Which is the sunniest island in the world?

Hawaii (Big Island) (United States) is the world's sunniest holiday island — about 3,315 hours of sunshine a year.

Which island has the best winter sun?

Gran Canaria (Spain) is the best island for winter sun, scoring 93/100 on the November–February Sunshine Score.

The world's sunniest islands in 2026, ranked

Name: The world's sunniest islands 2026 — Sunshine Map ranking
Creator: Sunshine Map
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

55 of the world's best-loved holiday islands ranked by annual sunshine, from long-term climate normals, by Sunshine Map. Published July 2026. The cross-archipelago companion to our Greek-island and Canary-island guides.

Key findings
• Hawaii (Big Island) (United States) is the world's sunniest island: 3,315 hours of sun a year.
• Gran Canaria and Cyprus follow, at 3,298 and 3,224 h.
• Best island for winter sun: Gran Canaria (Spain), 93/100 on the November–February Sunshine Score, sea 22°C.

The full ranking — annual sunshine

#	Island	Country	Sun h/yr	Mean sea
1	Hawaii (Big Island)	🇺🇸 United States	3,315	27°C
2	Gran Canaria	🇪🇸 Spain	3,298	22°C
3	Cyprus	🇨🇾 Cyprus	3,224	24°C
4	Kos	🇬🇷 Greece	3,218	22°C
5	Maui	🇺🇸 United States	3,218	26°C
6	Rhodes	🇬🇷 Greece	3,201	22°C
7	Réunion	🇷🇪 Réunion	3,187	27°C
8	Aruba	🇦🇼 Aruba	3,176	28°C
9	Antigua	🇦🇬 Antigua & Barbuda	3,151	29°C
10	St. Maarten	🇸🇽 Sint Maarten	3,131	29°C
11	Oahu	🇺🇸 United States	3,113	26°C
12	Samos	🇬🇷 Greece	3,081	21°C
13	La Palma	🇪🇸 Spain	3,075	23°C
14	Martinique	🇲🇶 Martinique	3,048	29°C
15	Barbados	🇧🇧 Barbados	3,047	29°C
16	Malta	🇲🇹 Malta	3,046	22°C
17	Curaçao	🇨🇼 Curaçao	3,038	29°C
18	Santorini	🇬🇷 Greece	3,012	21°C
19	Mauritius	🇲🇺 Mauritius	2,985	26°C
20	Lanzarote	🇪🇸 Spain	2,979	21°C
21	Fuerteventura	🇪🇸 Spain	2,979	21°C
22	Zakynthos	🇬🇷 Greece	2,970	21°C
23	Ibiza	🇪🇸 Spain	2,950	21°C
24	Seychelles	🇸🇨 Seychelles	2,943	29°C
25	Tenerife	🇪🇸 Spain	2,933	22°C
26	Guadeloupe	🇬🇵 Guadeloupe	2,932	29°C
27	Kythira	🇬🇷 Greece	2,918	21°C
28	Crete	🇬🇷 Greece	2,912	22°C
29	Mykonos	🇬🇷 Greece	2,897	20°C
30	Sri Lanka	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	2,876	30°C
31	Bahamas	🇧🇸 Bahamas	2,865	28°C
32	Mallorca	🇪🇸 Spain	2,860	21°C
33	Kefalonia	🇬🇷 Greece	2,846	21°C
34	Zanzibar	🇹🇿 Tanzania	2,836	29°C
35	Madeira	🇵🇹 Portugal	2,835	22°C
36	Corfu	🇬🇷 Greece	2,819	22°C
37	Menorca	🇪🇸 Spain	2,818	21°C
38	Sicily	🇮🇹 Italy	2,814	22°C
39	Bali	🇮🇩 Indonesia	2,777	30°C
40	New Caledonia	🇳🇨 New Caledonia	2,761	26°C
41	Sardinia	🇮🇹 Italy	2,746	20°C
42	Corsica	🇫🇷 France	2,745	20°C
43	Isla Margarita	🇻🇪 Venezuela	2,632	28°C
44	Fiji	🇫🇯 Fiji	2,625	29°C
45	Puerto Rico	🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	2,619	29°C
46	Jamaica	🇯🇲 Jamaica	2,597	29°C
47	Skiathos	🇬🇷 Greece	2,524	20°C
48	Azores	🇵🇹 Portugal	2,365	20°C
49	Langkawi	🇲🇾 Malaysia	2,350	31°C
50	Koh Samui	🇹🇭 Thailand	2,342	31°C
51	Penang	🇲🇾 Malaysia	2,276	31°C
52	Phuket	🇹🇭 Thailand	2,260	30°C
53	Cebu	🇵🇭 Philippines	2,259	30°C
54	Guernsey	🇬🇬 Guernsey	1,931	14°C
55	Jersey	🇯🇪 Jersey	1,930	14°C

Explore all 3,833 destinations on the interactive globe →

Best islands for winter sun

The same islands re-ranked by the November–February Sunshine Score — where to escape the northern winter.

#	Island	Country	Winter sun /100	Mean sea
1	Gran Canaria	🇪🇸 Spain	93	22°C
2	St. Maarten	🇸🇽 Sint Maarten	91	29°C
3	Lanzarote	🇪🇸 Spain	90	21°C
4	Fuerteventura	🇪🇸 Spain	90	21°C
5	Aruba	🇦🇼 Aruba	89	28°C
6	Tenerife	🇪🇸 Spain	89	22°C
7	Barbados	🇧🇧 Barbados	88	29°C
8	Bahamas	🇧🇸 Bahamas	88	28°C
9	La Palma	🇪🇸 Spain	87	23°C
10	Maui	🇺🇸 United States	86	26°C
11	Curaçao	🇨🇼 Curaçao	86	29°C
12	Antigua	🇦🇬 Antigua & Barbuda	85	29°C
13	Guadeloupe	🇬🇵 Guadeloupe	84	29°C
14	Hawaii (Big Island)	🇺🇸 United States	83	27°C
15	Réunion	🇷🇪 Réunion	82	27°C
16	Oahu	🇺🇸 United States	82	26°C
17	Mauritius	🇲🇺 Mauritius	82	26°C
18	Zanzibar	🇹🇿 Tanzania	82	29°C
19	Jamaica	🇯🇲 Jamaica	82	29°C
20	Martinique	🇲🇶 Martinique	81	29°C
21	Isla Margarita	🇻🇪 Venezuela	81	28°C
22	Puerto Rico	🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	81	29°C
23	Madeira	🇵🇹 Portugal	78	22°C
24	New Caledonia	🇳🇨 New Caledonia	78	26°C
25	Sri Lanka	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	75	30°C
26	Langkawi	🇲🇾 Malaysia	74	31°C
27	Phuket	🇹🇭 Thailand	74	30°C
28	Seychelles	🇸🇨 Seychelles	72	29°C
29	Penang	🇲🇾 Malaysia	72	31°C
30	Koh Samui	🇹🇭 Thailand	71	31°C
31	Cyprus	🇨🇾 Cyprus	69	24°C
32	Bali	🇮🇩 Indonesia	69	30°C
33	Fiji	🇫🇯 Fiji	67	29°C
34	Cebu	🇵🇭 Philippines	67	30°C
35	Malta	🇲🇹 Malta	59	22°C
36	Azores	🇵🇹 Portugal	59	20°C
37	Sicily	🇮🇹 Italy	57	22°C
38	Crete	🇬🇷 Greece	56	22°C
39	Rhodes	🇬🇷 Greece	55	22°C
40	Santorini	🇬🇷 Greece	55	21°C
41	Ibiza	🇪🇸 Spain	52	21°C
42	Mallorca	🇪🇸 Spain	52	21°C
43	Sardinia	🇮🇹 Italy	51	20°C
44	Samos	🇬🇷 Greece	48	21°C
45	Zakynthos	🇬🇷 Greece	48	21°C
46	Kefalonia	🇬🇷 Greece	48	21°C
47	Kos	🇬🇷 Greece	47	22°C
48	Menorca	🇪🇸 Spain	47	21°C
49	Mykonos	🇬🇷 Greece	44	20°C
50	Corfu	🇬🇷 Greece	43	22°C
51	Skiathos	🇬🇷 Greece	41	20°C
52	Corsica	🇫🇷 France	40	20°C
53	Kythira	🇬🇷 Greece	39	21°C
54	Guernsey	🇬🇬 Guernsey	13	14°C
55	Jersey	🇯🇪 Jersey	11	14°C

Methodology

A curated set of the world's best-known holiday islands — islands aren't a field in the data, so the list is hand-picked and not exhaustive — each ranked by annual sunshine hours from long-term climate normals (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Islands with more than one airport (Cyprus, Crete, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, the Azores) are averaged into a single entry. Sea temperature is the annual mean where coastal data exists. See also the world's sunniest countries and sunniest cities in Europe.

Republish this data

Free to use under CC BY 4.0: credit Sunshine Map and link to this page. Download the full ranking as CSV: sunshine-atlas-sunniest-islands.csv (55 islands).

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