Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
140km²
Area
59km
Coastline
975m
Highest point
9,274
People
30°C
Warmest sea
November
615km
To the mainland
When to go to Atauro
Best for the beach from June to October.
The sea is warmest in November (30 °C) and coolest in August (27 °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 and municipality in East Timor
Atauro is an island in Timor Leste. It covers 140 km², with 59 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 975 m. About 9,274 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 615 km away.
Getting there
- Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport (DIL)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 35 km in a straight line
- FerriesDili - Atauro Island
- 615 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
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On the island
What you find on Atauro.
- 3beaches
- 13viewpointstrail point, trail route, trail view and 10 more
- 1ferry terminals
- 1named peaksPulau Atauro
- 1campsitesellas campsite
- 10hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 11restaurants, 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.
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 313 m above the sea. 36 % of it is below 200 m.
- 10 %0–50 m
- 27 %50–200 m
- 40 %200–500 m
- 23 %500–1,000 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.
10 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Atauro9,274 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 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 30 |
| Night low (°C) | 28 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 28 |
| Sea (°C) | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 30 |
| Rain (mm) | 242 | 189 | 138 | 80 | 50 | 31 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 58 | 184 |
| Wet days | 26 | 23 | 22 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 24 |
| Sun h/day | 6.4 | 6.5 | 7.4 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.9 | 10.1 | 10.4 | 10.0 | 9.2 | 6.6 |
| Wind (km/h) | 18 | 18 | 14 | 15 | 21 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 13 |
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 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.2 | −0.1 | +0.2 | +0.7 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.4 |
| 2021 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.5 | −0.5 | −0.1 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.1 | +0.2 |
| 2022 | −0.5 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +1.1 | +0.3 | +0.2 |
| 2023 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.2 | −0.5 | −0.2 | +0.1 | +0.2 |
| 2024 | +0.5 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.7 | +0.6 | −0.1 |
| 2025 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.3 | −0.3 | −0.1 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Wetar Island
Alor Island
Timor
Pantar Island
Jaco
Lembata Island
Adonara Island
Damar IslandAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q753794) · 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.



