Solomon IslandsVolcanic island
Kolombangara
690 km² rising to 1,768 m out of the Solomon Sea.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
690km²
Area
185km
Coastline
1,768m
Highest point
Mount Veve
6,301
People
30°C
Warmest sea
December
1,483km
To the mainland
When to go to Kolombangara
Best for the beach from January to May.
The sea is warmest in December (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 the New Georgia Islands group of the Solomon Islands
Kolombangara is an volcanic island in Solomon Islands. It covers 690 km², with 185 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Veve, rises to 1,768 m. About 6,301 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 1,483 km away.
Getting there
- Munda Airport (MUA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 46 km in a straight line
- 1,483 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 Kolombangara.
- 3beaches
- 1volcanoesKolombangara
- 1hotels, guesthouses and apartments
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
Kolombangara in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Kolombangara, each with its own numbers.
11beaches and covesCoastya
2lakesLakeyas
Largest lake
0.19km²
Ghughumbo Lake
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
29.2°C
Ghughumbo Lake
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
30.0°C
Vovohe Cove
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
11 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Meresu Covecove30.0°C
- Ghatere Covecove30.0°C
- Vovohe Covecove30.0°C
- Teme Covecove30.0°C
- Sulimuni Covecove30.0°C
- Ringgi Covecove30.0°C
- Ndulo Covecove30.0°C
- Hunda Covecove30.0°C
3 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
2 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Ghughumbo Lake0.19km²
- Lolu Lagoon0.10km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 319 m above the sea. 49 % of it is below 200 m.
- 18 %0–50 m
- 31 %50–200 m
- 30 %200–500 m
- 15 %500–1,000 m
- 6 %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.
20 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) | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 |
| Night low (°C) | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 |
| Sea (°C) | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 30 |
| Rain (mm) | 315 | 353 | 313 | 262 | 308 | 295 | 326 | 273 | 272 | 278 | 224 | 229 |
| Wet days | 27 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 28 | 27 | 25 | 27 | 25 | 25 |
| Sun h/day | 5.9 | 5.5 | 6.2 | 6.5 | 6.3 | 5.7 | 5.1 | 5.8 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 7.1 | 6.9 |
| Wind (km/h) | 14 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 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 | +0.1 | −0.3 | +0.6 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.9 | +1.2 | +1.2 | +1.1 | +1.1 | +0.6 | +0.6 |
| 2021 | +0.7 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +1.1 | +1.2 | +0.8 | +0.3 |
| 2022 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +1.2 | +1.1 | +1.5 | +1.5 | +1.3 | +1.1 | +0.7 |
| 2023 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.6 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.6 |
| 2024 | +0.4 | −0.2 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.7 |
| 2025 | +1.3 | +1.1 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +1.1 | +1.5 | +1.4 | +1.1 | +1.0 | +0.5 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Nearby
More islands nearby.
New GeorgiaSolomon Islands2,064 km²860 m57 km away
Vella LavellaSolomon Islands651 km²808 m54 km away
Choiseul IslandSolomon Islands3,119 km²891 m108 km away
VangunuSolomon Islands515 km²1,056 m127 km away
Shortland IslandSolomon Islands213 km²186 m177 km away
Santa Isabel IslandSolomon Islands3,665 km²1,115 m215 km away
Bougainville Island
Papua New Guinea9,318 km²2,715 m267 km away
Savo IslandSolomon Islands30 km²485 m329 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q542053) · 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, 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
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.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit