FranceIsland

Bassas da India

0.59 km² of land in the Mozambique Channel.

N 2 km

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

0.59km²

Area

12km

Coastline

29°C

Warmest sea

February

436km

To the mainland

When to go to Bassas da India

Best for the beach from June to October.

The sea is warmest in February (29 °C) and coolest in August (24 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

29°28°28°

Jan17

29°28°28°

Feb14

29°28°27°

Mar10

28°27°26°

Apr6

27°25°25°

May4

25°24°23°

Jun3

24°23°23°

Jul4

24°23°22°

Aug2

25°24°23°

Sep2

26°25°24°

Oct2

27°26°25°

Nov6

28°27°27°

Dec11

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

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 the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean

Bassas da India is an island in France. It covers 0.59 km², with 12 km of coastline. The nearest mainland is 436 km away.

Getting there

436 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
From June to Octoberbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Car hire at AJA airport (Ajaccio)Discover CarsSee

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.

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 0 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.

100 %0–50 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.

Bassas da India1 km²

Alcatraz Island0 km²

2 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

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	28	27	25	24	23	23	24	25	26	27
Night low (°C)	28	28	27	26	25	23	23	22	23	24	25	27
Sea (°C)	29	29	29	28	27	25	24	24	25	26	27	28
Rain (mm)	89	70	50	24	13	10	11	4	11	9	17	45
Wet days	17	14	10	6	4	3	4	2	2	2	6	11
Sun h/day	9.6	9.7	9.5	9.2	9.0	8.8	9.0	9.7	9.9	10.0	10.6	10.1
Wind (km/h)	21	20	20	21	20	21	21	19	20	20	20	17

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	+0.7	+0.7	−0.3	−0.1	−0.5	−0.3	−0.6	−0.3	−0.2	−0.5	+0.1	+0.3
2021	+0.9	+0.4	+0.3	−0.3	−0.3	−0.5	−0.6	−0.4	−0.5	−0.5	−0.3	+0.1
2022	+0.3	+0.3	−0.3	+0.4	+0.3	−0.3	+0.1	+0.5	+0.3	+0.9	+0.6	+0.5
2023	+0.3	+0.1	−1.3	−0.2	±0.0	+0.7	+0.6	+0.3	+0.3	+0.5	−0.1	+0.4
2024	+0.2	+0.5	+0.6	+1.0	+0.5	+0.6	+1.4	+1.4	+1.0	+0.4	+0.4	+0.5
2025	+1.0	+0.8	+0.2	+0.8	+0.7	+0.4	+0.5	−0.5	+0.7	±0.0	±0.0	+0.4

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More islands nearby.

Europa Island

Madagascar24 km²7 m125 km away

About these numbers

Names, area, population	Wikidata (Q220601) · 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