AustraliaLord Howe Island GroupIslandUNESCO World Heritage
Lord Howe Island
15.9 km² rising to 875 m out of the Tasman Sea.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
15.9km²
Area
44km
Coastline
875m
Highest point
Mount Gower
445
People
24°C
Warmest sea
February
569km
To the mainland
When to go to Lord Howe Island
Best for the beach from January to April.
The sea is warmest in February (24 °C) and coolest in August (19 °C). Comfortable swimming (21 °C or more): from December to May.
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 the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of New South Wales
Lord Howe Island is an island in Australia. It belongs to Lord Howe Island Group. It covers 15.9 km², with 44 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Gower, rises to 875 m. About 445 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 569 km away. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there
- 569 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to Aprilbest 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 Lord Howe Island.
- 12beachesBlinky Beach, Lagoon Beach, Middle Beach and 9 more
- 25viewpointsGet Up Place, The Goathouse, Mutton Bird Point Viewing Platform and 22 more
- 6named peaksMount Gower, Mount Lidgbird, Intermediate Hill and 3 more
- 2waterfalls
- 1dive centresDive Lord Howe
- 1surf spotsSurfing
- 20hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 11restaurants, 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
Lord Howe Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Lord Howe Island, each with its own numbers.
4beaches and covesCoastya
Beach with the warmest sea
24.3°C
Salmon Beach
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
4 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Salmon Beach24.3°C
- Middle Beach24.3°C
- Neal’s Beach24.3°C
- New Gulchcove24.3°C
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 107 m above the sea. 82 % of it is below 200 m.
- 42 %0–50 m
- 40 %50–200 m
- 18 %200–500 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) | 23 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 22 |
| Night low (°C) | 22 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 21 |
| Sea (°C) | 24 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| Rain (mm) | 77 | 69 | 78 | 81 | 58 | 87 | 83 | 69 | 61 | 86 | 81 | 73 |
| Wet days | 14 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 |
| Sun h/day | 9.3 | 8.8 | 7.9 | 7.1 | 6.3 | 5.1 | 5.8 | 6.9 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 9.2 |
| Wind (km/h) | 23 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 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 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +1.1 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +1.0 | +1.1 | +0.1 |
| 2021 | +0.6 | −0.7 | −1.0 | −0.5 | −0.5 | −0.6 | +0.1 | −0.1 | −0.2 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.9 |
| 2022 | +0.1 | −0.6 | −0.5 | −0.6 | −0.2 | −0.4 | −0.7 | −1.0 | −0.2 | ±0.0 | −0.6 | −1.4 |
| 2023 | −0.7 | −0.3 | +0.3 | +0.5 | −0.7 | −1.2 | −1.0 | −0.5 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +1.3 |
| 2024 | +1.1 | +2.0 | +1.3 | +0.8 | +0.3 | +1.1 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +1.8 |
| 2025 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.2 | −0.1 | −0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +1.0 | +0.7 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q104784) · 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 — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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