What is the current status of Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica? I have visited the site twice in '92 and '93 and saw frequent eruptions of ash while at night fireworks of "lava"? were visible. Anything you can tell me about this or other volcanoes in C.R. would be appreciated as I plan on going back.

rocky Stuart Nicholson

Dear Stuart,

You should expect activity to be similar to what you saw before. Activity does wax and wane a bit but I don't know of anyone that went to Arenal and came away disappointed. You might check the current report of the Smithsonian's Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network prior to your trip.

There are about 13 active or dormant volcanoes in Costa Rica. Six have erupted in historical time (Rincon de la Vieja, Miravalles, Arenal, Poas, Irazu, and Turrialba). Only Arenal is erupting at the present time. Poas is one of the most active volcanoes in Costa Rica. It last erupted in 1993. If you want to get high, Irazu, the tallest Costa Rican volcano at 11,256 feet (3,432), would be the place to go. Irazu last erupted in 1965 and has active fumaroles.

I searched the net using "Costa Rica and volcano" and found lots of information. You might try a similar search before your trip. One jewel is Philip Greenspun's description of a recent trip to Arenal.

Steve Mattox, University of North Dakota

Sources of Information:
Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, Smithsonian Institution, v. 20, no. 6, June 1995.

Simkin, T., and Siebert, L., 1994, Volcanoes of the World: Geoscience Press, Tucson, Arizona, 349 p. 

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