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Solomon Islands Solomon IslandsSolomon IslandsIsland

Guadalcanal

5,302 km² rising to 2,335 m out of the Solomon Sea.

When to go

Guadalcanal seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
Honiara
N 20 km

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

5,302km²

Area

364km

Coastline

measured on a simplified outline

2,335m

Highest point

Mount Popomanaseu

109,382

People

30°C

Warmest sea

January

1,644km

To the mainland

When to go to Guadalcanal

Best for the beach from January to May.

The sea is warmest in January (30 °C) and coolest in August (28 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

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 of the Solomon Islands chain in the South Pacific Ocean

Guadalcanal is an island in Solomon Islands. It belongs to Solomon Islands. It covers 5,302 km², with 364 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Popomanaseu, rises to 2,335 m. About 109,382 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 1,644 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

  • Honiara International Airport (HIR)airport on the island, with scheduled flights
  • 1,644 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

Car hire in Solomon IslandsDiscover CarsSee 

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 Guadalcanal.

  • 6beachesBonegi Beach and 5 more
  • 2viewpointsSinking ship
  • 1named peaksMount Popomanaseu
  • 1volcanoesGallego
  • 1waterfallsTenaru waterfalls
  • 1ruins and archaeological sites
  • 16hotels, guesthouses and apartments
  • 12restaurants, 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

Guadalcanal in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Guadalcanal, each with its own numbers.

  • 9beaches and covesCoastya
  • 2lakesLakeyas
  • 3waterfallsCascadyas

  • Largest lake

    3.3km²

    Lauvi Lagoon

    according to Lakeyas

  • Warmest lake

    28.6°C

    Lauvi Lagoon

    surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas

  • Beach with the warmest sea

    29.8°C

    Kopiu Bay

    sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

9 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

  1. Trench’s Beach29.7°C
  2. Tenaru Beach29.7°C
  3. Rere Beach29.7°C
  4. Marumbo Beach29.8°C
  5. Kua Baycove29.7°C
  6. Kotasi Baycove29.7°C
  7. Ndoma Covecove29.7°C
  8. Mbengena Baycove29.7°C

1 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗

2 lakes

on Lakeyas, the lake atlas

  1. Lauvi Lagoon3.3km²
  2. Lee's Lake0.45km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

3 waterfalls

on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas

  1. Tenaru Falls
  2. Mataniko Falls
  3. Mbochanini Waterfall

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 413 m above the sea. 37 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 17 %0–50 m
  • 20 %50–200 m
  • 29 %200–500 m
  • 26 %500–1,000 m
  • 8 %1,000–2,000 m
  • <1 %> 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.

Guadalcanal5,302 km²
Crete8,286 km²
Cyprus9,282 km²

100 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Towns on the island

  • Honiara56,298 people
  • Panatina32,712 people
  • Nggosi26,009 people
  • Tandai24,592 people
  • Kola'a20,783 people
  • Vura18,753 people
  • Malango15,560 people
  • Vavaea10,813 people
  • Mbumburu5,806 people
  • Mataniko5,722 people
  • Kukum2,541 people
  • Vuhokesa1,328 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)282828282828272828282829
Night low (°C)252525252525242424242525
Sea (°C)303030302929282828292930
Rain (mm)263305277220214143135114107160166221
Wet days222122191917171716181820
Sun h/day5.95.96.26.26.15.55.05.56.06.36.56.5
Wind (km/h)141514121519222221171412

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020−0.2+0.1+0.6+0.2+0.5+0.8+1.1+1.3+0.8+1.0+0.7+0.4
2021+0.8+0.3+0.2+0.2+0.2+0.5+0.7+0.8+0.9+1.1+0.9+0.6
2022+0.1+0.4+0.7+0.7+1.0+1.1+0.9+1.3+1.3+1.3+1.4+1.0
2023+0.3+0.5+0.4+0.7+0.9+0.9+0.6+0.5+0.6+0.3±0.0−0.3
2024+0.4−0.2+0.3+0.7+0.5+0.8+1.0+0.6+0.3+0.7+0.7+0.7
2025+1.0+0.9+0.9+0.6+0.8+0.8+0.9+1.2+1.1+0.9+0.9+0.8

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Visale, Solomon Islands
StewyOz · CC BY-SA 4.0
Guadalcanal Field
Torbenbrinker · CC BY-SA 4.0
GuadalcanalRiver
Stefan Krasowski · CC BY 2.0
AusAID officer inspects the Horabau poultry project, Guadalcanal Province, Solomon Islands 2011. Photo- AusAID (10672432085)
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade · CC BY 2.0

Nearby

More islands nearby.

TulagiSolomon IslandsSolomon Islands2.1 km²88 m55 km awaySavo IslandSolomon IslandsSolomon Islands30 km²485 m68 km awayMalaitaSolomon IslandsSolomon Islands4,307 km²1,435 m107 km awayMakiraSolomon IslandsSolomon Islands3,190 km²1,250 m205 km awaySanta Isabel IslandSolomon IslandsSolomon Islands3,665 km²1,115 m222 km awayBellona IslandSolomon IslandsSolomon Islands17 km²21 m196 km awayEast RennellSolomon IslandsSolomon Islands815 km²188 m233 km awayRennell IslandSolomon IslandsSolomon Islands815 km²188 m231 km away

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q192767) · CC0
OutlineNatural Earth · public domain
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsCoastya, Lakeyas, Cascadyas — 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.

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.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit