Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
45.3km²
Area
28km
Coastline
422m
Highest point
2,285
People
27°C
Warmest sea
March
5,797km
To the mainland
When to go to Tubuai
Best for the beach from January to April and in June.
The sea is warmest in March (27 °C) and coolest in September (23 °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.
Main island of the Tubuai Island group
Tubuai is an volcanic island in France. It belongs to Austral Islands. It covers 45.3 km², with 28 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 422 m. About 2,285 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 5,797 km away.
Getting there
- Tubuai Airport (TUB)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at BES airport (Brest)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesTuhaa Pae IV
- 5,797 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to April and Junebest 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 Tubuai.
- 1ferry terminalsTubuai
- 2named peaksPahatu
- 1ruins and archaeological sitesMarae Taputapuatea
- 1dive centresTubai Diving
- 4hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 2restaurants, 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.
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 58 m above the sea. 93 % of it is below 200 m.
- 65 %0–50 m
- 28 %50–200 m
- 7 %200–500 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.
5 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 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| Night low (°C) | 25 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| Sea (°C) | 26 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| Rain (mm) | 160 | 166 | 173 | 167 | 137 | 105 | 91 | 86 | 80 | 119 | 127 | 220 |
| Wet days | 18 | 18 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 20 |
| Sun h/day | 8.1 | 7.8 | 7.4 | 6.2 | 6.0 | 5.4 | 6.2 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.2 |
| Wind (km/h) | 21 | 22 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
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 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +1.4 | +1.1 | ±0.0 | −0.3 | −0.4 | +0.1 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +1.8 |
| 2021 | +1.3 | +1.3 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +1.7 | +0.3 | +1.0 |
| 2022 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +1.1 | +1.5 | +1.7 | +1.3 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.5 | ±0.0 | −0.4 | +0.6 |
| 2023 | +0.2 | +1.1 | +1.0 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.5 | −0.1 | ±0.0 | −1.0 | −1.2 |
| 2024 | −0.8 | −0.7 | +0.3 | +0.1 | −0.4 | ±0.0 | +0.5 | −0.6 | +0.1 | +0.6 | −0.3 | −0.2 |
| 2025 | +1.0 | +1.4 | +0.8 | +0.3 | −0.3 | +0.1 | −0.4 | −0.3 | +0.7 | +1.5 | +0.2 | ±0.0 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.



Nearby
More islands nearby.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q514626) · 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.
The family
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