Australia
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
5,765km²
Area
477km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
43m
Highest point
1,030
People
31°C
Warmest sea
December
29km
To the mainland
When to go to Melville Island
Best for the beach from May to August.
The sea is warmest in December (31 °C) and coolest in July (26 °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.
One of the Tiwi Islands, off the northern Australian coast
Melville Island is an island in Australia. It covers 5,765 km², with 477 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 43 m. About 1,030 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 29 km away.
Getting there
- Snake Bay Airport (SNB)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at DRW airport (Darwin)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 29 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From May to Augustbest 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 Melville Island.
- 4beaches
- 2named peaksNotch Peak, Peaked Hill
- 1waterfallsTaracumbi Falls
- 1ruins and archaeological sitesFort Dundas
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
Melville Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Melville Island, each with its own numbers.
2beaches and covesCoastya
Beach with the warmest sea
30.8°C
Bonkalji Beach
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 34 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.
- 75 %0–50 m
- 25 %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).
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 32 | 33 | 33 | 31 |
| Night low (°C) | 27 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 25 | 27 | 28 | 28 |
| Sea (°C) | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
| Rain (mm) | 381 | 330 | 277 | 123 | 31 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 46 | 117 | 285 |
| Wet days | 29 | 26 | 27 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 21 | 27 |
| Sun h/day | 5.0 | 5.5 | 6.0 | 7.9 | 8.4 | 8.9 | 9.2 | 9.5 | 9.4 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 6.0 |
| Wind (km/h) | 18 | 18 | 14 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 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 | +1.1 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +1.0 | +0.3 |
| 2021 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +1.4 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.6 |
| 2022 | −0.2 | +0.4 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +1.3 | +1.5 | −0.4 | +0.3 | +1.1 | +1.1 | +0.5 | −0.3 |
| 2023 | −0.5 | −0.4 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | −0.4 | −0.2 | +0.7 | +0.2 | −0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.1 |
| 2024 | −0.1 | −0.3 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.2 | −0.1 |
| 2025 | +1.2 | +0.6 | +1.4 | +0.3 | −0.4 | −0.2 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.5 | −0.3 | −0.2 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q504763) · 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 — 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.
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