Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
1,796km²
Area
435km
Coastline
187m
Highest point
13,000
People
30°C
Warmest sea
April
1,220km
To the mainland
When to go to Bacan Island
Best for the beach from January to May.
The sea is warmest in April (30 °C) and coolest in August (28 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island in South Halmahera Regency, North Maluku Province, Indonesia
Bacan Island is an island in Indonesia. It belongs to Bacan islands. It covers 1,796 km², with 435 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 187 m. About 13,000 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 1,220 km away.
Getting there
- Sultan Babullah Airport (TTE)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 160 km in a straight lineCar hire at DPS airport (Kuta, Badung)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesBabang (Bacan) - Ternate, Babang (Bacan) - Sorong, Babang - Saketa, Kayoa - Babang
- 1,220 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to Maybest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Bacan Island.
- 2ferry terminalsBabang (Bacan) Port, Babang ferry port
- 4marinasPELABUHAN LAUT and 3 more
- 38named peaksBuku Rica, Buku Kailaka, Buku Urijawa and 35 more
- 4volcanoesBuku Sibela, Amasing Hill, Amasing and 1 more
- 1castles and fortsBenteng Barnaveld
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Bacan Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Bacan Island, each with its own numbers.
2beaches and covesCoastya
40mountainsPeakyas
Highest point
1,030m
Amasing Hill
according to Peakyas
Beach with the warmest sea
29.5°C
Teluk Pigaraja
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
40 mountains
on Peakyas, the mountain atlas
- Amasing Hill1,030m
- Buku Amasing1,030m
- Bibinoi Hill900m
- Gunung Bukuyaba
- Buku Wayakuba
- Mountain Waja Kuba
- Mountain Bukuurijawa
- Buku Topa
32 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 298 m above the sea. 46 % of it is below 200 m.
- 16 %0–50 m
- 30 %50–200 m
- 37 %200–500 m
- 13 %500–1,000 m
- 4 %1,000–2,000 m
- <1 %> 2,000 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
50 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Labuha7,073 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| Night low (°C) | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 26 |
| Sea (°C) | 29 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| Rain (mm) | 189 | 146 | 180 | 198 | 202 | 199 | 157 | 94 | 87 | 94 | 147 | 198 |
| Wet days | 26 | 23 | 25 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 22 | 26 |
| Sun h/day | 6.6 | 6.7 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 7.2 | 6.1 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 6.8 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 6.7 |
| Wind (km/h) | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.6 |
| 2021 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +1.0 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.4 |
| 2022 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.4 |
| 2023 | +0.3 | −0.2 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.8 | +0.4 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | +0.4 | +0.3 |
| 2024 | +0.3 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.3 |
| 2025 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +0.5 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.2 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Halmahera Island
Obimayor Island
Tidore Island
Ternate Island
Mangoli Island
Sulabesi Island
SeramAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q13405341) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.


