Skip to content
Karthala360by Discovermores

Karthala360 data space

The public counter of climbs, the GPS track of each tour, and Data Pro: detailed monitoring of Karthala for institutions and professionals.

Public counter

How many people climb Mount Karthala?

The counter starts with the first registered hikers. Everyone who scans the QR code at the start of the trail, with or without a guide, will be counted, and the total will appear here automatically. Meanwhile, see the estimated visitor numbers since 2020.

These figures are free and public. The detail, by month, by tour and by country, with the weather and litter by area, is reserved for Data Pro.

Estimate · until measured figures are available

Visitor numbers on Mount Karthala, estimated

No official count of Mount Karthala visitors is published. Until the first QR code registrations come in, Karthala 360 has estimated visitor numbers since 2020 from hikers’ public traces, tourist arrivals in the Comoros and Discovermores’ field experience. These figures will be replaced by measured figures.

Estimate, not a count · updated on 26 September 2026

≈ 7,000people on Mount Karthala from 2020 to 2026 (range 3,500 to 13,500)
≈ 1,500people a year since the new road (2023)
≈ 52%in July and August, mostly young people and schoolchildren
25visits publicly verifiable online: most hikers leave no trace

By year

Solid bar: central estimate. Light area: plausible range. * 2026: 1 January to 26 September.
Estimated visitors to Mount Karthala by year
YearLowCentralHigh
202070200400
2021200400900
20222005001,000
20237001,4002,600
20248001,6002,900
20258501,7003,100
2026*7001,5002,700

Data Pro preview: visitor profile, typical year (≈ 1,700 people)

This is the kind of detail Data Pro will provide. Here, everything is estimated and shown openly as an example; with real registrations, this detail will be reserved for Data Pro subscribers, always as anonymous totals of at least 5 people.

Who climbs

  • Visitors from abroad32%
  • Young diaspora holidaymakers27%
  • Schoolchildren (outings, holidays)27%
  • Other residents of the Comoros14%

Sex

  • Men55%
  • Women45%

Age

  • Under 126%
  • 12 to 1729%
  • 18 to 2526%
  • 26 to 3519%
  • 36 to 4510%
  • 46 to 608%
  • Over 602%

Declared nationality

  • Comorian53%
  • French26%
  • African5%
  • Other4%
  • Spanish4%
  • Other European3%
  • Italian2%
  • German2%

Many young members of the diaspora hold both nationalities: they are counted half in each.

With whom

  • Group, company, school37%
  • With friends34%
  • With family16%
  • As a couple8%
  • Alone5%

Month of the climb

  • Jan2%
  • Feb2%
  • Mar3%
  • Apr7%
  • May4%
  • Jun5%
  • Jul25%
  • Aug27%
  • Sep4%
  • Oct5%
  • Nov5%
  • Dec10%
How these figures are estimated
  1. Public traces: 25 confirmed visits found from 2020 to 2026 (Wikiloc tracks, TripAdvisor reviews, blogs, videos, press), about 1 to 3% of foreign visitors.
  2. Tourist arrivals: 69,831 air arrivals in 2023/2024, 68% from Europe, 19% from Africa and 13% from other regions; over 80,000 in 2024. We assume 1 to 4% of leisure tourists climb Mount Karthala.
  3. Field experience: according to Discovermores, the high season is very busy, mostly with young diaspora holidaymakers and schoolchildren. These groups post little on the open web: their share (about two thirds) is the most uncertain.
  4. Visitor profile: an assumed breakdown (sex, age, nationality, month, with whom) for each of the four groups, weighted by their size. These are assumptions, not measurements.
  5. Not counted: guides, drivers, scientific and technical staff, herders going up to their camps.

Sources : Comores Infos, 30/11/2024 ; Focus Océan Indien, 02/2026 ; Wikiloc, Grande Comore ; TripAdvisor (Mount Karthala) ; Fondation Sadev, Karthala crossing test mission (2024).

To replace the estimate with a measurement: every hiker scans the QR code at the start of the trail. The registration form

GPS tracks

From Mvouni to the caldera

One path, three ways to travel it. Choose your tour to see which part is done by 4×4 and which on foot.

By 4×4Mvouni → 1,600 m
On foot3.8 km
Ascent on foot≈ 710 m
Walking≈ 2 h uphill
Mvouni · 370 m Old camp · 1,300 m 4×4 stop · 1,600 m End of concrete · ≈ 1,830 m Crater viewpoint Mount Karthala2,361 m Caldera · 2,300 m N 2 km On footBy 4×4
500 m 1,000 1,500 2,000 4×4 stop 0 km 2 4 6 8 10 km
Karthala360 reference track, established by Discovermores. Walking times are indicative, at the pace of a trained hiker. Altitudes: Copernicus terrain model, accurate to a few tens of metres. The positions of the 4×4 stop and the end of the concrete are approximate, and the route actually followed may vary with conditions.

The GPX file contains the full route and its waypoints, to open in Maps.me, Komoot or your GPS watch. It is sent to you by WhatsApp or email as soon as payment is received.

Five areas

What we measure

Visitor numbers

Number of trips and participants, tours chosen, busy periods, countries of residence.

Safety

Go, Adapt and No Go decisions and their reasons; incidents and follow-up.

Environment

Litter brought down per batch, state of the trails, wildlife and plant sightings.

Carbon

Kilometres driven and fuel used per trip, to recalculate the real footprint.

Local benefits

Guides, drivers and porters employed on each trip.

From the field to the dashboard

Where the data comes from

  1. The booking

    Tour, date, group size.

  2. Registration

    Before departure, each participant scans the team’s QR code and fills in a short form, for themselves and their group.

  3. The trip record

    The guide notes the safety decision, times, litter and sightings in an app that works offline.

  4. Feedback

    After the trip, participants give their opinion and report what they saw.

Our rules

  • No personal data is published: only anonymous totals.
  • Health information is read only by the supervising team.
  • The location of sensitive species is never made public.
  • Nature sightings are marked as validated or not by an expert.

Details in the privacy policy.

Data Pro · paid access

The detail, for decision-makers

The public counter says how many people climb Karthala. Data Pro says when, how, where they come from, in what conditions, and what the mountain keeps of it. For institutions, researchers and tourism professionals.

What is free and what is reserved for Data Pro
AreaFree and publicData Pro
Visitor numbersNumber of hikers registered on Mount Karthala (with or without a guide), and for the current yearBy day, month and season; with Discovermores, another guide or no guide; by route and duration; year-on-year trends
VisitorsNumber of countries representedBreakdown by country, nationality and town of residence, sex and age; foreign visitors, diaspora and residents; alone, with family or in a group; first visit or not (totals of at least 5 people)
Expectations—Motivations (scenery, sport, nature, culture), declared walking level, channels through which visitors discover Karthala
Demand—Time between booking and departure, seasonality of requests, cancellations and postponements
Safety and weather—Go, Adapt and No Go decisions by month and reason; weather and ground conditions recorded at departure
EnvironmentKilos of litter brought down, action fundLitter by area, type and over time; trail condition; fuel and footprint of trips
Biodiversity—Validated sightings by species, altitude and season (locations of threatened species excluded)
FormatsFigures on the websiteOnline dashboard, CSV exports, PDF report, methodology note
Reserved for Data Pro subscribersIllustration: the real charts are shown in your personal access.

Three ways to access it

Report

[À COMPLÉTER : price]

A PDF summary for a period (season, year), with charts, tables and the methodology note.

For: tourist office, specialist press, funders.

Data Pro subscription

[À COMPLÉTER : annual price]

Personal access to the dashboard, updated every month, CSV exports and a report every season.

For: National Park, ministries, NGOs, tour operators.

Custom study

On quotation

A specific question, a field data collection campaign, support for researchers or students.

For: universities, conservation projects, local authorities.

  1. You ask

    Your organisation, what you are looking for, the period you are interested in.

  2. We propose

    A quotation and a data use agreement, with no resale to third parties.

  3. You pay

    By bank transfer, PayPal, MVola or Wakati, as for a booking.

  4. You get access

    Your personal access to the dashboard and exports is opened within 48 hours.

What we never sell: personal data. Data Pro only contains anonymous totals, never a name, a phone number or health information. No total covers fewer than 5 people, and the location of threatened species is never shared.

Book WhatsApp