Rotorua

Is Rotorua safe?

Yes, for a visit, but it asks more of you than other New Zealand towns. Rotorua sits on an active geothermal field, and the steam, mud pools and geysers that bring visitors also bring hazards you will not meet in Auckland or Queenstown. Crime is higher than the national average, and the district's road death rate is the highest of the towns and cities we cover in New Zealand.

We score Rotorua 72, well below Queenstown (81) and the big cities. The score falls mainly on traffic safety (49) and on police figures that show about twice the national rate of serious assaults.

Geothermal ground and gas

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council lists the hazards plainly: boiling pools that cause burns and deaths, collapse holes where hot ground gives way, hydrothermal eruptions that throw mud and rock, and gas. The Rotorua system is known for the rotten-egg smell of hydrogen sulphide. The council says the gas dilutes quickly in the open and that health studies show no known harm from everyday exposure, but it can reach lethal levels in enclosed or low-lying places.

That is not a theoretical risk. In November 2020, 51-year-old James Taikato died in Cameron's Laughing Gas Pool at Sulphur Point, near the centre of town. A coroner found he died of hydrogen sulphide poisoning, not drowning, and called the warning signs "vague and unhelpful". The council replaced the signs and later added walkways and fencing. In May 2024 another man was found dead in a natural hot pool on Hatupatu Drive in the same area; police said the death was not suspicious, and the coroner's finding was still to come.

The practical rules are simple. Stay on marked paths in geothermal parks and reserves, keep children close, never bathe in an unmanaged pool, and never bathe alone, even in an enclosed private pool. Small mud eruptions also happen; the council has recorded them near Whakarewarewa.

The volcanoes under the town are quiet. GeoNet rates both the Rotorua and Okataina volcanic centres at alert level 0, no unrest, and the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary advises visitors to the North Island to get local advice on volcanic activity. The council notes 800 to 1,000 shallow earthquakes a year in the Bay of Plenty, some clustered around geothermal areas.

Crime: higher than the rest of New Zealand

Police recorded 1,671 serious assault victimisations in the Rotorua area in 2025, about 2,100 per 100,000 of the district's 78,000 residents and close to twice the national rate. The number is down from a peak of 2,129 in 2022. There were 79 robberies, about 1.7 times the national rate.

Theft follows the same pattern. Thefts from a person (99 in 2025) run at about twice the national rate, though they have fallen from 163 in 2021. Vehicle theft and theft from vehicles (1,434) run at about one and a half times. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary warns that thieves target hire cars and camper vans in tourist areas, and Rotorua, with its car parks at lakes, forests and attractions, fits that description. Empty the car at every stop.

Police data do not show how much of this crime involves visitors, and no official travel advice names a part of Rotorua to avoid. But it is the reason we score walking at night (70) four points below Auckland and Wellington, both of which have assault rates below the national average.

The roads around Rotorua

NZTA's crash data record 41 road deaths in Rotorua District in 2021–2025, about 10.5 per 100,000 residents a year, against about 2 in Auckland. Five died in 2025, but the 2026 data already showed eight deaths by early November. Visitors add traffic that residents alone do not account for, but we score per resident, as we do for Queenstown.

The pattern matters for visitors: 24 of the 41 deaths were on open roads outside the town, the highways that link Rotorua with Taupō, Tauranga and the lakes. Four deaths involved a pedestrian. Plan long drives in daylight, keep left, and take extra care on wet, winding sections.

Winter air

Rotorua's basin traps smoke. The regional council says the town has had some of the worst winter air in New Zealand because of wood burners, and that recent monitoring shows it may not meet proposed national PM2.5PM2.5Tiny airborne particles 2.5 micrometres across or smaller. They reach deep into the lungs and are the air pollutant most linked to early death.More in the glossary standards, even after a 2020 ban on older burners. Smoke is a concern on still winter evenings, mainly for children, older people and anyone with a lung or heart condition, the groups the council names as most at risk.

How to stay safe in Rotorua

• Stay on marked paths in geothermal areas, and never bathe alone or in unmanaged pools.
• Leave nothing in your car at lakes, forest car parks and attractions.
• Drive the highways in daylight, and slow down on wet or winding roads.
• After dark, keep to busy, lit streets in the centre and take a taxi back to your accommodation.

How we scored it

Health and environment (82) and violent crime (80) are Rotorua's strongest factors, though both sit below New Zealand's big cities. Traffic safety (49) is the weakest, with about 10.5 road deaths per 100,000 residents a year, most on rural highways. Natural hazards (66) reflects the geothermal field more than the quiet volcanoes beneath it.