Chile
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
1,339km²
Area
344km
Coastline
86m
Highest point
301
People
9°C
Warmest sea
February
4km
To the mainland
When to go to Dawson Island
Good all year round.
The sea is warmest in February (9 °C) and coolest in August (6 °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 in Chile
Dawson Island is an island in Chile. It covers 1,339 km², with 344 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 86 m. About 301 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 4 km away.
Getting there
- President Carlos Ibáñez International Airport (PUQ)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 109 km in a straight lineCar hire at PUQ airport (Punta Arenas)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 4 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 Dawson Island.
- 2named peaksCerro Kelp, Monte Graves
- 2ruins and archaeological sitesHistorical Monument Soc. Ganadera Gente Grande Chimney Sawmill, Historical Monument Río Chico Politics Prisioners Field
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
Dawson Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Dawson Island, each with its own numbers.
3beaches and covesCoastya
1mountainPeakyas
1lakeLakeyas
Largest lake
4.0km²
Lago Don Bosco
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
12.1°C
Lago Don Bosco
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
9.6°C
Caleta Gidley
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
3 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Puerto Valdéscove9.1°C
- Caleta Preservacióncove9.4°C
- Caleta Gidleycove9.6°C
1 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Lago Don Bosco4.0km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 197 m above the sea. 62 % of it is below 200 m.
- 20 %0–50 m
- 42 %50–200 m
- 32 %200–500 m
- 6 %500–1,000 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).
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 11 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 10 |
| Night low (°C) | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Sea (°C) | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 105 | 88 | 99 | 94 | 78 | 72 | 66 | 70 | 63 | 72 | 85 | 93 |
| Wet days | 26 | 22 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 25 |
| Sun h/day | 5.9 | 5.3 | 4.0 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 4.2 | 5.6 | 6.1 | 6.6 |
| Wind (km/h) | 27 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 26 | 27 | 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 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.1 |
| 2021 | +0.2 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.1 | −0.1 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.4 |
| 2022 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.3 |
| 2023 | +0.3 | +0.3 | −0.2 | −0.4 | −0.2 | −0.1 | −0.1 | −0.2 | −0.2 | ±0.0 | −0.4 | −0.3 |
| 2024 | −0.1 | +0.2 | −0.1 | −0.1 | −0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.5 | −0.2 | +0.6 | +0.5 |
| 2025 | +1.0 | +0.1 | −0.1 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.3 | −0.1 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Argentina
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q429041) · 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
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.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit