IndonesiaVolcanic island
Halmahera Island
17,780 km² rising to 1,635 m out of the Molucca Sea.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
17,780km²
Area
1,412km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
1,635m
Highest point
Mount Gamkonora
180,000
People
30°C
Warmest sea
May
1,181km
To the mainland
When to go to Halmahera Island
Best for the beach from January to April and in September.
The sea is warmest in May (30 °C) and coolest in August (28 °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 in North Maluku Province, Indonesia
Halmahera Island is an volcanic island in Indonesia. It covers 17,780 km², with 1,412 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Gamkonora, rises to 1,635 m. About 180,000 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 1,181 km away.
Getting there
- Sultan Babullah Airport (TTE)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 53 km in a straight lineCar hire at DPS airport (Kuta, Badung)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesSofifi - Bastiong (Ternate), Sofifi - Dowora, Babang - Saketa, Pulau Kasiruta - Saketa
- 1,181 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to April and Septemberbest 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 Halmahera Island.
- 6beaches
- 4viewpointsTanjung Bong, Nusliko, Viewpoint & cafe and 1 more
- 7ferry terminalsPelabuhan ferry Sofifi, Weda port, Saketa and 4 more
- 1marinasDermaga
- 184named peaksGunung Lapi, Gunung Marisago, Buku Sehomangora and 181 more
- 11volcanoesMount Gamkonora, Mount Ibu, Dukono and 8 more
- 1waterfallsKusuri waterfall?
- 15hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 10restaurants, 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
Halmahera Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Halmahera Island, each with its own numbers.
1beachCoastya
5lakesLakeyas
Largest lake
4.9km²
Danau Paca
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
29.7°C
Danau Sagea
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
29.7°C
Teluk Gonga
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
5 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Danau Paca4.9km²
- Danau Galela3.4km²
- Danau Sagea1.4km²
- Danau Lina0.56km²
- Danau Ngidiho0.35km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 262 m above the sea. 52 % of it is below 200 m.
- 19 %0–50 m
- 33 %50–200 m
- 31 %200–500 m
- 16 %500–1,000 m
- <1 %1,000–2,000 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.
200 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Tobelo34,150 people
- Sofifi27,591 people
- Galela8,760 people
- Wedano census figure
- Tongutisungino census figure
- Susupuno census figure
- Subaimno census figure
- Jailolono census figure
- Petanino census figure
- Bulino census figure
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| Night low (°C) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Sea (°C) | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 29 |
| Rain (mm) | 212 | 159 | 191 | 206 | 237 | 214 | 163 | 117 | 105 | 125 | 187 | 233 |
| Wet days | 20 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 17 | 20 | 21 |
| Sun h/day | 6.7 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 7.1 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 6.0 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 7.3 | 6.9 |
| Wind (km/h) | 12 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 10 |
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 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +0.9 |
| 2021 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.4 |
| 2022 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +1.1 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.6 |
| 2023 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.5 | +0.5 |
| 2024 | +0.6 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.6 |
| 2025 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.4 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Tidore IslandIndonesia117 km²408 m48 km away
Ternate IslandIndonesia102 km²1,715 m57 km away
Bacan IslandIndonesia1,796 km²187 m148 km away
Morotai IslandIndonesia2,279 km²591 m193 km away
Obimayor IslandIndonesia2,472 km²817 m248 km away
Waigeo IslandIndonesia3,155 km²958 m359 km away
Batanta IslandIndonesia449 km²1,184 m358 km away
Mangoli IslandIndonesia1,210 km²211 m366 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q201398) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | Natural Earth · public domain |
| 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, Lakeyas — 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
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