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United States United StatesIsland

Fire Island

22.1 km² of land in the Atlantic Ocean.

When to go

Fire Island seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
N 5 km

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

In numbers

22.1km²

Area

123km

Coastline

7m

Highest point

777

People

23°C

Warmest sea

August

34km

To the mainland

When to go to Fire Island

Best for the beach from July to September.

The sea is warmest in August (23 °C) and coolest in February (4 °C). Comfortable swimming (21 °C or more): from July to August.

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 Suffolk County, New York, United States

Fire Island is an island in United States. It covers 22.1 km², with 123 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 7 m. About 777 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 34 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

  • Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 17 km in a straight lineCar hire at ISP airport (Islip)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • FerriesSayville - Water Island, Fire Island, Bay Shore - Saltaire, Fire Island, Bay Shore - Ocean Beach, Fire Island, Bay Shore - Atlantique, Fire Island
  • 34 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
  • From July to Septemberbest 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 Fire Island.

  • 34beachesAtlantique Beach, Lighthouse Beach, Ho-Hum Beach and 31 more
  • 3viewpoints
  • 1lighthousesFire Island Lighthouse Visitors Center
  • 17ferry terminalsWater Island Ferry Landing, Ocean Beach Ferry Landing, Atlantique Ferry Landing and 14 more
  • 5marinasDavis Park Marina and 4 more
  • 2campsites
  • 12hotels, guesthouses and apartments
  • 32restaurants, 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

Fire Island in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Fire Island, each with its own numbers.

  • 2beaches and covesCoastya
  • Beach with the warmest sea

    22.6°C

    Great South Beach

    sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

2 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

  1. Great South Beach22.6°C
  2. Atlantique Beach22.6°C

Open Coastya ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 2 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.

Fire Island22 km²
Manhattan54 km²
Santorini76 km²

10 km

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

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)44610152125252217128
Night low (°C)002612172222191484
Sea (°C)6457121822232117139
Rain (mm)10610412211210110910510795131106143
Wet days11101111131213131010912
Sun h/day3.74.95.87.17.48.38.88.07.05.14.43.2
Wind (km/h)272625221918181720242627

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020+0.8+1.9+1.9+1.0−0.8+0.2+2.1+0.9+0.8+0.9+1.6+1.2
2021+0.8+0.3+0.7+1.2+1.6+0.7+0.4+1.2+1.4+2.8+1.7+1.0
2022+0.7+0.1+0.9+0.8−0.2+1.1+0.9+1.1+1.0−0.1+1.9+0.2
2023+0.5+1.6+1.3+1.7+1.7+0.3+2.1±0.0+0.6+0.2+0.4+0.2
2024+0.2+0.9+2.3+1.0+0.8+1.9+0.4±0.0+0.3+0.4+1.6+0.1
2025−0.6−0.7+0.3+0.6+0.7+0.2+1.7+0.4+0.5+1.6−0.1−1.3

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

FireIslandLighthouse 080507
Paul Costello · Public domain
Fire island seashore with flags
CartCoupDetat · CC BY-SA 4.0
Fire Island 2010 01 18 1114
Harvey Barrison · CC BY-SA 2.0
Fire Island 2010 01 18 1121
Harvey Barrison · CC BY-SA 2.0

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q1418789) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsCoastya — 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.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit