Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
435km²
Area
111km
Coastline
222m
Highest point
303,431
People
29°C
Warmest sea
September
349km
To the mainland
When to go to Barbados
Best for the beach from January to April.
The sea is warmest in September (29 °C) and coolest in February (27 °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.
Main island of Barbados
Barbados is an island in Barbados. It covers 435 km², with 111 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 222 m. About 303,431 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 349 km away.
Getting there
- Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at BGI airport (Bridgetown)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 349 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to Aprilbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
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.
On the island
What you find on Barbados.
- 104beachesMorgan Lewis Beach, Walkers Beach, Brandons Beach and 101 more
- 21viewpointsHackletons Cliff, Cuckold Point, Cherry Tree Hill and 18 more
- 6lighthousesSouth Point Lighthouse, Needhams Point Lighthouse, Harrison's Point Lighthouse and 3 more
- 5marinasPort St. Charles, The Careenage, Shallow Draft and 2 more
- 1named peaksMount Hillaby
- 2castles and fortsSt. Anne's Fort, Fort Charles
- 14ruins and archaeological sitesLittle Harrismith, Orange Fort (Site of Ruins), Fort Denmark (Site of Ruins) and 11 more
- 2dive centresSpearfishing & Freediving Barbados, Barbados Blue
- 1waymarked walking routesBarbados Trailway
- 1campsites
- 209hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 448restaurants, cafés and bars
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
Barbados in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Barbados, each with its own numbers.
39beaches and covesCoastya
Beach with the warmest sea
29.0°C
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
39 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Heywoods Beach29.0°C
- Maxwell Coast29.0°C
- Worthing Beach29.0°C
- Crane Beach29.0°C
- Crane Baycove29.0°C
- Palmetto Baycove29.0°C
- Rockley Beach29.0°C
- Lakes Beach29.0°C
31 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 104 m above the sea. 84 % of it is below 200 m.
- 33 %0–50 m
- 51 %50–200 m
- 16 %200–500 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).
Towns on the island
- Bridgetown98,511 people
- White Hill5,139 people
- Speightstown3,634 people
- Oistins2,285 people
- Bathsheba1,765 people
- Hastings1,500 people
- Mile and a Quarter1,382 people
- Holetown1,350 people
- Six Cross Roads1,005 people
- Crane935 people
- Greenland623 people
- Welchman Hallno census figure
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 |
| Night low (°C) | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 27 |
| Sea (°C) | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 |
| Rain (mm) | 34 | 19 | 19 | 28 | 52 | 72 | 74 | 95 | 98 | 132 | 107 | 49 |
| Wet days | 8 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 19 | 22 | 18 | 11 |
| Sun h/day | 8.4 | 8.9 | 9.1 | 8.9 | 8.6 | 7.9 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 8.2 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 8.2 |
| Wind (km/h) | 28 | 28 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 26 | 22 | 19 | 21 | 24 | 27 |
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 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.4 |
| 2021 | +0.6 | +0.3 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.1 | +0.3 |
| 2022 | −0.1 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | −0.2 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.3 | −0.1 | −0.1 | −0.1 |
| 2023 | −0.2 | −0.1 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +1.1 | +1.2 | +1.1 | +0.8 | +0.7 |
| 2024 | +1.1 | +1.1 | +1.4 | +1.5 | +1.5 | +1.4 | +1.3 | +1.3 | +1.4 | +1.5 | +1.5 | +1.0 |
| 2025 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.3 | +0.2 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Culpepper Island
Barbados0.00 km²18 m9 km away
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia640 km²866 m179 km away
Saint Vincent
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines346 km²1,220 m182 km away
BequiaSaint Vincent and the Grenadines16 km²148 m185 km away
Grenada
Grenada314 km²840 m261 km away
MustiqueSaint Vincent and the Grenadines5.6 km²32 m182 km away
CanouanSaint Vincent and the Grenadines7.7 km²4 m201 km away
Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago301 km²600 m245 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q30151210) · 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.
The family
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