The best islands to visit in August

Crete is #1 for the second month running. August weather scores a full 10: an 87°F (31°C) average high at Heraklion, an 81°F (27°C) sea and 0.2 inches of rain. Add beaches scored 9 and things to do scored 9.5, and no other island comes close. It is busy: Elafonisi is packed at midday, so go early or late. There is no US nonstop, so plan on Athens and a short flight or an overnight ferry. Hikers should note that Samaria Gorge is closed until further notice; Imbros and Aradena are the shorter alternatives.

Zanzibar is #2 because August is its best month on our scale, a perfect 10 for weather. The high averages 82°F (28°C), the sea 79°F (26°C), and rain is 1.7 inches. It is also the busiest month: the statistics office counted 105,506 visitors in August 2025, almost three times April. Value scores 10, with $41 rooms in Nungwi. Access scores 2.1: no US nonstop, a $100 visa and $44 compulsory insurance per person. Swim in the north, where the tide does not pull the sea out as it does at Paje.

Mallorca is #3: an 89°F (32°C) high, a sea that warms to 83°F (28°C) in August and 0.8 inches of rain. Its strengths are variety and access. You can mix Palma's cathedral, the Sóller train ($44.90, or €40, round trip) and the Tramuntana villages with beach days at Alcúdia, and United's seasonal Newark nonstop saves a connection. August is the most crowded month, and the island's crowd score is only 3.8. Book a hotel near the beach you want, and expect the famous southeast coves to be full by mid-morning.

Naxos is #4 and the best Cycladic island for August. Weather scores 9.9: an 86°F (30°C) high, a 78°F (26°C) sea and almost no rain. Its sandy west coast, from Agios Georgios in town to Plaka, is shallow and calm by Aegean standards, and the beaches score 8.5. August is meltemi season, when the north wind can roughen exposed bays; the sheltered ones near town stay usable. There is no airport with US flights, so take the Blue Star ferry from Piraeus (from $47, or €42) or fly from Athens. The cheapest town room was $122 in July.

Bali is #5, in one of its two driest months: an 82°F (28°C) high, an 82°F (28°C) sea and 2.2 inches of rain. It scores 9.5 for things to do, with temples, rice terraces and volcano hikes, and 10 for value: $30 a night for a well-reviewed 4-star in Seminyak on our July date. It loses ground on beaches, 6.5, because the west coast is surf, and on access, because there is no US nonstop. August is high season, so book the Batur sunrise and Nusa Penida boats ahead, and budget the $28 visa on arrival and $8 levy.

Maui is #6 and the best August island without a passport. The weather is still good, an 85°F (30°C) high, an 81°F (27°C) sea and 1.4 inches of rain, but August is inside the Central Pacific hurricane season and our score deducts for it. 2026 showed why: Hurricane Lala hit the Big Island in mid-August, and Nolo cut power in West Maui in late September. Maui's beaches and things to do both score 9. The cheapest Kihei hotel was $216 for July 14, 2027, and Kahului has nonstops from 18 US airports.

Sicily is #7 on the strength of its sights, not its August weather. Things to do scores a full 10. The weather scores 9.2: the sea is warm at 84°F (29°C) and rain is 0.6 inches, but the average high at Catania is 91°F (33°C), hot for Agrigento's temples at midday. Etna is the other August risk. An eruptive phase in August 2026 cancelled hundreds of flights before Catania airport resumed operations on August 15. Delta flies JFK to Catania; keep Palermo as a backup. The cheapest July room near Taormina was $140.

Sardinia is #8. Its beaches score 9, level with Crete's, and its August weather 9.5: a 90°F (32°C) high, an 81°F (27°C) sea and 0.4 inches of rain. Two things hold it back. Our island page rates it conditional, because it is a summer-only beach island, which costs 0.4 points, and there is no US nonstop until United starts Newark to Olbia on May 27, 2027. Famous beaches now need booking: La Pelosa was capped at 1,500 people a day at $3.93 (€3.50) each in 2026. Cagliari was $112 a night in July; the Costa Smeralda, $290.

Oahu is #9. August weather is an 85°F (30°C) high, an 81°F (27°C) sea and 1.1 inches of rain, with the same hurricane-season deduction as Maui. In September 2026 Hurricane Lowell's outer bands brought a tropical storm warning, about 21,000 power outages and one death on Oahu. Oahu has the most flights in Hawaii, nonstop from 28 US airports, and Pearl Harbor National Memorial is free. It ranks below Maui on beaches and crowds. The cheapest Waikiki room was $169 on our July date.

Fiji is #10. August is still dry season, but wetter than July: 4.0 inches of rain in our data, with an 83°F (29°C) high and an 80°F (27°C) sea, so the weather score drops to 8.9. Everything else is strong. Value and crowds both score 10, Nadi rooms cost $39 in July, and Fiji Airways flies nonstop from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu. The beaches near Nadi are average. Take the boat to a Mamanuca island for white sand and calm reef lagoons.