IrelandIslandUNESCO World Heritage
Skellig Michael
0.22 km² of land in the Atlantic Ocean.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
0.22km²
Area
4km
Coastline
218m
Highest point
0
People
16°C
Warmest sea
August
535km
To the mainland
When to go to Skellig Michael
Good all year round.
The sea is warmest in August (16 °C) and coolest in March (10 °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.
UNESCO heritage island off coast of Kerry, Ireland
Skellig Michael is an island in Ireland. It covers 0.22 km², with 4 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 218 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 535 km away. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there
- Kerry Airport (KIR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 83 km in a straight lineCar hire at KIR airport (Farranfore)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesSkellig Michael Tours
- 535 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
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 Skellig Michael.
- 2lighthousesSkelligs Lighthouse
- 2named peaksSceilg Mhíchíl, North Peak
- 1ruins and archaeological sites
- 1waymarked walking routesSkellig Monastery
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 47 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.
- 59 %0–50 m
- 41 %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.
0.2 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) | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 |
| Night low (°C) | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 9 |
| Sea (°C) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 11 |
| Rain (mm) | 159 | 129 | 109 | 87 | 96 | 92 | 108 | 115 | 114 | 141 | 160 | 169 |
| Wet days | 22 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 23 |
| Sun h/day | 1.2 | 2.3 | 4.2 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 6.2 | 5.8 | 4.7 | 3.2 | 1.5 | 0.8 |
| Wind (km/h) | 35 | 33 | 30 | 26 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 26 | 29 | 32 | 35 |
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 | −0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.1 | −0.2 | −0.8 | +0.3 | −0.1 | −0.5 | −0.1 | ±0.0 |
| 2021 | −0.5 | −0.3 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | −0.4 | +1.3 | +0.8 | +1.4 | +0.4 | ±0.0 | +0.1 |
| 2022 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +1.3 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +1.0 | +1.6 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +0.2 |
| 2023 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +1.0 | +2.7 | +0.5 | −0.2 | +1.3 | +0.8 | +0.6 | −0.1 |
| 2024 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +1.0 | −0.5 | −0.9 | −0.5 | −0.4 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +0.5 |
| 2025 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +2.7 | +0.9 | +0.4 | +0.8 | −0.4 | −0.4 | +0.5 | +0.5 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Valentia IslandIreland26 km²267 m19 km away
IrelandIreland84,421 km²1,039 m249 km away
Inis MórIreland32 km²123 m160 km away
Inis OírrIreland6.2 km²57 m159 km away
Inis MeáinIreland9.8 km²79 m160 km away
Achill IslandIreland148 km²688 m246 km away
St Mary's
United Kingdom6.4 km²51 m363 km away
ArranmoreIreland18 km²16 m382 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q207193) · 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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