Is Rabaul still an active Volcano??

For about 7 years (We have been cruising 10 years, and I have been stalking cruise ships for about 7 – 8 of these 10 years), I have been watching Rabaul, Papua New Guinea on different ships webcams over the years.

The last time I saw Rabaul on a webcam (about a year or two back), it did not seem to be erupting as much as it had been.

I am just wondering for these who have been to Rabaul recently, what is it doing?, is it starting to die down?

The reason why I am asking is that we are cruising to Rabaul in November :)

If anyone can give me any info, would be great!

We have done the PNG cruise to Rabaul twice.

The first time in November 2013 as the ship departed the volcano erupted. We had visited the observatory earlier in the day which was very interesting.

Rabaul is hot and very dusty and you can smell the volcano.

In February this year we went back and visited Rapopo Plantation Resort and went swimming with the dolphins which was amazing. We were returned back to the ship by boat and they took us around the base of the volcano. The water was very hot and steaming but no eruption this time.

I hope you enjoy your cruise, we loved it and will definitely do it again. We have been on about 15 cruises and the last PNG one was our favourite.

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Yes, the Rabaul volcano is still an active volcano. That doesn't necessarily mean it is erupting all the time though. We were there in August last year and had a very enjoyable day at Rabaul, visiting the observatory, and the hot springs close to the volcano, among other places.

Will it erupt when you are there? Who knows! If it does I'm sure the cruise line will get sufficient warning from the observatory.

It was smoking when we were in Rabaul on Pacific Princess, circa 2005.;p

Must be getting close to another big eruption.

Mt Etna was smoking when we stopped at Sicily in September. Mt Vesuvius was gently steaming when we climbed it in 2008. Steam/smoke is not always an indication of an imminent eruption, some volcanoes steam away happily for decades.

It was smoking when we were in Rabaul on Pacific Princess, circa 2005.;p

 

Must be getting close to another big eruption.

My late father told me the US and Australian Airforce's bombed the Volcano on Rabaul around the clock for months hoping to get it to erupt; all to no avail during WW2. Dad said you can't get Nature to turn on because you want it to,he also said it never stopped smoking; which drove the "Brass" insane.

Thank You Guys for your information :)