United KingdomChagos ArchipelagoIsland
Diego Garcia
30.3 km² of land in the Indian Ocean.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
30.3km²
Area
125km
Coastline
7m
Highest point
4,202
People
29°C
Warmest sea
April
1,784km
To the mainland
When to go to Diego Garcia
Best for the beach from January to May.
The sea is warmest in April (29 °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.
Chagos atoll in the Indian Ocean
Diego Garcia is an island in United Kingdom. It belongs to Chagos Archipelago. It covers 30.3 km², with 125 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 7 m. About 4,202 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 1,784 km away.
Getting there
- 1,784 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January 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 Diego Garcia.
- 34beaches
- 3lighthousesMinni Minni
- 1marinasDiego Rivera Marina
- 1hotels, 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.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Diego Garcia in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Diego Garcia, each with its own numbers.
2beaches and covesCoastya
Beach with the warmest sea
29.2°C
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
2 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Barochois Sylvainecove29.2°C
- Barachois Mauricecove29.2°C
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 6 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.
10 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Downtown3,000 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 |
| Night low (°C) | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 27 |
| Sea (°C) | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 29 |
| Rain (mm) | 266 | 213 | 178 | 144 | 107 | 104 | 121 | 95 | 172 | 198 | 201 | 237 |
| Wet days | 25 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 24 |
| Sun h/day | 6.5 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 7.4 | 7.1 | 7.5 | 6.6 | 7.2 | 7.5 | 7.0 |
| Wind (km/h) | 18 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 20 | 24 | 27 | 28 | 26 | 22 | 18 | 16 |
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 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.7 | +1.1 | +0.3 | −0.4 | −0.2 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +0.3 |
| 2021 | −0.7 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.6 | ±0.0 | +0.5 | −0.1 | −0.4 | −0.2 | +0.4 |
| 2022 | +0.7 | −0.8 | −0.1 | +0.6 | +0.6 | ±0.0 | −0.4 | −0.2 | +0.2 | +0.3 | −0.1 | +0.2 |
| 2023 | −0.3 | −0.6 | +0.1 | +0.5 | ±0.0 | −0.7 | +0.1 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +0.7 | ±0.0 | −0.1 |
| 2024 | +0.7 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +1.1 | +1.5 | +1.0 | +0.5 |
| 2025 | +0.1 | −0.4 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
British Indian Ocean Territory
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q184851) · 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 — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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