In short. Check a volcano's status on MAGMA Indonesia: four levels from I (Normal) to IV (Awas). As of 4 November 2026 Agung (3,142 m), Batur (1,717 m) and Ijen in Java (2,386 m) are at level I. People set out for Batur around 4:00 and climb for one to two hours to the sunrise, and a regional fee is charged in Kintamani. For Agung the Bali Forestry Service prescribes going with a local guide and not climbing in bad weather. For Ijen the Ministry of Forestry sells tickets on the Ayo Ke Taman Nasional site, the gate is open from 02:00 to 12:00, and you need a torch, a mask, warm clothes and a health certificate; do not go down to the crater floor. The best time is before the rains: in the Batur area the rainy season, by the BMKG forecast, starts in the first ten days of December.
Where to check a volcano's status. The official platform is MAGMA Indonesia, run by the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation. Four levels: I (Normal), II (Waspada, caution), III (Siaga, standby), IV (Awas, danger). On the "Tingkat Aktivitas" page volcanoes are sorted by level, and each has a daily report with recommendations. Look at it the evening before and the morning of your climb, because the level can change.
What it is now. Agung (Karangasem, height 3,142 metres) and Batur (Bangli, 1,717 metres) are at level I on the MAGMA activity levels page as of 4 November 2026. Ijen (East Java, 2,386 metres) is also at level I. In the report for 9 October Ijen had a thin white plume of smoke over the main crater 50–100 metres high and a warning about a possible collapse of the crater wall.
MAGMA recommendations for Batur. Do not linger in the active crater zone, do not spend the night in it and do not approach the gas vents, to avoid poisoning by toxic gas. For Agung the service recommends limiting activity near the crater, not being there in cloudy and rainy weather, not spending the night by the crater and not going down into it. Residents and sand collectors are warned about possible lahars along river beds that start at the summit.
Batur. This is the lowest of the three mountains. According to Detik of 1 June 2025, people set out around 4:00 in the morning, the climb takes one to two hours, sunrise is around 6:26, and the descent is over a sandy slope. In Kintamani at the entrance to the tourist zone a fee is charged under Bangli regional law No. 5 of 2023. According to the head of the Bangli tourism service (Detik, 24 March 2026), it is 50,000 rupiah for foreigners, 25,000 for Indonesians, 10,000 for residents of Bali, and the ticket office works from 8:00 to 17:00. Whether it applies to early climbs of Batur does not follow from the source. We did not find an official document on a mandatory guide on Batur or an official tariff for the climb itself: ask the Bangli tourism service. How to reach Kintamani by scooter, and where to stay overnight and watch the sunrise over Batur, is collected in the "Kintamani overnight" route.
Agung. For Indonesians this is a sacred mountain, and the temple Pura Pasar Agung stands on it. A 2025 circular of the Bali Forestry Service No. B.24.500.4.1/95/UPTD.KPHBT/DKLH asks people not to climb in bad weather and prescribes that those who go anyway hire a local guide (ANTARA, Detik, January 2025). Trails are closed for religious ceremonies: from 1 October to 30 November 2024 the climb was closed because of a ceremony at Pura Pasar Agung (ANTARA). In 2023 the governor spoke about banning climbs of Bali's mountains through a regional law, and we found no confirmation that such a law has been adopted. Find out the current restrictions from the Bali forestry service and from your guide before you set out.
Ijen. This is the Taman Wisata Alam (nature tourist park) Kawah Ijen on the border of the Banyuwangi and Bondowoso regencies. The Ministry of Forestry sells tickets on Ayo Ke Taman Nasional. The gate is open from 02:00 to 12:00 WIB. The park page names the requirements: a health certificate from a doctor not older than three days before the visit, ticket details as in the passport, non-slip shoes, a warm jacket and a mask. A ticket cannot be refunded or moved. In 2026 the park is closed to visitors on the "Ijen Rijik" clean-up days: 6 November and 4 December, and also for weather and volcanic activity. From 4 to 27 September 2026 the park was closed because of a forest fire and reopened on 28 September (Jawa Pos). The price on 30 October 2024 was 150,000 rupiah per foreigner per day according to Detik (basis: government regulation PP 36/2024). Check the price when you book.
Safety rules at the Ijen crater. MAGMA recommends not going down to the crater floor or approaching it, not spending the night or pitching a tent within 500 metres of the crater, and being wary of carbon dioxide along the Banyupait and Banyuputih rivers and of toxic gas around the crater. From Bali to Java people go by ASDP ferry from the port of Gilimanuk to Ketapang, with the timetable and tickets in Ferizy. A trip on your own scooter with the ferry, Bromo and Ijen day by day is in the route "Java in four days". See also the guide to the Bali–Java ferry.
Best season. By the BMKG forecast of 2 October 2026, the rains this year will come later than usual. In zone BALI_10 (north and centre of Bangli, west of Karangasem, that is the Batur area) the rainy season will start in the first ten days of December with a peak in February, and in zone BALI_13 (centre of Karangasem, the Agung area) in the last ten days of December. Isolated downpours are possible before that, more in the guide to the rainy season. For Ijen we did not go through the BMKG forecast for East Java.
What to bring. By the Ijen park requirements: a torch, a mask, warm clothes, non-slip shoes and a health certificate. For Batur and Agung there is no official list, and the logic is the same: a head torch, a warm jacket, shoes with a good tread.
What this means for you. First open MAGMA and make sure the volcano is at level I. For Ijen, buy the ticket yourself on the Ministry of Forestry site and get a certificate from a doctor. For Agung, hire a local guide, and put off the climb in bad weather. Save the emergency number 112 before you set out: guide to emergency numbers. On Batur, do not linger by the gas vents.