Papua New GuineaVolcanic island
Karkar Island
399 km² rising to 1,839 m out of the Bismarck Sea.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
399km²
Area
90km
Coastline
1,839m
Highest point
Karkar Island
65,000
People
30°C
Warmest sea
December
752km
To the mainland
When to go to Karkar Island
Best for the beach from January to May.
The sea is warmest in December (30 °C) and coolest in August (28 °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.
Mountain
Karkar Island is an volcanic island in Papua New Guinea. It covers 399 km², with 90 km of coastline. Its highest point, Karkar Island, rises to 1,839 m. About 65,000 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 752 km away.
Getting there
- Madang Airport (MAG)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 67 km in a straight line
- 752 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to Maybest 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 Karkar Island.
- 2named peaksMount Kunuqui, Mount Uluman
- 1volcanoesUluman crater 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.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Karkar Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Karkar Island, each with its own numbers.
3mountainsPeakyas
Highest point
1,839m
prominence 1,839 m · according to Peakyas
3 mountains
on Peakyas, the mountain atlas
- Karkar Islandprominence 1,839 m1,839m
- Mount Uluman1,114m
- Mount Kunugui
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 391 m above the sea. 45 % of it is below 200 m.
- 18 %0–50 m
- 27 %50–200 m
- 26 %200–500 m
- 16 %500–1,000 m
- 13 %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.
20 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) | 29 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| Night low (°C) | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 |
| Sea (°C) | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 30 |
| Rain (mm) | 219 | 182 | 241 | 185 | 194 | 155 | 113 | 101 | 142 | 125 | 185 | 205 |
| Wet days | 26 | 25 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 21 | 20 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 24 | 26 |
| Sun h/day | 4.9 | 5.0 | 5.2 | 5.5 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 7.1 | 7.0 | 5.9 | 5.5 |
| Wind (km/h) | 20 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 25 | 22 | 17 | 13 | 15 |
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 | +0.3 | −0.1 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +0.1 | +0.3 |
| 2021 | +1.9 | +1.1 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.6 |
| 2022 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.9 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +1.2 | +1.1 | +1.4 | +1.5 | +1.2 | +1.2 | +0.6 |
| 2023 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.4 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.5 | −0.3 |
| 2024 | +0.5 | ±0.0 | +0.7 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.5 |
| 2025 | +1.3 | +1.5 | +1.5 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +0.7 | +0.3 | +0.4 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q720720) · 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.
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