United States
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
6.3km²
Area
30km
Coastline
14m
Highest point
100
People
29°C
Warmest sea
September
3,644km
To the mainland
When to go to Wake Island
Best for the beach from December to February and from April to May.
The sea is warmest in September (29 °C) and coolest in February (26 °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.
Coral atoll in the North Pacific Ocean administered by the US and also claimed by the Marshall Islands
Wake Island is an atoll in United States. It covers 6.3 km², with 30 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 14 m. About 100 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 3,644 km away.
Getting there
- Wake Island Airfield (AWK)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at LIH airport (Lihue, Kauai)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 3,644 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From December to February and from April 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 Wake Island.
- 3beaches
- 1named peaksWake Island H.P.
- 2ruins and archaeological sites
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 5 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.
5 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) | 26 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 27 |
| Night low (°C) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| Sea (°C) | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 |
| Rain (mm) | 20 | 21 | 26 | 31 | 23 | 26 | 83 | 141 | 130 | 83 | 30 | 21 |
| Wet days | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 17 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 7 | 5 |
| Sun h/day | 8.0 | 8.5 | 9.1 | 9.8 | 10.3 | 10.6 | 9.2 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.2 |
| Wind (km/h) | 22 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 22 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 25 | 26 | 25 |
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 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.7 |
| 2021 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.8 | +0.6 |
| 2022 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.2 |
| 2023 | +0.4 | +0.3 | −0.2 | −0.4 | −0.5 | −0.5 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | −0.2 | +0.3 | +0.7 | +0.5 |
| 2024 | +0.8 | ±0.0 | +0.4 | −0.1 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.1 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.8 | +1.1 | +0.7 |
| 2025 | +1.4 | +1.4 | +1.2 | +0.9 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.7 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q43296) · 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 |
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
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
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