NamibiaIsland

Penguin Island

0.40 km² of land in the Atlantic Ocean.

N 0.1 km

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

In numbers

0.40km²

Area

5km

Coastline

30m

Highest point

People

16°C

Warmest sea

February

2km

To the mainland

When to go to Penguin Island

Best to visit from December to April.

The sea is warmest in February (16 °C) and coolest in August (13 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.

16°21°16°

Jan0

16°21°17°

Feb0

16°21°16°

Mar1

15°20°15°

Apr2

14°19°14°

May1

14°18°12°

Jun1

13°18°12°

Jul1

13°17°12°

Aug1

13°18°12°

Sep1

13°18°13°

Oct1

14°19°14°

Nov0

15°20°16°

Dec0

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 Lüderitz Bay, Namibia

Penguin Island is an island in Namibia. It covers 0.40 km², with 5 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 30 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 2 km away.

Getting there

Luderitz Airport (LUD)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 12 km in a straight lineCar hire in LuderitzDiscover Cars · Affiliate link
2 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
From December to Aprilbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Car hire in LuderitzDiscover 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.

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 13 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.

Penguin Island0 km²

Alcatraz Island0 km²

0.2 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)	21	21	21	20	19	18	18	17	18	18	19	20
Night low (°C)	16	17	16	15	14	12	12	12	12	13	14	16
Sea (°C)	16	16	16	15	14	14	13	13	13	13	14	15
Rain (mm)	3	4	4	9	5	4	4	5	3	3	3	2
Wet days	0	0	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0
Sun h/day	13.0	12.0	11.4	10.5	9.8	9.5	9.8	10.4	11.0	12.1	13.2	13.4
Wind (km/h)	24	22	21	17	16	17	18	19	21	23	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	−0.7	−0.1	−0.4	−0.9	−1.0	−1.2	−0.1	−0.1	±0.0	−0.1	±0.0	−0.5
2021	−0.9	−1.1	±0.0	−0.6	±0.0	+0.1	+0.6	+0.2	+0.1	+0.5	−1.5	−1.5
2022	−1.6	−0.8	−1.2	−1.7	−1.9	−0.6	−0.7	−0.8	−1.4	−1.1	−0.8	−1.4
2023	−1.7	−1.2	−0.9	−1.2	−1.3	−0.3	−0.9	−0.8	−1.7	−0.7	−0.7	−2.0
2024	−0.4	−1.4	−1.3	−1.5	−0.9	−0.1	−0.1	−0.8	−1.6	−1.1	−1.9	−2.6
2025	−2.0	−1.8	−1.0	−0.9	−0.6	−1.2	−1.3	−1.3	−1.1	−1.0	−1.1	−1.7

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Roberthafen — Uploaded on April 24, 2006 by SqueakyMarmot [1] · CC BY 2.0

Nearby

More islands nearby.

Ichaboe Island

Namibia0.06 km²8 m42 km away

Mercury Island

Namibia0.03 km²78 m105 km away

About these numbers

Names, area, population	Wikidata (Q2068872) · 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