Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
30.6km²
Area
24km
Coastline
75m
Highest point
1,447
People
29°C
Warmest sea
August
995km
To the mainland
When to go to Minamidaitō Island
Best for the beach from May to July and from October to November.
The sea is warmest in August (29 °C) and coolest in March (22 °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 of Okinawa, Japan
Minamidaitō Island is an island in Japan. It covers 30.6 km², with 24 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 75 m. About 1,447 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 995 km away.
Getting there
- Minamidaito Airport (MMD)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at TKN airport (Amagi)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 995 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From May to July and from October to Novemberbest 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 Minamidaitō Island.
- 3viewpointsHinomaruyama Observatory
- 2hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 3restaurants, 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.
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 23 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.
- 95 %0–50 m
- 5 %50–200 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).
Towns on the island
- Zaisho1,285 people
- Minamidaito1,200 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 20 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 25 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 27 | 25 | 22 |
| Night low (°C) | 19 | 18 | 19 | 21 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 20 |
| Sea (°C) | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 27 | 26 | 24 |
| Rain (mm) | 55 | 46 | 62 | 110 | 202 | 232 | 98 | 169 | 137 | 129 | 92 | 84 |
| Wet days | 12 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 15 | 19 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 12 |
| Sun h/day | 4.0 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 7.1 | 9.5 | 8.7 | 7.9 | 6.2 | 4.8 | 3.7 |
| Wind (km/h) | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 26 | 25 | 26 |
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 | +1.6 | +1.8 | +1.3 | +0.4 | −0.5 | +1.2 | +0.8 | +1.5 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +1.0 |
| 2021 | +0.1 | +2.0 | +2.4 | −0.3 | +1.7 | +1.1 | −0.3 | −0.4 | +0.9 | +0.7 | −0.3 | +0.2 |
| 2022 | −0.1 | −0.4 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +0.7 | +1.0 | +0.2 | +1.1 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.9 |
| 2023 | +0.6 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.5 | −1.0 | −0.7 | +0.1 | −0.5 | +0.4 | +1.3 | +1.2 | +0.8 |
| 2024 | −0.3 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +1.2 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +1.7 | +1.7 | +1.0 | +1.3 | +1.9 | +0.5 |
| 2025 | +0.2 | −0.1 | −0.1 | −0.4 | +1.0 | +1.2 | −0.1 | +0.2 | +1.1 | +1.9 | +0.8 | +0.8 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.




About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q1204188) · 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.
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.





