Malaita

4,307 km² rising to 1,435 m out of the Solomon Sea.

N 10 km

BeachesFerry portsAirportsWaterfalls

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

In numbers

4,307km²

Area

433km

Coastline

measured on a simplified outline

1,435m

Highest point

Mount Kalourat

140,000

People

30°C

Warmest sea

January

1,748km

To the mainland

When to go to Malaita

Best for the beach from January to May.

The sea is warmest in January (30 °C) and coolest in August (28 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

30°29°28°

Jan28

30°29°27°

Feb25

30°28°27°

Mar28

30°28°27°

Apr25

29°28°27°

May27

29°28°27°

Jun26

29°28°27°

Jul27

28°28°26°

Aug26

29°28°27°

Sep25

29°28°27°

Oct26

29°28°27°

Nov26

30°29°27°

Dec25

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 Solomon Islands

Malaita is an island in Solomon Islands. It belongs to Solomon Islands. It covers 4,307 km², with 433 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Kalourat, rises to 1,435 m. About 140,000 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 1,748 km away.

Getting there

Honiara International Airport (HIR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 114 km in a straight line
Ferries2 ferry terminals on the island
1,748 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

Car hire in Solomon IslandsDiscover CarsSee

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 Malaita.

16beaches
2ferry terminals
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

Malaita in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Malaita, each with its own numbers.

6beaches and covesCoastya
1waterfallCascadyas

Beach with the warmest sea
29.8°C
Kwa’a Cove
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

6 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

Onebulu Beach29.8°C
Manihuu29.8°C
Kwa’a Covecove29.8°C
Urasi Covecove29.8°C
Namogana Baycove29.8°C
Ataa Covecove29.8°C

Open Coastya ↗

1 waterfalls

on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas

Talifu Waterfall

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 268 m above the sea. 47 % of it is below 200 m.

21 %0–50 m
26 %50–200 m
36 %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.

Malaita4,307 km²

Crete8,286 km²

Cyprus9,282 km²

100 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	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	29
Night low (°C)	28	27	27	27	27	27	27	26	27	27	27	27
Sea (°C)	30	30	30	30	29	29	29	28	29	29	29	30
Rain (mm)	289	299	281	219	214	239	265	232	212	248	224	238
Wet days	28	25	28	25	27	26	27	26	25	26	26	25
Sun h/day	6.4	6.0	6.4	6.4	5.9	5.4	4.7	5.5	6.3	6.3	6.5	6.6
Wind (km/h)	15	18	16	14	16	21	24	24	22	19	16	14

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	+0.2	+0.2	+0.5	+0.3	+0.6	+0.9	+0.9	+1.1	+0.6	+0.7	+0.7	+0.4
2021	+0.7	+0.2	+0.3	−0.2	−0.1	+0.5	+0.6	+0.7	+0.7	+0.9	+0.7	+0.3
2022	+0.1	+0.4	+0.7	+0.5	+0.9	+1.0	+0.8	+1.0	+0.9	+1.1	+1.1	+0.9
2023	+0.3	+0.6	+0.4	+0.7	+0.9	+0.9	+0.6	+0.6	+0.8	+0.4	±0.0	−0.1
2024	+0.6	−0.1	+0.3	+0.6	+0.6	+0.9	+1.0	+0.4	+0.3	+0.7	+0.6	+0.6
2025	+0.9	+0.9	+0.8	+0.5	+0.9	+0.7	+0.8	+1.1	+0.9	+0.6	+0.7	+0.7

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Cocoa Field Day, Malaita Province, Solomon Islands, 2010. Photo- Kamal Azmi - DFAT (12784101594) — Kamal Azmi/DFAT · CC BY 2.0

An artificial island off the coast of Auki, Malaita. (10666382503) — Irene Scott/AusAID · CC BY 2.0

Cocoa Field Day, Malaita Province, Solomon Islands, 2010. Photo- Kamal Azmi - DFAT (12783672355) — Kamal Azmi/DFAT · CC BY 2.0

A quiet river scene in Malaita. A water pipe stretches across the river, a local villages water supply. (10662964066) — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade · CC BY 2.0

Nearby

More islands nearby.

Guadalcanal

Solomon Islands5,302 km²2,335 m107 km away

Tulagi

Solomon Islands2.1 km²88 m94 km away

Savo Island

Solomon Islands30 km²485 m131 km away

Makira

Solomon Islands3,190 km²1,250 m195 km away

Santa Isabel Island

Solomon Islands3,665 km²1,115 m245 km away

East Rennell

Solomon Islands815 km²188 m307 km away

Rennell Island

Solomon Islands815 km²188 m310 km away

Bellona Island

Solomon Islands17 km²21 m288 km away

About these numbers

Names, area, population	Wikidata (Q641568) · 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, Cascadyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

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 Cascadyas

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