Eight Natural Phenomena Worth Traveling for in 2025

From glowing rivers to mysterious ringing rocks to a horizontal waterfall, the world is full of strange wonders. Make it your business to see one in 2025. Revel in the sense of awe that comes from being surrounded by thousands of puffins, swimming alongside a massive sperm whale or witnessing a calving glacier. Some of these phenomena involve thousands of miles of travel, booking helicopter trips or winching yourself into a climbing harness. But others—such as March’s “blood moon”—can be seen from your own backyard.

Blood moon

On the night of March 13 to 14, North and South America will experience a total lunar eclipse, when the moon moves into the Earth’s shadow. The moon doesn’t disappear, but it does change color due to the scattering of light waves. The resulting reddish tint gives the phenomena the nickname “blood moon.” You can see the blood moon from anywhere in the United States; the best views will, of course, be where the sky is clear and unpolluted.

Though we now understand the science behind eclipses, it wasn’t always so. Throughout most of human history, many cultures have thought such phenomena were ill omens caused by supernatural beings. In 1504, Christopher Columbus used these beliefs to manipulate the natives of Jamaica to his advantage, claiming that if they did not cooperate with him, the moon would disappear. After the eclipse (which Columbus knew about because he had a celestial almanac) came to pass, the frightened people brought food to Columbus’ men.

Eerie bioluminescence

From June to October, the rivers and lagoons of Florida’s Space Coast glow an otherworldly blue thanks to the natural bioluminescence of dinoflagellates and comb jellies. Join a kayaking excursion on the Mosquito Lagoon, Banana River or the Indian River Lagoon, and glide across dark waters that pop with sparkling trails of aqua and indigo when the glowing critters are disturbed by oars or passing fish. The height of the phenomenon is late summer, and the best viewing is when the water is calm and unmuddied by recent rains.

Bioluminescence in Florida and elsewhere can be so intense it’s picked up by satellites, as scientists discovered in recent years. “It was an epiphany,” Steven D. Miller, a scientist at Colorado State University who led a bioluminescence study, told the New York Times. Such satellite images should be able to help researchers better understand what causes large patches of bioluminescence.

The inside of a volcano

Go Inside A Volcano: Volcano Tour In Iceland

Uh, no thanks, you say? Don’t worry, Iceland’s Thrihnukagigur, or Three Peaks Crater, has been dormant for some 4,000 years. It’s the only lava chamber open to tours, which involve hiking to the volcano and descending via an open cable lift. Inside, the craggy walls of the massive chamber are a rainbow of reds, oranges, yellows and greens, thanks to eons of mineral deposits. The tours, which leave from Reykjavik, are pricey—nearly $350 per adult—and only available from May through October. But it’s a sight you won’t see anywhere else.

“Normally there are no cavities like this in the Earth,” said Freysteinn Sigmundsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland, in a BBC video. “They collapse or they have filled up with lava during an eruption. But in this case, this huge cavity has strong structures around it. This is pre-existing thick, strong lava layers that are forming the roof of the cave.”

Pooping sperm whales

Did you know that sperm whale poop is good for the environment? The enormous creatures defecate at the ocean’s surface, where their poo feeds algae, which in turn sequester carbon from the atmosphere and pull it into the ocean’s depths.

“In some respects, sperm whales are fighting climate change on our behalf,” Shane Gero, a whale biologist, told the Associated Press.

For unclear reasons, sperm whales poop more than average in Dominica, a tiny nation in the Caribbean. The island welcomes it—in 2023, it dedicated 300 square miles of its oceans as the world’s first and only sperm whale reserve. Commercial fishing is prohibited in the area, and large ships must use special lanes. For visitors, the reserve is a unique chance to observe the whales in a protected environment, taking small boat tours and even doing open-water swims alongside the whales. Dominica is the only nation where sperm whales live year-round, though the best times for sightings are between November and March.

Icebergs of Greenland

Greenland’s new international airport, which opened last fall, has made the island easier to reach from Europe and the United States. Now is the perfect time to see the territory’s glorious—and vulnerable—icebergs. Most icebergs calve from two glaciers in the north of Greenland; the largest number are at the Ilulissat Icefjord, known as the “iceberg capital of the world.” Slightly farther north is Uummannaq, with icebergs that change vastly with the seasons. There are plenty of other places to see the natural ice sculptures as well—as the Greenland tourism department says, “Wherever a glacier meets water, one will find icebergs!” You can visit icebergs by hiking, boat tour, kayaking trip, flightseeing and even scuba diving.

Puffin season

From April to August, tens of thousands of irresistibly cute puffins land on the craggy islands off the coast of Scotland to mate. Unlike many bird species, they’re perfectly comfortable around people—they know the presence of humans means their predators, seagulls, are more likely to stay away. This means you can observe and photograph the peppy little puffins from only feet away. (Never touch them, of course.) One of the best places to see puffins is the Isle of Staffa, an uninhabited volcanic crag rising from the gray seas off the Isle of Mull. Go in late May through July for the largest number of birds. Though the puffin population on Staffa is healthy, in many places the “seabirds are suffering because the climate crisis and overfishing are making it difficult for them to find enough food,” the Guardian reports.

Horizontal waterfall

Why does this waterfall run sideways? | Weird Australia | ABC Science

Though it may sound like an oxymoron, none other than David Attenborough declared Western Australia’s Horizontal Falls as “one of the greatest natural wonders of the world.” The phenomenon results from rapid tidal currents squeezing between two gorges, making the water rush as quickly and dramatically as, well, a waterfall, only horizontally. The reversing tides mean the falls flow in both directions every day. You can’t reach the falls, in remote Talbot Bay, by land; visitors must arrive by scenic flight, floatplane or cruise.

Musical rocks

Just an hour and a half west of New York City, Pennsylvania’s Ringing Rocks Park is named for an odd and delightful phenomenon: “ringing” or “lithophonic” rocks. The park’s seven-acre boulder field contains piles of large diabase (an igneous rock) stones formed some 175 million years ago that sound like bells when hit with a hammer. About a third of the rocks ring when hit, while the remainder are “dead” and produce only the expected thud. Scientists don’t know why the rocks ring, though there are multiple theories involving rock composition, stacking patterns, even extraterrestrial influence. The phenomenon “inspires more questions than answers, even for geologists,” reports Rock & Gem magazine. The 123-acre park is BYOH (bring your own hammer).