Tonga
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
11.5km²
Area
17km
Coastline
1,030m
Highest point
Kao
0
People
28°C
Warmest sea
March
3,399km
To the mainland
When to go to Kao
Best for the beach from May to September.
The sea is warmest in March (28 °C) and coolest in August (25 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).
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 Tonga
Kao is an volcanic island in Tonga. It covers 11.5 km², with 17 km of coastline. Its highest point, Kao, rises to 1,030 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 3,399 km away.
Getting there
- Lifuka Island Airport (HPA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 72 km in a straight line
- 3,399 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From May to Septemberbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
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On the island
What you find on Kao.
- 1named peaksKao
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
Kao in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Kao, each with its own numbers.
1mountainPeakyas
Highest point
1,030m
prominence 1,030 m · according to Peakyas
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 341 m above the sea. 36 % of it is below 200 m.
- 9 %0–50 m
- 28 %50–200 m
- 38 %200–500 m
- 25 %500–1,000 m
- <1 %1,000–2,000 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.
5 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) | 27 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| Night low (°C) | 27 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Sea (°C) | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| Rain (mm) | 216 | 203 | 191 | 174 | 112 | 111 | 59 | 69 | 79 | 104 | 115 | 144 |
| Wet days | 20 | 17 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 18 |
| Sun h/day | 8.0 | 7.7 | 7.5 | 6.8 | 6.5 | 6.2 | 6.7 | 6.8 | 7.4 | 7.7 | 8.1 | 8.1 |
| Wind (km/h) | 22 | 22 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 24 |
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 | −0.1 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +1.4 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.3 |
| 2021 | +0.8 | −0.2 | +0.1 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +1.1 | +1.2 | +0.7 |
| 2022 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.6 | +1.1 | +1.2 | +1.2 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +1.4 |
| 2023 | +1.4 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.3 | +0.3 | +0.6 |
| 2024 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.3 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.5 |
| 2025 | +1.0 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.7 | −0.3 | +0.5 | +0.4 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q1520405) · 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 — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · 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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