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Japan JapanIsland

Kume Island

59.7 km² of land in the East China Sea.

When to go

Kume Island seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
Kumejima
N 2 km

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

In numbers

59.7km²

Area

77km

Coastline

310m

Highest point

Mt. Uegusuku

8,243

People

29°C

Warmest sea

August

547km

To the mainland

When to go to Kume Island

Best for the beach from May to July and from October to November.

The sea is warmest in August (29 °C) and coolest in February (22 °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 in Okinawa, Japan

Kume Island is an island in Japan. It covers 59.7 km², with 77 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mt. Uegusuku, rises to 310 m. About 8,243 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 547 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

  • Kumejima Airport (UEO)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at OKA airport (Naha)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • Ferries2 ferry terminals on the island
  • 547 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
  • From May to July and from October to Novemberbest 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 Kume Island.

  • 6beachesEef Beach, Ara Beach and 4 more
  • 4viewpointsTorinokuchi and 3 more
  • 2lighthouses
  • 2ferry terminals
  • 9named peaksMt. Uegusuku, Mt. Āra, Mt. Ōtake and 6 more
  • 1waterfalls
  • 4castles and fortsUegusuku Castle Ruins, Gushikawa Castle Ruins and 2 more
  • 1ruins and archaeological sites
  • 2dive centresESTIVANT Diving Shop
  • 1campsites
  • 19hotels, guesthouses and apartments
  • 35restaurants, 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 72 m above the sea. 95 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 49 %0–50 m
  • 46 %50–200 m
  • 5 %200–500 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.

Kume Island60 km²
Santorini76 km²
Manhattan54 km²

10 km

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

Towns on the island

  • Kumejima7,192 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)192021232527293029262421
Night low (°C)181819212427282928252319
Sea (°C)232222232527292928272524
Rain (mm)6552901352143061331721841198165
Wet days141216161821161817141213
Sun h/day1.72.23.13.94.75.98.98.26.85.33.52.2
Wind (km/h)272625232023222223282728

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+0.4−0.3+0.2+1.0+0.8+0.8+0.1+0.4+0.4+0.5
2021+0.2+0.4+0.7−0.2+1.4+1.1−0.1−0.7+1.0+0.7+0.1+0.1
2022+0.3−0.7+0.8+1.0+0.1+0.3+0.8+1.3+0.3+0.5+0.8+0.3
2023+0.1+0.1+0.3+0.6−0.2−0.4+0.1−0.4+0.8+0.7+0.2+0.4
2024+0.7+1.0+0.3+1.2+1.1+0.6+1.5+1.4+1.4+1.4+1.4+0.5
2025+0.2−0.5+0.3−0.7+0.6+0.9+0.2+0.6+1.6+2.1+1.3+0.5

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Tounnahajou-Kumejima, Okinawa(登武那覇城からみる奥武島、はての浜)DSCF6530
松岡明芳 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Fruits of Alpinia x formosana in Kume Island
M108t · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kume Island Coast
narchived.net · CC BY 2.0
Kume Island cove
narchived.net · CC BY 2.0

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q247515) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
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

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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