United States
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
2,701km²
Area
1,039km
Coastline
1,800m
Highest point
Makushin Volcano
1,759
People
10°C
Warmest sea
August
207km
To the mainland
When to go to Unalaska Island
Good all year round.
The sea is warmest in August (10 °C) and coolest in March (4 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
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 Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska, United States
Unalaska Island is an island in United States. It covers 2,701 km², with 1,039 km of coastline. Its highest point, Makushin Volcano, rises to 1,800 m. About 1,759 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 207 km away.
Getting there
- Tom Madsen (Dutch Harbor) Airport (DUT)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 26 km in a straight lineCar hire at ANC airport (Anchorage)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 207 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
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 Unalaska Island.
- 3beaches
- 1viewpoints
- 2marinasCarl E. Moses Boat Harbor (CEM), Robert Storrs Small Boat Harbor
- 29named peaksTable Top Mountain, Lofty Mountain, Pyramid Peak and 26 more
- 1volcanoesMakushin Volcano
- 1waterfalls
- 399castles and fortsEider Point Out Post and 398 more
- 274ruins and archaeological sitesWorld War II Hut and 273 more
- 1campsitesCamp Qungaayux
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
Unalaska Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Unalaska Island, each with its own numbers.
6beaches and covesCoastya
20mountainsPeakyas
1lakeLakeyas
Highest point
1,800m
Makushin Volcano
prominence 2,036 m · according to Peakyas
Largest lake
0.38km²
Unalaska Lake
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
15.0°C
Unalaska Lake
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
9.7°C
Ququgan
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
6 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Iitaagim-tugumaga9.0°C
- Ququgan9.7°C
- Chaluuknax9.7°C
- Chamax9.7°C
- Agnes Beach9.1°C
- Humpy Covecove9.7°C
20 mountains
on Peakyas, the mountain atlas
- Makushin Volcanoprominence 2,036 m1,800m
- Wide Bay640m
- Kiichxix Kangaxtax492m
- Table Top Mountain
- Mount Newhall
- Konets Head
- Lone Peak
- Magusim Aligii
12 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
1 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Unalaska Lake0.38km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 311 m above the sea. 41 % of it is below 200 m.
- 12 %0–50 m
- 29 %50–200 m
- 39 %200–500 m
- 19 %500–1,000 m
- 2 %1,000–2,000 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.
100 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Unalaska4,491 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| Night low (°C) | -1 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Sea (°C) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 |
| Rain (mm) | 136 | 124 | 88 | 92 | 115 | 107 | 105 | 104 | 128 | 167 | 130 | 192 |
| Wet days | 21 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 23 | 22 | 23 |
| Sun h/day | 0.8 | 1.6 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 0.5 |
| Wind (km/h) | 29 | 30 | 28 | 29 | 23 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 26 | 30 | 31 | 30 |
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 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +1.7 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.2 |
| 2021 | +0.3 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.8 | +1.1 | −0.5 | −1.0 | −0.6 |
| 2022 | −0.4 | −0.3 | −0.2 | −0.3 | +0.1 | −0.1 | −1.0 | −1.4 | −0.7 | −0.3 | −0.2 | +0.3 |
| 2023 | +0.4 | +0.6 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | −0.3 | −0.2 | −0.8 | −0.6 | −0.5 | ±0.0 | +0.7 | +0.3 |
| 2024 | +0.3 | +0.1 | −0.1 | −0.1 | −0.5 | −0.7 | −0.9 | −1.2 | −1.1 | −0.6 | −0.3 | +0.2 |
| 2025 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.3 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.4 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q1424060) · 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.
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