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United Kingdom United KingdomPitcairn IslandsVolcanic island

Pitcairn Island

4.0 km² of land in the Pacific Ocean.

When to go

Pitcairn Island seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
Adamstown
N 0.5 km

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

In numbers

4.0km²

Area

14km

Coastline

347m

Highest point

Pawala Valley Ridge

35

People

27°C

Warmest sea

February

5,366km

To the mainland

When to go to Pitcairn Island

Best for the beach from January to May.

The sea is warmest in February (27 °C) and coolest in August (22 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

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.

Only inhabited island in the Pitcairn Islands

Pitcairn Island is an volcanic island in Pitcairn. It belongs to Pitcairn Islands. It covers 4.0 km², with 14 km of coastline. Its highest point, Pawala Valley Ridge, rises to 347 m. About 35 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 5,366 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

  • Ferries1 ferry terminals on the island
  • 5,366 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
  • From January to Maybest 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 Pitcairn Island.

  • 4viewpoints
  • 1ferry terminalsPitcairn
  • 2marinasWest Harbour
  • 2named peaksPawala Valley Ridge, Highest Point
  • 1ruins and archaeological sitesPolynesian Petroglyphs
  • 2hotels, guesthouses and apartments
  • 2restaurants, 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

Pitcairn Island in our other atlases

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

  • 1beachCoastya
  • 2mountainsPeakyas
  • Highest point

    347m

    Pawala Valley Ridge

    prominence 347 m · according to Peakyas

  • Beach with the warmest sea

    26.6°C

    Gudgeen

    sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

1 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

  1. Gudgeencove26.6°C

Open Coastya ↗

2 mountains

on Peakyas, the mountain atlas

  1. Pawala Valley Ridgeprominence 347 m347m
  2. Middle Hill

Open Peakyas ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 137 m above the sea. 75 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 19 %0–50 m
  • 56 %50–200 m
  • 25 %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.

Pitcairn Island4 km²
Capri10 km²

2 km

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

Towns on the island

  • Adamstown46 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)252626252423222222222324
Night low (°C)242525242322212020212223
Sea (°C)262727262524232222222425
Rain (mm)12496103132112108105112103152126154
Wet days151614161415141414161417
Sun h/day9.29.18.67.16.35.76.26.77.47.78.18.7
Wind (km/h)202020222225252424232221

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020−0.7−0.1−0.3−0.1−0.5−0.3−0.2+0.3+0.8+0.9+0.3+0.6
2021+0.9+0.5−0.4−0.1+0.4+0.3+1.0+0.4+0.8+1.2+1.0+0.5
2022+0.1+0.2+0.5+0.7+0.6+0.7+0.7+0.9+0.6+0.1−0.2±0.0
2023+0.4+0.8+0.7+0.9+1.2+0.7+0.8±0.0−0.3+0.5+0.4−0.4
2024−0.4−0.1+0.7−0.6−0.8±0.0±0.0−0.2−0.7+0.2+0.4+0.3
2025+0.1+0.6+0.2−0.1+0.7+0.4+0.5+0.6±0.0+0.1+0.1−0.5

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Pitcairnvegetation
Makemake at German Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Pitcairn Island In The Distance
wileypics · CC BY 2.0
Pitcairn Anlegestelle
Jens Bludau · CC BY-SA 3.0
Pitcairn - Kapelle 3
Gerold Steinhorst · CC BY-SA 4.0

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q1779748) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsCoastya, Peakyas — 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.

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.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit