Chile
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
1,111km²
Area
970km
Coastline
242m
Highest point
12°C
Warmest sea
February
17km
To the mainland
When to go to Madre de Dios Island
Good all year round.
The sea is warmest in February (12 °C) and coolest in August (8 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
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 Chile
Madre de Dios Island is an island in Chile. It covers 1,111 km², with 970 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 242 m. The nearest mainland is 17 km away.
Getting there
- El Calafate - Commander Armando Tola International Airport (FTE)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 228 km in a straight lineCar hire at FTE airport (El Calafate)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 17 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
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 Madre de Dios Island.
- 23beaches
- 12named peaksMonte Organ Pipes, Pico Abril, Cerro Vertical and 9 more
- 1waterfalls
- 2campsitesCamp Base, Camp de base de l'expédition Centre Terre
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
Madre de Dios Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Madre de Dios Island, each with its own numbers.
13beaches and covesCoastya
1lakeLakeyas
Largest lake
0.23km²
Lago Norte
according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
12.1°C
Bahía Whitfield
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
13 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Caleta San Pedrocove11.9°C
- Puerto Rosariocove12.1°C
- Puerto Pintocove11.9°C
- Bahía Howardcove11.9°C
- Caleta Correacove11.9°C
- Caleta Carreñocove11.9°C
- Bahía Whitfieldcove12.1°C
- Lago Porragecove11.6°C
5 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
1 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Lago Norte0.23km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 198 m above the sea. 55 % of it is below 200 m.
- 23 %0–50 m
- 32 %50–200 m
- 41 %200–500 m
- 4 %500–1,000 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.
50 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) | 11 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Night low (°C) | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Sea (°C) | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 257 | 210 | 242 | 233 | 207 | 214 | 187 | 195 | 179 | 193 | 222 | 243 |
| Wet days | 27 | 24 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 25 | 23 | 25 | 26 | 28 |
| Sun h/day | 2.8 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 2.7 |
| Wind (km/h) | 28 | 25 | 26 | 25 | 23 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 28 |
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 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +1.2 | +1.8 | +1.3 | −0.3 | +0.1 | −0.2 | −0.3 | +0.1 | −0.3 |
| 2021 | −0.2 | +0.1 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +1.4 | +1.7 | +1.5 | +0.9 | +0.3 | +0.5 | ±0.0 | +0.5 |
| 2022 | +0.4 | +0.5 | −0.1 | −0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.4 | −0.4 | −0.6 | −0.5 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | −0.2 |
| 2023 | +0.7 | +0.3 | −0.5 | −0.6 | ±0.0 | −0.3 | −0.5 | −0.6 | −0.4 | −0.6 | −0.7 | −0.1 |
| 2024 | +0.3 | −0.1 | −0.4 | −0.5 | −1.5 | −1.0 | −0.6 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.8 | −0.2 | +0.3 |
| 2025 | +0.8 | −0.7 | −0.5 | −0.3 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.2 | −0.3 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Nearby
More islands nearby.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q2733743) · 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
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