Namibia
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
0.034km²
Area
2km
Coastline
78m
Highest point
16°C
Warmest sea
February
2km
To the mainland
When to go to Mercury Island
Best to visit from September to January.
The sea is warmest in February (16 °C) and coolest in August (13 °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
Mercury Island is an island in Namibia. It covers 0.034 km², with 2 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 78 m. The nearest mainland is 2 km away.
Getting there
- Luderitz Airport (LUD)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 115 km in a straight lineCar hire in LuderitzDiscover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 2 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From September to Januarybest 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.
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 0 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.
- 100 %0–50 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.
0.1 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) | 26 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 25 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 26 |
| Night low (°C) | 16 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
| Sea (°C) | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Rain (mm) | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Wet days | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sun h/day | 12.8 | 11.9 | 11.4 | 10.7 | 10.2 | 9.9 | 10.2 | 10.9 | 11.4 | 12.3 | 13.2 | 13.4 |
| Wind (km/h) | 17 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 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 | −0.4 | −0.4 | −0.3 | −0.9 | −0.7 | −0.4 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.4 | −0.6 | −0.5 | −0.8 |
| 2021 | +0.2 | −0.6 | +0.2 | +0.4 | ±0.0 | +0.4 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | −0.6 | −0.3 | −0.5 | −0.5 |
| 2022 | −0.3 | +0.1 | −0.6 | −1.1 | −1.3 | +0.2 | −0.4 | −0.5 | −0.9 | −0.3 | −0.1 | −0.5 |
| 2023 | −0.7 | −0.4 | −0.6 | −0.6 | −0.5 | −0.2 | −0.5 | −0.3 | −1.5 | −0.2 | +0.3 | −0.9 |
| 2024 | +0.6 | −1.0 | −0.5 | −1.2 | −0.4 | +0.6 | ±0.0 | −0.8 | −1.2 | −0.7 | −1.0 | −1.4 |
| 2025 | −1.0 | −1.1 | −0.5 | −0.6 | −0.3 | −0.8 | −1.0 | −0.8 | −0.2 | −0.3 | ±0.0 | +0.2 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Nearby
More islands nearby.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q994674) · 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 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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