Japan
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
855km²
Area
311km
Coastline
1,171m
Highest point
Mount Kinpoku
51,492
People
26°C
Warmest sea
August
628km
To the mainland
When to go to Sado Island
Best for the beach from July to September.
The sea is warmest in August (26 °C) and coolest in March (10 °C). Comfortable swimming (21 °C or more): from July to October.
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.
Japanese island
Sado Island is an island in Japan. It covers 855 km², with 311 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Kinpoku, rises to 1,171 m. About 51,492 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 628 km away.
Getting there
- Sado Airport (SDS)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at KIJ airport (Niigata)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- Ferries5 ferry terminals on the island
- 628 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From July to Septemberbest 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 Sado Island.
- 13viewpointsViewpoint to the mountains and 12 more
- 8lighthousesSawasaki Hana Lighthouse and 7 more
- 5ferry terminals
- 1marinas
- 60named peaksMt. Kinpoku, Mt. Tenguzuka and 58 more
- 21waterfalls
- 1ruins and archaeological sites
- 5dive centresFreeway and 4 more
- 7campsites
- 36hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 86restaurants, cafés and bars
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
Sado Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Sado Island, each with its own numbers.
2beaches and covesCoastya
1lakeLakeyas
1waterfallCascadyas
Largest lake
4.7km²
Lake Kamo
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
27.4°C
Lake Kamo
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
26.2°C
Uchino Ma
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
1 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Lake Kamo4.7km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
1 waterfalls
on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas
- Ōzare Falls
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 251 m above the sea. 49 % of it is below 200 m.
- 19 %0–50 m
- 30 %50–200 m
- 37 %200–500 m
- 14 %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.
20 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Sado51,492 people
- Ryōtsu-minato16,359 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 6 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 27 | 24 | 19 | 14 | 9 |
| Night low (°C) | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 18 | 22 | 24 | 22 | 17 | 11 | 6 |
| Sea (°C) | 12 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 19 | 23 | 26 | 25 | 22 | 18 | 15 |
| Rain (mm) | 165 | 104 | 107 | 95 | 86 | 114 | 211 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 166 | 214 |
| Wet days | 26 | 20 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 20 | 24 |
| Sun h/day | 1.2 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 6.0 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 5.0 | 6.6 | 5.5 | 4.6 | 2.6 | 1.0 |
| Wind (km/h) | 28 | 25 | 22 | 17 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 22 | 27 |
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 | +1.2 | +1.1 | +1.0 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +1.4 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +1.7 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +0.8 |
| 2021 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.9 | −0.1 | +0.6 | +2.1 | +0.6 | −0.5 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +0.5 |
| 2022 | +0.1 | −0.4 | +0.1 | +1.1 | +1.1 | +0.6 | +2.6 | +1.1 | +1.5 | +1.2 | +1.0 | +1.3 |
| 2023 | +1.1 | +1.3 | +1.7 | +1.8 | +1.4 | +1.2 | +1.9 | +2.8 | +2.6 | +1.0 | +1.6 | +0.9 |
| 2024 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +1.7 | +0.9 | +1.4 | +0.6 | +1.4 | +1.8 | +1.0 | +0.6 | +0.5 |
| 2025 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.9 | +3.6 | +2.0 | +2.4 | +2.4 | +0.5 | +0.7 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q998623) · 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, Cascadyas — 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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