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Kiribati KiribatiPhoenix IslandsCoral island

Nikumaroro

4.2 km² of land in the Pacific Ocean.

When to go

Nikumaroro seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
N 1 km

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

In numbers

4.2km²

Area

33km

Coastline

22m

Highest point

0

People

30°C

Warmest sea

May

4,270km

To the mainland

When to go to Nikumaroro

Best for the beach from August to December.

The sea is warmest in May (30 °C) and coolest in February (29 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

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

Nikumaroro is an coral island in Kiribati. It belongs to Phoenix Islands. It covers 4.2 km², with 33 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 22 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 4,270 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

  • 4,270 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
  • From August to Decemberbest 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 Nikumaroro.

  • 1ruins and archaeological sitesThe Seven Site

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 8 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.

Nikumaroro4 km²
Capri10 km²

2 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)282828282929292828282928
Night low (°C)282828282828282828282828
Sea (°C)292929293029292929292929
Rain (mm)14720913811395787475515363118
Wet days151418201816151211101013
Sun h/day8.27.48.28.48.68.58.89.49.69.69.58.7
Wind (km/h)212119171619212121181819

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020+0.4+0.6+0.6+0.6+0.1±0.0±0.0−0.2−0.3−0.5−0.6−1.0
2021−0.9−0.9−0.6−0.3−0.2−0.2−0.3−0.2−0.8−0.8−0.7−0.8
2022−0.3−0.7−0.8−1.0−1.0−0.9−1.0−1.3−1.3−1.5−1.3−1.1
2023−0.8−0.9−0.3+0.2+0.1+0.6+0.6+0.8+0.9+1.4+1.7+1.4
2024+1.5+1.3+1.3+1.4+1.0+0.9+0.6+0.3+0.1±0.0±0.0−0.1
2025−0.5−0.4−0.1+0.3+0.2+0.3+0.1−0.2−0.4−0.3−0.5−0.3

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q1050891) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX 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.

The family

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