IndonesiaLesser Sunda IslandsIsland
Sumbawa Island
14,386 km² rising to 2,850 m out of the Flores Sea.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
14,386km²
Area
1,116km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
2,850m
Highest point
Tambora
1,330,000
People
29°C
Warmest sea
December
899km
To the mainland
When to go to Sumbawa Island
Best for the beach from June to September.
The sea is warmest in December (29 °C) and coolest in August (27 °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.
Island in West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia
Sumbawa Island is an island in Indonesia. It belongs to Lesser Sunda Islands. It covers 14,386 km², with 1,116 km of coastline. Its highest point, Tambora, rises to 2,850 m. About 1,330,000 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 899 km away.
Getting there
- Sultan Muhammad Salahuddin Airport (BMU)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at DPS airport (Kuta, Badung)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesKayangan - Poto Tano, Sape - Labuan Bajo, Sape - Waikelo, Bima - Badas
- 899 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From June 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 Sumbawa Island.
- 25beachesLaut, Maluk, Rantung and 22 more
- 15viewpointsMakam Danataraha, Pantai Papa, Mantar Paragliding Take Off (stunning view) and 12 more
- 7ferry terminalsSape ferry port, Dermaga, Mining and 4 more
- 1,075named peaksGunung Tambora, Unter Kapas, Doro Lambaka and 1,072 more
- 3volcanoesOlet Sangenges, Doro Mboha di, Tambora
- 7waterfallsPintu air, Air terjun Rora, PDAM and 4 more
- 2castles and fortsPesanggrahan, Asi Kalende
- 11ruins and archaeological sitesWadu Ncuhi, Batu Tulis, Uma Lengge and 8 more
- 2dive centresSumbawa Adventure Scuba Diving, Mocean Diving Centre
- 4surf spotsPlayground, Dirty Hippies, Northern Rights and 1 more
- 8campsitesPos 1, 1088m, Pos Makam, 2300m, Pos 2, 1300m and 5 more
- 224hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 154restaurants, 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
Sumbawa Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Sumbawa Island, each with its own numbers.
36beaches and covesCoastya
4lakesLakeyas
2waterfallsCascadyas
Largest lake
2.0km²
Waduk Mamak
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
33.6°C
Waduk Tiukulit
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
29.6°C
Teluk Pada
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
36 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Teluk Labunaecove29.6°C
- Teluk Bermangcove29.6°C
- Teluk Aiburucove29.6°C
- Teluk Subawicove29.6°C
- Teluk Aipapangcove29.6°C
- Teluk Boea Kecilcove29.6°C
- Teluk Saningcove29.6°C
- Teluk Ailimungcove29.6°C
28 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
4 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Waduk Mamak2.0km²
- Waduk Tiukulit0.91km²
- Embung Roiroka0.36km²
- Danau Taliwang0.18km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
2 waterfalls
on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas
- Air Terjun Tebamurin
- Air Terjun Aibeling
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 337 m above the sea. 44 % of it is below 200 m.
- 19 %0–50 m
- 25 %50–200 m
- 32 %200–500 m
- 20 %500–1,000 m
- 4 %1,000–2,000 m
- <1 %> 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.
200 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Bima165,113 people
- Sumbawa Besar62,753 people
- Taliwang55,340 people
- Dompu54,987 people
- Sape5,000 people
- Utanno census figure
- Tanggano census figure
- Tepasno census figure
- Silano census figure
- Setelukno census figure
- Semongkatno census figure
- Semamungno census figure
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 29 |
| Night low (°C) | 26 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 27 |
| Sea (°C) | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 29 |
| Rain (mm) | 227 | 188 | 163 | 95 | 50 | 24 | 14 | 6 | 18 | 29 | 111 | 219 |
| Wet days | 26 | 23 | 22 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 18 | 25 |
| Sun h/day | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.8 | 7.5 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 9.1 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 6.2 |
| Wind (km/h) | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 10 |
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 | +0.5 | +0.9 | +0.6 | +0.5 | −0.1 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.3 |
| 2021 | −0.1 | −0.2 | +0.2 | −0.1 | −0.3 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.2 |
| 2022 | −0.2 | −0.1 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +1.0 | +1.1 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +1.2 | +1.0 | +0.2 | ±0.0 |
| 2023 | −0.1 | −0.6 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.6 | −0.1 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.2 |
| 2024 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.9 | −0.1 |
| 2025 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.1 | −0.1 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Lombok IslandIndonesia5,435 km²3,726 m181 km away
Komodo IslandIndonesia319 km²436 m167 km away
Rinca IslandIndonesia204 km²26 m192 km away
Sumba IslandIndonesia10,711 km²604 m247 km away
Nusapenida IslandIndonesia197 km²487 m266 km away
Bali IslandIndonesia5,633 km²3,142 m321 km away
Flores IslandIndonesia13,540 km²2,370 m390 km awayEnde IslandIndonesia10 km²130 m392 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q186367) · 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, 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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