New Zealand
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
3.4km²
Area
9km
Coastline
321m
Highest point
Ngātoro Peak
0
People
21°C
Warmest sea
February
2,243km
To the mainland
When to go to Whakaari / White Island
Best for the beach from January to March.
The sea is warmest in February (21 °C) and coolest in August (15 °C). Comfortable swimming (21 °C or more): February.
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 volcano in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty
Whakaari / White Island is an volcanic island in New Zealand. It covers 3.4 km², with 9 km of coastline. Its highest point, Ngātoro Peak, rises to 321 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 2,243 km away.
Getting there
- Whakatāne Airport (WHK)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 50 km in a straight lineCar hire at TRG airport (Tauranga)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- Ferries1 ferry terminals on the island
- 2,243 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to Marchbest 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 Whakaari / White Island.
- 1ferry terminalsWhite Island
- 3named peaksMount Gisborne, Ngātoro Peak, Mount Percival
- 1volcanoesTe Puia o Whakaari
- 2ruins and archaeological sitesOld camp site, Sulphur Factory
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 100 m above the sea. 87 % of it is below 200 m.
- 32 %0–50 m
- 55 %50–200 m
- 13 %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.
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) | 20 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 19 |
| Night low (°C) | 18 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 17 |
| Sea (°C) | 20 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 19 |
| Rain (mm) | 69 | 75 | 84 | 107 | 114 | 128 | 133 | 122 | 95 | 86 | 62 | 95 |
| Wet days | 9 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 12 |
| Sun h/day | 9.4 | 8.1 | 7.5 | 6.3 | 5.3 | 4.4 | 4.8 | 5.6 | 6.4 | 7.6 | 8.7 | 8.6 |
| Wind (km/h) | 21 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 22 |
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 | −0.2 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.8 | +1.4 | +0.4 |
| 2021 | +0.9 | −0.1 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +1.5 | +2.2 |
| 2022 | +1.7 | +1.1 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +1.4 | +0.9 |
| 2023 | +0.6 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.8 |
| 2024 | +1.9 | +0.9 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +1.2 |
| 2025 | +0.3 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.2 | +0.7 | +2.1 | +1.9 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q557077) · 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.
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