Skip to content
islandyas
EN

United Kingdom United KingdomIsland

Inaccessible Island

14.6 km² rising to 511 m out of the Atlantic Ocean.

When to go

Inaccessible Island seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
N 1 km

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

In numbers

14.6km²

Area

19km

Coastline

511m

Highest point

0

People

18°C

Warmest sea

February

2,981km

To the mainland

When to go to Inaccessible Island

Best to visit from January to March.

The sea is warmest in February (18 °C) and coolest in September (13 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.

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 Tristan Da Cunha archipelago

Inaccessible Island is an island in United Kingdom. It covers 14.6 km², with 19 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 511 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 2,981 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

  • 2,981 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
  • From January to Marchbest 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 Inaccessible Island.

  • 5beachesSalt Beach, Tom's Beach, Pig Beach and 2 more
  • 5named peaksSwales Fell, Boulder Hill, Round Hill and 2 more
  • 1volcanoesCairn Peak

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 304 m above the sea. 27 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 11 %0–50 m
  • 16 %50–200 m
  • 66 %200–500 m
  • 8 %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.

Inaccessible Island15 km²
Capri10 km²
Manhattan54 km²

5 km

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

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)181818171614141313131516
Night low (°C)161716161412121111121315
Sea (°C)181818171615141313141516
Rain (mm)7971100126142143120921111088599
Wet days141315181919191717161615
Sun h/day8.17.46.14.93.63.13.44.35.36.57.57.6
Wind (km/h)252526283233343431292726

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
2020−0.2−0.5−0.5−0.2+0.1−0.5−0.5−0.3+0.2+0.5−0.2+1.6
2021+1.9+1.4+0.8−0.5+0.3−0.8−0.2+0.4+0.7+0.8+1.3+1.9
2022+1.5+0.5±0.0−0.2±0.0+0.2−0.1−0.1−0.1−0.5+0.3+0.8
2023+0.5+0.5+0.6+1.3+1.5+1.0+0.8+0.5+0.6+0.2−0.1−0.7
2024+0.2+0.3−0.1+0.3−0.2+0.6+0.7+0.1+0.6+0.8+0.3−0.6
2025−0.1−0.4+0.5+0.7+0.3+0.2+0.6+0.9+0.8+0.9+1.1+1.5

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Inaccessible Isle (3449536159)
michael clarke stuff · CC BY-SA 2.0
Inaccessible Island, March 14, 2024
Warrenmck · CC BY-SA 4.0
Inaccessible Island - cliffs (1)
Brian Gratwicke · CC BY 2.0
Inaccessible Island - waterfall over cliffs
Brian Gratwicke · CC BY 2.0

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q914225) · 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

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.Coming soonVisit