Crater lake · New Zealand
Lake Taupō
New Zealand's largest lake
- Area
- 612km²
- Max depth
- 186m
- Average depth
- 97m
- Elevation
- 356m a.s.l.
- Shoreline
- 163km
- Volume
- 59.1km³
Lake Taupō is a crater lake in New Zealand. It covers 612 km². On average it is 97 m deep, and 186 m at its deepest point. Its surface lies 356 m above sea level.
Plan your visit
Stay, sail and get there
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The water
How warm is Lake Taupō?
The water is warmest in February, around 20 °C at the surface, and coldest in August, around 11 °C. It rarely averages 20 °C, but it stays above 17 °C from December to April: brisk, refreshing swimming.
It does not normally freeze in winter.
On the shore, afternoons reach 22 °C on average in February and 8 °C in July. The driest month is March (65 mm of rain), the wettest June (106 mm).
Average surface temperature measured by the Landsat 8 satellite between 2013 and 2021 at the point furthest from the shore (148 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 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 10 | 67 | 11 | 8.7 | 16 |
| February | 20 | 20 | 22 | 11 | 66 | 9 | 7.7 | 14 |
| March | 19 | 20 | 19 | 9 | 65 | 11 | 7.1 | 14 |
| April | 17 | 18 | 15 | 7 | 84 | 13 | 5.8 | 14 |
| May | 15 | 16 | 12 | 5 | 95 | 16 | 4.5 | 15 |
| June | 13 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 106 | 17 | 3.9 | 16 |
| July | 11 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 96 | 17 | 4.3 | 16 |
| August | 11 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 93 | 18 | 4.8 | 16 |
| September | 11 | 11 | 11 | 4 | 88 | 16 | 5.4 | 17 |
| October | 12 | 13 | 13 | 5 | 88 | 16 | 6.2 | 18 |
| November | 15 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 69 | 13 | 7.4 | 17 |
| December | 17 | 18 | 18 | 9 | 94 | 14 | 7.4 | 16 |
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 17 years before flowing out.
- Its catchment drains 3,422 km² of land.
- About 113 m³ of water flow out every second, on average.
Around the shore
What's around Lake Taupō
Counted within 1.5 km of the shoreline in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit.
- 18beaches and swimming spots
Taupo Beach (Yacht Club), Kawakawa beach, Kinloch Beach and 15 more
- 10campsites
Freedom Camping for Self Contained Vehicles, Hinemaiaia, Taupo DeBretts Spa Resort, Motuoapa Bay Holiday Park, Motutere Bay Holiday Park and 5 more
- —boat hire and water-sport clubs
- 34marinas and slipways
Kinloch Marina, Kuratau Boat Ramp, Motuoapa Marina, Tokaanu Marina, Lake Taupo Marina and 29 more
- —ferry piers
- 13viewpoints
Lake Taupo Scenic Lookout, Everyone's Lookout, Mac's Lookout, Larry’s Lookout, Motuoapa Cliff Lookout and 8 more
- 83hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Bella Vista Motel, Windsor Lodge, YHA Taupo Finlay Jacks Backpackers, Haka Lodge Taupō, Accent Motor Lodge and 78 more
- —fishing spots
- 70restaurants and cafés
Towns on the shore
- Taupo27,000 people
- Acacia Bay1,870 people
Nearest airport with scheduled flights: Taupo Airport (TUO), 17 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 | 21.2 | 21.6 | 19.3 | 15.2 | 11.6 | 8.8 | 7.7 | 8.8 | 10.8 | 12.7 | 15.4 | 18.1 |
| 2020 | +1.3 | +2.5 | −0.4 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +1.1 | +0.5 | +0.6 | −0.2 | +1.7 | +0.2 | +0.2 |
| 2021 | −0.2 | +1.9 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +1.4 | +1.0 | −0.1 | −0.2 | +0.9 | +1.8 | +1.6 |
| 2022 | +3.0 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +1.0 | +1.5 | +0.7 | +1.5 | +1.3 | ±0.0 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.6 |
| 2023 | −1.9 | −3.1 | −2.4 | ±0.0 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.4 | −0.6 | +1.3 | +1.1 | +0.3 | +0.9 |
| 2024 | +0.3 | −0.1 | −2.3 | +0.4 | −1.0 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.9 | +0.5 | +1.8 |
| 2025 | −0.2 | +2.3 | +0.3 | +1.9 | +1.1 | +1.0 | +1.3 | −0.3 | −0.3 | +0.3 | +2.8 | +0.3 |
+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 (Q199903) · 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.
