Australia
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
3.5km²
Area
9km
Coastline
104m
Highest point
2,938
People
29°C
Warmest sea
December
29km
To the mainland
When to go to Thursday Island
Best for the beach from June to October.
The sea is warmest in December (29 °C) and coolest in August (25 °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 in Queensland, Australia
Thursday Island is an island in Australia. It covers 3.5 km², with 9 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 104 m. About 2,938 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 29 km away.
Getting there
- Horn Island Airport (HID)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 8 km in a straight lineCar hire in WeipaDiscover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesTI Ferry, MV Australia Fair, Hammond Island Ferry
- 29 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
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 Thursday Island.
- 1viewpointsLion's Lookout
- 1marinas
- 1ruins and archaeological sitesGreen Hill Fort Coastal Artillery
- 2hotels, guesthouses and apartments
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
Thursday Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Thursday Island, each with its own numbers.
3mountainsPeakyas
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 25 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.
- 84 %0–50 m
- 16 %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.
2 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Thursday Island2,805 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| Night low (°C) | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| Sea (°C) | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| Rain (mm) | 382 | 366 | 346 | 208 | 68 | 26 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 17 | 52 | 161 |
| Wet days | 27 | 26 | 25 | 18 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 19 |
| Sun h/day | 5.2 | 5.5 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.9 | 6.6 | 7.0 | 7.9 | 8.2 | 8.7 | 8.4 | 7.3 |
| Wind (km/h) | 20 | 19 | 18 | 25 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 31 | 31 | 28 | 25 | 18 |
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 | +1.4 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +1.1 | +0.6 | +0.2 | +1.1 | +0.7 |
| 2021 | +0.7 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.8 | +1.1 | +0.2 | +1.3 | +1.1 | +1.0 |
| 2022 | −0.1 | +0.2 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +1.5 | +1.4 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +1.5 | +1.7 | +1.6 | +0.2 |
| 2023 | −0.2 | −0.5 | +0.2 | +1.3 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +1.0 | +0.4 | −0.3 | −0.2 | −0.4 | −0.2 |
| 2024 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.9 | +1.4 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.3 |
| 2025 | +1.4 | +0.5 | +1.3 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +1.2 | +1.1 | +1.4 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.7 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Papua New GuineaAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q556632) · 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 | Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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