New Zealand
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
915km²
Area
297km
Coastline
299m
Highest point
600
People
16°C
Warmest sea
February
3,371km
To the mainland
When to go to Chatham Island
Good all year round.
The sea is warmest in February (16 °C) and coolest in August (11 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
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 off eastern New Zealand
Chatham Island is an island in New Zealand. It covers 915 km², with 297 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 299 m. About 600 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 3,371 km away.
Getting there
- Inia William Tuuta Memorial Airport (CHT)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at NPE airport (Napier)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 3,371 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
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 Chatham Island.
- 8beachesLong Beach, Waitangi West Beach, Maunganui Beach and 5 more
- 1viewpoints
- 13lighthousesPoint Somes, Point Weeding, Kāingaroa automatic light and 10 more
- 40named peaksMaungatere Hill, Oropuke, Rangaika and 37 more
- 6ruins and archaeological sitesMoriori rock carvings, Mission Station Ruins, WWII Munitions Emplacement and 3 more
- 1campsitesTaiko Camp
- 7hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 1restaurants, cafés and bars
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
Chatham Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Chatham Island, each with its own numbers.
12beaches and covesCoastya
11mountainsPeakyas
17lakesLakeyas
Highest point
188m
Mount Chudleigh
according to Peakyas
Largest lake
8.2km²
Rangitahi Lake
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
19.4°C
Lake Te Wapu
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
15.6°C
Terahui
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
12 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Waitangi Beach15.4°C
- Terahuicove15.6°C
- Rangaikacove15.5°C
- Kautawaracove15.5°C
- Waipuruacove15.5°C
- Te Ngaiocove15.6°C
- Te Awahohonucove15.4°C
- Rongoteacove15.5°C
4 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
11 mountains
on Peakyas, the mountain atlas
- Mount Chudleigh188m
- Korako178m
- Maunganui178m
- Matakitaki155m
- Te Whata136m
- Mount Diffenbach (Hemokawa)134m
- Kapangatakahu109m
- Mangahau108m
3 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
17 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Rangitahi Lake8.2km²
- Lake Huro5.8km²
- Lake Pateriki1.3km²
- Lake Kairae1.1km²
- Lake Kaingarahu0.74km²
- Tennants Lake0.54km²
- Lake Marakapia0.41km²
- Lake Te Wapu0.26km²
9 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 65 m above the sea. 89 % of it is below 200 m.
- 60 %0–50 m
- 29 %50–200 m
- 11 %200–500 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
- Waitangi140 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 15 |
| Night low (°C) | 14 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Sea (°C) | 15 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 14 |
| Rain (mm) | 60 | 65 | 78 | 70 | 78 | 91 | 62 | 67 | 64 | 63 | 63 | 62 |
| Wet days | 11 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 18 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 12 |
| Sun h/day | 8.1 | 7.2 | 5.9 | 4.3 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 4.2 | 5.3 | 6.6 | 7.9 | 7.9 |
| Wind (km/h) | 28 | 26 | 26 | 30 | 30 | 32 | 30 | 29 | 31 | 30 | 28 | 27 |
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 | +0.4 | −0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +0.2 |
| 2021 | +1.1 | +0.7 | +1.2 | +1.0 | +0.7 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +1.1 |
| 2022 | +0.9 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.7 |
| 2023 | +0.9 | +1.6 | +1.6 | +1.4 | +1.6 | +1.9 | +1.8 | +1.5 | +1.4 | +1.3 | +0.9 | +0.9 |
| 2024 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.9 | +0.9 |
| 2025 | +0.7 | +0.2 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +1.2 | +1.0 | +1.3 | +1.3 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +1.3 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q1427436) · 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, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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