The Beauty of the Pohutu Geyser in Rotorua

When you pass by Rotorua in the North Island of New Zealand, visit the Pohutu geyser – the largest active geyser in the southern hemisphere. The best way to see the geyser is by visiting Te Puia in the Te Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley. In the valley there is much more to see and do, so plan at least half a day for it. And plan in advance, there are also evening experiences.

The Pohutu geyser erupts once or twice every hour and may reach a height of up to 30 m! Most of the time the geyser looks like in the photo above and in the ones below, constantly splashing a little bit.. This is also why the geyser is called Pohutu which means constant splashing in Maori. So just wait around, sooner or later, there will be a big splash!

If you are fed up with waiting for the geyser to erupt, just take a walk around. The geothermal activity can be seen everywhere and will make the surrounding rock creations look very magical. Just stay in a relatively close distance and once you hear all tourists cheering, you know it is time to rush back!

So just when I was willing to give up, the Pohutu geyser showed its full beauty :)

Pretty right? Hence if you visit the Pohutu geyser in Rotorua’s Te Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley, make sure you have plenty of time.  As I mentioned, the geyser is supposed to erupt once or twice an hour. So you might need to wait. But no worries, you will know when it is erupting. As you can see in the photos, all the little splashes do not count… it will be a biiig splash!