. Closed all day every first Friday of the month; there was most recently a multi-day annual closure in early January.
Even at Level I, PVMBG recommends: don't descend to the crater floor, don't camp within 500 m of the crater, watch for toxic gases at the crater and for CO2 along the Banyupait river. Mandatory gear per BBKSDA: light, mask, warm clothing.
| Entrance for foreign visitors, per person per day · same on weekdays and weekends | 150,000 IDR (approx. €7.30) |
| Entrance for Indonesian citizens, weekday / holiday | 20,000 / 30,000 IDR |
| Hiking activity fee per the fee schedule, per person · whether it's charged on top of entrance is unclear | 20,000 IDR (approx. €1) |
| Camping, per person per day · PVMBG recommends against camping within 500 m of the crater | 5,000 IDR |
| Parking fees per day, from horses to vehicles with six or more wheels | 1,500–50,000 IDR |
Lengths, elevations and walking times come from press and operator reports – nothing here has been officially surveyed.
| Standard route, Paltuding (about 1,850 m / 6,070 ft) – crater rim (2,386 m / 7,828 ft) | About 3 km (1.9 miles), 1.5–2 hours up, a good 500 m (1,640 ft) of elevation gain. Six rest posts; the first three sections are flatter, then up to about 25% grade. Sandy, slippery when wet. Total visit 4–6 hours. Carriers offer wheelbarrow “taxis” (prices not official). |
| Descent from the crater rim to the sulfur field (“Blue Fire”) · not officially recommended | About 30 minutes each way on the steep, rocky path used by the sulfur carriers. PVMBG recommends against it even at Level I. From 1 Nov 2025 to about March 2026 the path was closed; afterward, press reports say thousands descended again. If the wind turns, the basin can fill with sulfur dioxide within seconds. |
Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · CC BY-SA 3.0
Ijen isn't an open-air museum, it's a workplace. Sulfur is mined by hand in the crater: workers channel the gases through pipes, break the hardened sulfur and carry it out of the crater in baskets – 75 to 90 kilograms (165 to 200 lb) per trip.
Per Wikipedia, about 200 workers mine roughly 14 tons a day; the concession holder is PT Candi Ngrimbi. The path visitors take down to the blue fire is their commute.
The takeaway is small but important: always give the carriers the right of way on the narrow path. Ask before you take a photo. Many sell small figurines made of sulfur – buying one pays the man directly.
Without a car: Train to Banyuwangi (Karangasem/Banyuwangi Kota stations, or Ketapang at the ferry port to Bali). There is no scheduled service to Paltuding; a driver, jeep tour or scooter from Banyuwangi or from Sempol (Bondowoso) is standard.
By car: Paved road to the fee-based parking lot at Paltuding; parking fees follow the official fee schedule.
Dry season, April to October: a drier path and more frequently clear nights. In the rainy season (roughly November to March, per the German Foreign Office), fog, mud and closures are more likely. Fire risk rises toward the end of the dry season – in September 2026 fire burned right up to the hiking trail. The blue fire is visible only in complete darkness (roughly 2 to 4:30 am) and only when the mining operation lets the gases burn; avoid the first Friday of the month.
From Bali it's a ferry (Gilimanuk–Ketapang, 45–60 minutes) and about a 1.5-hour drive. Travelers coming from Surabaya usually combine Ijen with Bromo, six to seven hours to the west – the same combined tours also appear on our Bromo page. The same applies here: Ijen was closed on 21 September 2026. Check the status first, book only with free cancellation.
Affiliate links to GetYourGuide: if you book, we earn a commission and the price stays the same. Prices and ratings as of 21 September 2026. Build in a buffer day for combined tours: in September 2026, Bromo and Ijen were closed at the same time for a while. You need the certificate for a tour from Bali too.
That wasn't settled as of 21 September 2026. The park has been closed since 4 September; the fire was out by 17 September, but the authority still mentioned hotspots and didn't want to reopen too soon. BBKSDA Jawa Timur announces the reopening by circular – accommodations and drivers in Banyuwangi usually find out first.
Only with free cancellation, and only if you check the status again shortly before your date. Tours are still being sold despite the closure. The park authority's own tickets are neither rebookable nor refundable.
Burning sulfur gas, not lava. The gas escapes from fissures on the crater floor at up to 600°C (1,112°F) and burns in the air with a blue flame. You only see it in complete darkness, roughly from 2 to 4:30 am – and only when the mining operation lets the gases burn.
From a doctor, clinic or health post (Puskesmas) in Banyuwangi or Bondowoso, ideally the day before. A March 2026 press report also mentions a clinic at the Paltuding parking lot; that's not officially confirmed, so we wouldn't rely on it.
A gas mask with a filter. Surgical and cloth masks don't block sulfur dioxide. Masks are rented at Paltuding or through your driver; one operator quotes about 45,000 IDR.
Yes: ferry from Gilimanuk to Ketapang (45–60 minutes), then about a 1.5-hour drive to Paltuding. A night in Banyuwangi makes sense, so you can get the certificate and start rested.
No, as of 21 September 2026: BBKSDA Jawa Timur closed Ijen on 4 September 2026 until further notice because of a wildfire. The fire was out by 17 September, but the closure had not been lifted. The authority announces reopening through a circular.
150,000 IDR per person per day, about €7.30 (as of September 2026) – the same on weekdays and weekends. The fee schedule also lists a 20,000 IDR hiking fee. The often-cited 100,000 IDR is out of date.
Yes, since 6 January 2024. A doctor's certificate is required when you exchange your online barcode for the ticket. Anyone with a history of asthma or heart disease is not admitted.
Sources · accessed on 21 September 2026
