MadagascarVolcanic island

Nosy Be

269 km² of land in the Mozambique Channel.

Hell-Ville

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

269km²

Area

153km

Coastline

450m

Highest point

Mont Lokobe

60,000

People

30°C

Warmest sea

April

804km

To the mainland

When to go to Nosy Be

Best for the beach from June to October.

The sea is warmest in April (30 °C) and coolest in August (26 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

29°28°26°

Jan28

29°28°26°

Feb27

30°29°26°

Mar26

30°29°26°

Apr17

29°29°25°

May7

28°28°24°

Jun3

27°27°23°

Jul2

26°27°22°

Aug2

27°28°23°

Sep2

27°29°24°

Oct5

28°29°25°

Nov16

29°29°25°

Dec26

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

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 Madagascar

Nosy Be is an volcanic island in Madagascar. It covers 269 km², with 153 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mont Lokobe, rises to 450 m. About 60,000 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 804 km away.

Getting there

Nosy Be International Airport (NOS)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at TNR airport (Antananarivo)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
FerriesMadirokely-Nosy Iranja Be
804 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
From June to Octoberbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Car hire at TNR airport (Antananarivo)Discover CarsSee

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 Nosy Be.

40beachesAmporaha, Ambatoloaka and 38 more
8viewpointsMont Passot, Cascade, L'arbre sacré de Madirokely and 5 more
4marinasBoat to Nosy Komba, Le Marina de Nosy Be and 2 more
1named peaksMont Passot
2waterfallsCascade Antsahamanavaka, Cascade de Nosy Be
4dive centresTropical Diving, Mada Scuba, Sakalav' Diving and 1 more
1campsitescamp
67hotels, guesthouses and apartments
67restaurants, 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

Nosy Be in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Nosy Be, each with its own numbers.

2beaches and covesCoastya
3mountainsPeakyas
1lakeLakeyas

Highest point
455m
Mont Lokobe
according to Peakyas
Largest lake
1.4km²
Lac Amparihibe
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
29.0°C
Lac Amparihibe
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
29.7°C
Andilana
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

2 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

Andilana29.7°C
Palm29.7°C

Open Coastya ↗

3 mountains

on Peakyas, the mountain atlas

Mont Lokobe455m
Passot mountain326m
Mont Andilah

Open Peakyas ↗

1 lakes

on Lakeyas, the lake atlas

Lac Amparihibe1.4km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 75 m above the sea. 96 % of it is below 200 m.

43 %0–50 m
53 %50–200 m
4 %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.

Nosy Be269 km²

Malta247 km²

Madeira Island742 km²

20 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Towns on the island

Hell-Ville53,219 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Afternoon high (°C)	28	28	29	29	29	28	27	27	28	29	29	29
Night low (°C)	26	26	26	26	25	24	23	22	23	24	25	25
Sea (°C)	29	29	30	30	29	28	27	26	27	27	28	29
Rain (mm)	309	248	235	83	31	13	10	8	13	27	100	238
Wet days	28	27	26	17	7	3	2	2	2	5	16	26
Sun h/day	6.4	6.9	7.6	8.8	9.1	8.9	9.0	9.5	9.9	9.8	8.8	7.6
Wind (km/h)	10	10	8	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	8	8

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	+0.4	+0.4	+0.1	+0.3	+0.2	±0.0	−0.3	−0.1	+0.7	±0.0	+0.2
2021	+0.3	+0.6	+0.2	+0.1	−0.2	−0.3	−0.2	±0.0	±0.0	−0.3	+0.7	+0.8
2022	+0.8	+0.1	+0.1	+0.3	+0.2	+0.2	−0.1	+0.1	+0.2	−0.2	−0.1	+0.4
2023	+0.2	+0.4	+0.6	+0.6	+0.6	+0.6	+0.7	+1.2	+1.0	+1.1	+1.6	+1.4
2024	+0.8	+1.0	+1.2	+1.0	+0.6	+0.8	+0.8	+1.1	+1.2	+1.3	+1.2	+0.8
2025	+1.0	+1.1	+0.6	+1.0	+1.0	+0.4	+0.5	+0.4	+0.4	+0.9	+0.8	+1.0

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Grue au Port de Nosy Be — Chirocca77 · CC BY 4.0

Aéroport de fascene Nosy Be 01 — Chirocca77 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Au marché de Nosy Be — Laure Borel · CC BY-SA 4.0

Cráter, Nosy Be, Madagascar, 2025-09-12, DD 74 — Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

Nearby

More islands nearby.

Pamanzi

France11 km²35 m329 km away

About these numbers

Names, area, population	Wikidata (Q1330558) · 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, Peakyas, Lakeyas — 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.

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 Cascadyas

Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit

islands

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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