Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
651km²
Area
219km
Coastline
808m
Highest point
30°C
Warmest sea
January
1,453km
To the mainland
When to go to Vella Lavella
Best for the beach from January to May.
The sea is warmest in January (30 °C) and coolest in August (28 °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 the Solomon Islands
Vella Lavella is an island in Solomon Islands. It covers 651 km², with 219 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 808 m. The nearest mainland is 1,453 km away.
Getting there
- Munda Airport (MUA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 96 km in a straight line
- 1,453 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to Maybest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
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On the island
What you find on Vella Lavella.
- 1volcanoesNonda
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
Vella Lavella in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Vella Lavella, each with its own numbers.
3beaches and covesCoastya
Beach with the warmest sea
29.9°C
Orete Cove
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
3 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Orete Covecove29.9°C
- Ndovele Covecove29.9°C
- Lambulambu Covecove29.9°C
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 176 m above the sea. 64 % of it is below 200 m.
- 21 %0–50 m
- 43 %50–200 m
- 33 %200–500 m
- 3 %500–1,000 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).
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 29 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 |
| Night low (°C) | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 |
| Sea (°C) | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 30 |
| Rain (mm) | 284 | 328 | 296 | 257 | 321 | 304 | 318 | 289 | 265 | 279 | 225 | 224 |
| Wet days | 25 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 26 | 23 | 24 |
| Sun h/day | 5.9 | 5.4 | 6.2 | 6.5 | 6.3 | 5.7 | 5.1 | 5.8 | 6.5 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 6.9 |
| Wind (km/h) | 14 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 12 |
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 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | +0.6 | ±0.0 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +1.3 | +1.2 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.6 | +0.5 |
| 2021 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +1.1 | +1.1 | +0.8 | +0.4 |
| 2022 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +1.1 | +1.0 | +1.6 | +1.4 | +1.2 | +1.0 | +0.8 |
| 2023 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.3 | −0.3 | −0.4 |
| 2024 | +0.4 | −0.2 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +0.7 |
| 2025 | +1.4 | +1.1 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +1.1 | +1.5 | +1.4 | +1.1 | +1.0 | +0.6 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Kolombangara
Solomon Islands690 km²1,768 m54 km away
Choiseul IslandSolomon Islands3,119 km²891 m89 km away
New GeorgiaSolomon Islands2,064 km²860 m111 km away
Shortland IslandSolomon Islands213 km²186 m123 km away
Bougainville Island
Papua New Guinea9,318 km²2,715 m215 km away
VangunuSolomon Islands515 km²1,056 m181 km away
Santa Isabel IslandSolomon Islands3,665 km²1,115 m264 km away
Buka IslandPapua New Guinea616 km²458 m354 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q1139193) · 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 — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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