Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
132km²
Area
85km
Coastline
481m
Highest point
Ward Hill
419
People
13°C
Warmest sea
August
482km
To the mainland
When to go to Hoy
Good all year round.
The sea is warmest in August (13 °C) and coolest in March (7 °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 the Orkney Islands group, Scotland, UK
Hoy is an island in United Kingdom. It belongs to Orkney Islands. It covers 132 km², with 85 km of coastline. Its highest point, Ward Hill, rises to 481 m. About 419 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 482 km away.
Getting there
- Kirkwall Airport (KOI)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 26 km in a straight lineCar hire at KOI airport (Kirkwall, Orkney Islands)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesLyness - Flotta, Graemsay and North Hoy, Houton - Lyness, Longhope - Lyness
- 482 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 Hoy.
- 3beaches
- 1viewpoints
- 1lighthousesTor Ness
- 2ferry terminalsLyness Ferry Terminal
- 25named peaksWard Hill, Cuilags, Knap of Trowieglen and 22 more
- 2waterfalls
- 15ruins and archaeological sitesBraebister, Broch, Brae Brough promontory fort, Searchlight emplacement and 12 more
- 1waymarked walking routesOld Man of Hoy Trail
- 1campsites
- 2hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 3restaurants, 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
Hoy in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Hoy, each with its own numbers.
16mountainsPeakyas
2lakesLakeyas
Highest point
481m
Ward Hill
prominence 481 m · according to Peakyas
Largest lake
0.61km²
Heldale Water
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
17.1°C
Hoglinns Water
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
16 mountains
on Peakyas, the mountain atlas
- Ward Hillprominence 481 m481m
- Cuilags
- Knap of Trowieglen
- Sui Fea
- Moor Fea
- Withi Gill
- Dwarfie Hamars Knap
- Sky Fea
8 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
2 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Heldale Water0.61km²
- Hoglinns Water0.15km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 134 m above the sea. 73 % of it is below 200 m.
- 25 %0–50 m
- 48 %50–200 m
- 27 %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.
10 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) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 8 |
| Night low (°C) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 6 |
| Sea (°C) | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 115 | 88 | 83 | 60 | 66 | 74 | 82 | 97 | 98 | 127 | 109 | 109 |
| Wet days | 21 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 21 | 22 | 21 |
| Sun h/day | 0.0 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 5.6 | 7.1 | 6.3 | 5.7 | 5.2 | 3.4 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Wind (km/h) | 35 | 33 | 31 | 27 | 24 | 22 | 21 | 23 | 27 | 31 | 34 | 34 |
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 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.5 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.5 |
| 2021 | +0.1 | −0.3 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.3 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.2 |
| 2022 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +1.2 | +0.9 |
| 2023 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +1.1 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +1.2 | +0.8 | +0.2 | +0.2 |
| 2024 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +1.4 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.3 |
| 2025 | +0.6 | +1.1 | +1.0 | +1.5 | +1.7 | +0.9 | +1.2 | +1.0 | +1.2 | +1.2 | +1.1 | +0.8 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Mainland
United Kingdom517 km²260 m20 km away
South RonaldsayUnited Kingdom49 km²118 m21 km away
ShapinsayUnited Kingdom27 km²64 m34 km away
RousayUnited Kingdom47 km²249 m38 km away
WestrayUnited Kingdom48 km²165 m53 km away
Fair IsleUnited Kingdom8.1 km²271 m121 km away
FoulaUnited Kingdom13 km²418 m159 km away
MainlandUnited Kingdom948 km²450 m197 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q1139771) · 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 | Peakyas, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; 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.
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