Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
855km²
Area
836km
Coastline
763m
Highest point
Snøkolla
12,288
People
12°C
Warmest sea
August
42km
To the mainland
When to go to Langøya
Good all year round.
The sea is warmest in August (12 °C) and coolest in March (5 °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 Nordland, Norway
Langøya is an island in Norway. It belongs to Vesterålen. It covers 855 km², with 836 km of coastline. Its highest point, Snøkolla, rises to 763 m. About 12,288 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 42 km away.
Getting there
- Stokmarknes Airport, Skagen (SKN)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at SVJ airport (Svolvær)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesHurtigruten
- 42 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 Langøya.
- 15beachesSortland, Risvatnet, Nordahlstranda, Sandvika Strand and 12 more
- 6viewpointsLighthouse, View on beach, Hovden view and 3 more
- 4ferry terminalsHurtigruten Sortland, Sigerland hurtigbåtkai, Grødset hurtigbåtkai and 1 more
- 4marinas
- 100named peaksSnøkolla, Jubelbakktinden, Burnestinden and 97 more
- 5waterfallsLakseblikkan, Storfossen, Skinnforsen and 2 more
- 4waymarked walking routes
- 9campsitesCP Eidetsjö Camp, Sortland Camping og Motell, Toftenes Sjøhus-camping and 6 more
- 17hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 14restaurants, 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
Langøya in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Langøya, each with its own numbers.
2beaches and covesCoastya
12lakesLakeyas
4waterfallsCascadyas
Largest lake
2.3km²
Alsvågvatnet
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
17.6°C
Selnesvatnet
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
11.8°C
Høydalsvika
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
12 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Alsvågvatnet2.3km²
- Gåslandsvatnet1.5km²
- Ryggedalsvatnet0.83km²
- Langvatnet0.76km²
- Sørvågvatnet0.64km²
- Trollvatnet0.41km²
- Rekvatnet0.37km²
- Dalvatnet0.35km²
4 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
4 waterfalls
on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas
- Skinnforsen
- Lakseblikkan
- Storforsen
- Storfossen
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 140 m above the sea. 71 % of it is below 200 m.
- 40 %0–50 m
- 31 %50–200 m
- 28 %200–500 m
- 2 %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.
20 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Sortland10,468 people
- Myre2,086 people
- Straume333 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| Night low (°C) | -1 | -1 | -1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Sea (°C) | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 99 | 92 | 103 | 76 | 62 | 70 | 78 | 80 | 112 | 109 | 115 | 119 |
| Wet days | 21 | 19 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 21 |
| Sun h/day | 0.1 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 5.2 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 6.2 | 4.8 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 0.0 | — |
| Wind (km/h) | 26 | 25 | 24 | 21 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 25 |
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 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +0.3 | +0.1 | −0.3 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +0.3 | +1.1 | +0.4 | +0.8 |
| 2021 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +1.0 | +0.6 | −0.3 | +0.5 | +0.3 | −0.4 | ±0.0 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.3 |
| 2022 | +0.2 | −0.1 | +0.3 | −0.2 | −0.3 | +0.1 | +1.0 | +0.1 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.2 |
| 2023 | +0.3 | +0.4 | −0.5 | −0.5 | −0.4 | −0.6 | +0.8 | +1.3 | +0.8 | −0.1 | +0.4 | −0.1 |
| 2024 | −0.4 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.4 | ±0.0 | +1.7 | +2.3 | +3.7 | +1.9 | +1.3 | +0.8 | ±0.0 |
| 2025 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.1 | −0.2 | +0.8 | +1.8 | +2.1 | +2.2 | +1.6 | +1.0 | +1.0 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.




Nearby
More islands nearby.
Hinnøya
Andøya
Austvågøya
Senja
Flakstadøya
Moskenesøya
Kvaløya, Troms
TromsøyaAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q1418551) · 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 | Coastya, Lakeyas, Cascadyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; 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.
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.