Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
3,566km²
Area
717km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
122m
Highest point
7,804,968
People
22°C
Warmest sea
August
7km
To the mainland
When to go to Long Island
Best for the beach from July to September.
The sea is warmest in August (22 °C) and coolest in February (4 °C). Comfortable swimming (21 °C or more): from July to August.
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 New York, United States of America
Long Island is an island in United States. It covers 3,566 km², with 717 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 122 m. About 7,804,968 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 7 km away.
Getting there
- John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)main airport (3 on the island with scheduled flights)Car hire at JFK airport (New York)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesSayville - Water Island, Fire Island, Bridgeport, CT - Port Jefferson, NY, Bay Shore - Saltaire, Fire Island, Bay Shore - Ocean Beach, Fire Island
- 7 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From July to 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 Long Island.
- 542beachesCallahans Beach, Canarsie Beach, Cedar Beach and 539 more
- 58viewpointsMontauk Point East Overlook, Battery Harris East, Battle Hill and 55 more
- 6lighthousesMontauk Point Lighthouse, Horton Point Light, Northwind Shopping Center Lighthouse and 3 more
- 24ferry terminalsNorth 6th Street/North Williamsburg, India Street/Greenpoint, Bay Shore Ferry Terminal and 21 more
- 155marinasSurfside 3 Modern Yachts, Long island Maritime Museum, The Kings Park Bluff and 152 more
- 33named peaksJayne's Hill, Harbor Hill, West Hills and 30 more
- 3waterfallsFallkill Falls, Ambergill Falls, Binnen Falls
- 4castles and fortsBellmore Maintenance Facility, Battery Construction 220, Battery Fergusson and 1 more
- 48ruins and archaeological sitesPenny Bridge, Shattuck Estate, PortSide New York and 45 more
- 1dive centresStingray Divers
- 149waymarked walking routesBlue Trail, Red Trail, Nassau Suffolk Greenbelt Trail and 146 more
- 24campsitesGoldenrod Campground, Tamarack Campground, Rolling River Day Camp and 21 more
- 605hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 7,510restaurants, 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
Long Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Long Island, each with its own numbers.
65beaches and covesCoastya
10lakesLakeyas
Largest lake
0.72km²
Lake Ronkonkoma
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
27.8°C
Lake Ronkonkoma
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
23.1°C
Asharoken Beach
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
65 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Long Beach22.9°C
- Cedar Beach23.1°C
- East Atlantic Beach22.9°C
- Bar Beach22.9°C
- Westhampton Beach22.5°C
- Asharoken Beach23.1°C
- Cold Spring Beach22.8°C
- Old Field Beach23.1°C
57 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
10 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Lake Ronkonkoma0.72km²
- New Millpond0.34km²
- Mill Pond0.32km²
- Big Reed Pond0.20km²
- Crooked Pond0.18km²
- Wildwood Lake (New York)0.18km²
- Lake Panamoka0.18km²
- Kellis Pond0.10km²
2 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 25 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.
- 88 %0–50 m
- 12 %50–200 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.
100 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Brooklyn2,736,074 people
- Queens2,316,841 people
- Jamaica216,866 people
- East Flatbush178,464 people
- East New York173,198 people
- Astoria150,165 people
- Borough Park149,248 people
- Sunset Park126,000 people
- Sheepshead Bay122,534 people
- Elmhurst113,364 people
- Bushwick112,620 people
- Gravesend112,229 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 3 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 23 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 17 | 12 | 6 |
| Night low (°C) | -3 | -3 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 1 |
| Sea (°C) | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 17 | 21 | 22 | 21 | 17 | 13 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 81 | 85 | 105 | 106 | 94 | 110 | 95 | 103 | 99 | 120 | 90 | 118 |
| Wet days | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 11 |
| Sun h/day | 3.8 | 4.9 | 5.6 | 6.5 | 6.9 | 7.8 | 8.5 | 7.6 | 6.8 | 4.8 | 4.2 | 3.1 |
| Wind (km/h) | 19 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
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 | +0.9 | +2.0 | +2.0 | +1.0 | −0.6 | +0.5 | +2.0 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +1.4 | +1.0 |
| 2021 | +0.7 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +1.4 | +1.0 | +0.6 | +1.2 | +1.6 | +2.7 | +1.5 | +0.9 |
| 2022 | +1.0 | +0.4 | +1.1 | +0.8 | −0.1 | +1.1 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +1.2 | −0.2 | +1.7 | +0.1 |
| 2023 | +0.6 | +1.8 | +1.4 | +1.7 | +1.6 | +0.4 | +1.8 | −0.1 | +0.8 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.2 |
| 2024 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +2.3 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +1.6 | +0.4 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +1.5 | ±0.0 |
| 2025 | −0.3 | −0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +1.5 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +1.5 | −0.3 | −1.3 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Manhattan
United States54 km²172 m61 km away
Fire IslandUnited States22 km²7 m17 km away
Staten IslandUnited States150 km²49 m81 km away
Liberty IslandUnited States0.06 km²2 m69 km away
Ellis IslandUnited States0.11 km²2 m69 km away
Aquidneck IslandUnited States99 km²260 m186 km away
Martha's VineyardUnited States227 km²82 m230 km away
NantucketUnited States119 km²9 m269 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q18438) · 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
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.
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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
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islands
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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