Kawah Putih or White Crater is the most famous Crater Lake on Ciwidey. This crater lake is lie on Mount Patuha, not far from Situ Patenggang (5km), and is located approximately 46 kilometers south of Bandung 35 kilometers from Soreang and takes about 2.5 hours drive from Bandung.

Temperatures here are between 8-22 degrees. There are two craters, the Saat Crater (Saat in Sundanese language means subside) is in the west and the White crater underneath it at an altitude of 2194 meters. Both craters are formed by an eruption that occurred around the tenth or eleventh century.

Long ago before the White crater opened to the public, local communities believe that the White Crater was haunted because of the many birds that die while traversing the White Crater, but in 1837 a scientist from Germany, Dr. Franz Wilhelm Junghun arrived. He then did research and found that many birds die when crossing the area is only caused by sulfur due to lava bursts.

Because the sulfur content is very high in the White crater the Dutch had built a sulfur factory in named Zwavel Ontgining Kawah Putih which later during the Japanese occupations had its name changed to Kawah Putih Kenzanka Gokoya Ciwidey.

Then in 1987 PT. Perhutani unit III West Java, Banten began to develop the White Crater area as a tourist attraction, since the White Crater lake was absolutely stunning. The White Crater Lake has the unique characteristic of water that can change color: like apple green, bluish when exposed to the light reflection of the sun, sometimes looks like chocolate milk, but the water is most commonly seen as white with a thick fog on it. This area is often used for pre-wedding photos because of the exotic views.



How to get there?
From Jakarta: take the toll road Cipularang and get off at the toll exit Kopo, then head to Soreang south of the city Ciwidey. From Ciwidey it is about 20 to 30 minutes to the entrance of the White Crater. Visitors are advised to use the car to get to the White crater due to its distance from the entrance (about 5.6 Kilometers) and quite steep. If you are use a private vehicle and you can go straight to the parking area not far from the White crater.

You can also use public transportion from Terminal Kebun Kelapa as well as Leuwi Panjang in Bandung, heading first to Ciwidey. Then proceed using local transportation heading for Situ Patenggan.