Tanzania
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
13.3km²
Area
23km
Coastline
26m
Highest point
29°C
Warmest sea
March
4km
To the mainland
When to go to Kilwa Kisiwani
Best for the beach from June to September.
The sea is warmest in March (29 °C) and coolest in August (26 °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 Tanzania
Kilwa Kisiwani is an island in Tanzania. It covers 13.3 km², with 23 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 26 m. The nearest mainland is 4 km away. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there
- Mtwara Airport (MYW)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 167 km in a straight lineCar hire at DAR airport (Dar es Salaam)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 4 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From June 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 Kilwa Kisiwani.
- 1beachesMooring points for boats to Palace
- 1castles and fortsGereza (Portuguese and later Omani fort, 16th-18th century)
- 5ruins and archaeological sitesRuins of Kilwa Kisiwani, Ruins of the Palace of Kilwa Sultanate, Husuni Kubwa and 2 more
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 12 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.
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) | 30 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 31 |
| Night low (°C) | 25 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| Sea (°C) | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 29 |
| Rain (mm) | 177 | 155 | 208 | 247 | 85 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 46 | 68 | 133 |
| Wet days | 22 | 20 | 26 | 25 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 22 |
| Sun h/day | 7.0 | 6.9 | 6.6 | 6.5 | 7.4 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 8.8 | 8.7 | 7.9 |
| Wind (km/h) | 11 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 11 |
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 | +0.5 | +0.9 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +0.3 |
| 2021 | +0.1 | +0.6 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.1 | −0.1 | +0.1 | +0.1 | −0.1 | +0.4 | +0.2 |
| 2022 | +0.4 | −0.1 | −0.4 | +0.5 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.4 | ±0.0 | −0.3 | −0.3 | −0.4 | −0.1 |
| 2023 | +0.3 | +0.1 | −0.3 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.8 |
| 2024 | +0.7 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +0.7 |
| 2025 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.4 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
MozambiqueAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q1741475) · 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 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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