Crater lake · New Zealand
Lake Rotorua / Te Rotorua nui ā Kahumatamomoe
Crater lake in the North Island of New Zealand
- Area
- 79.8km²
- Average depth
- 20m
- Elevation
- 282m a.s.l.
- Shoreline
- 44km
- Volume
- 1.6km³
Lake Rotorua / Te Rotorua nui ā Kahumatamomoe is a crater lake in New Zealand. It covers 79.8 km². On average it is 20 m deep. Its surface lies 282 m above sea level.
Plan your visit
Stay, sail and get there
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.
The water
How warm is Lake Rotorua / Te Rotorua nui ā Kahumatamomoe?
The water is warmest in February, around 22 °C at the surface, and coldest in July, around 10 °C. The surface averages 20 °C or more from December to March: comfortable for most swimmers.
It does not normally freeze in winter.
On the shore, afternoons reach 23 °C on average in February and 11 °C in July. The driest month is November (57 mm of rain), the wettest July (113 mm).
Average surface temperature measured by the Landsat 8 satellite between 2013 and 2021 at the point furthest from the shore (105 readings). Shallow bays and beaches are often warmer.
From above
The whole lake from space
Month by month
The year at the lake, month by month
Not a forecast: these are averages over many years. Water is the 2013–2021 average; air, rain, sun and wind are the 1991–2020 average.
Water: 2013–2021 averageClimate: 1991–2020 average
| Month | Water°C | Water high°C | Air high°C | Air low°C | Rainmm | Rainy daysdays | Sunh/day | Windkm/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22 | 22 | 23 | 14 | 72 | 10 | 9.4 | 11 |
| February | 22 | 22 | 23 | 14 | 73 | 9 | 8.1 | 10 |
| March | 21 | 22 | 21 | 13 | 80 | 11 | 7.5 | 10 |
| April | 18 | 19 | 18 | 11 | 104 | 12 | 6.3 | 10 |
| May | 14 | 16 | 15 | 9 | 103 | 14 | 5.3 | 10 |
| June | 11 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 112 | 14 | 4.4 | 11 |
| July | 10 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 113 | 14 | 4.7 | 11 |
| August | 10 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 98 | 15 | 5.6 | 10 |
| September | 12 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 82 | 14 | 6.4 | 11 |
| October | 14 | 16 | 16 | 8 | 81 | 12 | 7.6 | 12 |
| November | 18 | 19 | 18 | 10 | 57 | 11 | 8.7 | 11 |
| December | 20 | 21 | 21 | 13 | 96 | 12 | 8.6 | 11 |
Water: LakeTEMP (Landsat 8, 2013–2021). Air, rain, sun and wind: NASA POWER, 1991–2020 averages. A rainy day has at least 1 mm of rain. Sunshine hours are derived from measured solar radiation.
Size & depth
How big, how deep
- On average, water stays in the lake for about 3.6 years before flowing out.
- Its catchment drains 502 km² of land.
- About 14 m³ of water flow out every second, on average.
Around the shore
What's around Lake Rotorua / Te Rotorua nui ā Kahumatamomoe
Counted within 1.5 km of the shoreline in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit.
- 48beaches and swimming spots
Te Raupōroa Beach, Waiōhewa Beach and 46 more
- 12campsites
Government Gardens Motorhome and Campervan Parking Area, Lakefront Motorhome Parking Area, Rotorua Family Holiday Park, Willowhaven Holiday Park, Cosy Cottage Holiday Park and 7 more
- —boat hire and water-sport clubs
- 10marinas and slipways
- 2ferry piers
Katoa Jet Dock, Lakeland Queen Dock
- 17viewpoints
- 100hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Nicara Lodge, Funky Green Voyager, Bella Vista Rotorua, Parawai Lakeside Motel, Sandis Bed and Breakfast and 95 more
- —fishing spots
- 121restaurants and cafés
Towns on the shore
- Rotorua65,901 people
- Ngongotaha5,240 people
- Victoria2,290 people
- Utuhina1,620 people
- Ohinemutu1,260 people
- Hamurana1,130 people
Nearest airport with scheduled flights: Rotorua Regional Airport (ROT), 7 km in a straight line.
Car hire at ROT airport (Rotorua)Discover Cars · Affiliate linkOpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: when a number is low, it may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Recent years
How each month compared
Afternoon high on the shore. The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years below show the difference from it: warmer in orange, cooler in blue.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–2020 average | 23.2 | 23.2 | 21.2 | 18.0 | 14.7 | 12.2 | 11.0 | 12.0 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 18.4 | 20.8 |
| 2020 | +1.6 | +2.4 | ±0.0 | +0.6 | +0.2 | +0.8 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +1.1 | +0.5 | +1.7 |
| 2021 | +0.9 | +0.3 | −0.2 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +1.0 | +0.6 | −0.1 | −0.2 | +0.3 | +1.6 | +1.9 |
| 2022 | +2.6 | −0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.4 | +1.1 | +0.5 | +1.3 | +1.1 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | −0.1 |
| 2023 | −2.9 | −2.4 | −1.5 | −0.2 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.6 | −0.5 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.2 | +0.6 |
| 2024 | +0.7 | +0.9 | −0.9 | +0.1 | −0.8 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +2.2 |
| 2025 | −0.6 | +0.8 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.9 | −0.5 | +0.1 | +0.8 | +2.0 | +0.6 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
About these numbers
| Outline, area, depth, volume | HydroLAKES v1.0 (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0 |
|---|---|
| Water temperature and ice | LakeTEMP v1 (Korver et al. 2024), Landsat 8 2013–2021 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Air, rain, sun, wind | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · public domain |
| Names and description | Wikidata (Q1192621) · CC0 |
| Around the shore | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
