Dominican Republic / HaitiIsland
Hispaniola
76,420 km² rising to 3,101 m out of the Caribbean Sea.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
76,420km²
Area
2,423km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
3,101m
Highest point
Pico Duarte
22,261,005
People
29°C
Warmest sea
September
624km
To the mainland
When to go to Hispaniola
Best for the beach from January to March and from June to July.
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.
Island in the Caribbean
Hispaniola is an island in Dominican Republic. It covers 76,420 km², with 2,423 km of coastline. Its highest point, Pico Duarte, rises to 3,101 m. About 22,261,005 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 624 km away.
Getting there
- Cibao International Airport (STI)main airport (12 on the island with scheduled flights)Car hire at STI airport (Santiago)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 624 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to March and from June to Julybest 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 Hispaniola.
This island is too large to count beaches and viewpoints in a meaningful way.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Hispaniola in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Hispaniola, each with its own numbers.
233beaches and covesCoastya
27lakesLakeyas
7waterfallsCascadyas
Tallest waterfall
10m
Bassin Bleu
according to Cascadyas
Largest lake
228km²
Lake Enriquillo
52 m deep · according to Lakeyas
Deepest lake
150m
Lake Péligre
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
32.1°C
Lagon Petit Paradis
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
30.1°C
Baie du Lamentin
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
233 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Playa Grande29.0°C
- Playa El Caletón29.0°C
- Playa de Long Beach29.0°C
- Playa Caño Grande29.0°C
- Playa Bonita28.9°C
- Playa Bavaro28.9°C
- Gaby Plage29.2°C
- Gelée29.2°C
225 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
27 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Lake Enriquillo52 m deep228km²
- Étang Saumâtre30 m deep118km²
- Laguna del Rincón36.3km²
- Lago de Oviedo26.7km²
- Lake Péligre150 m deep11.3km²
- Lake Miragoâne7.3km²
- Laguna Redonda6.7km²
- Trou Caïman5.2km²
19 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
7 waterfalls
on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas
- Bassin Bleu10m
- Saut-Mathurine
- El Limón Waterfall
- Ville Bonheur
- Saut-d'Eau Waterfall
- Salto de Jimenoa Uno
- 27 Waterfalls of Damajagua
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
500 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Santo Domingo2,201,941 people
- Port-au-Prince1,234,742 people
- Santiago de los Caballeros1,200,000 people
- Santo Domingo Oeste701,269 people
- Santo Domingo Este700,000 people
- Carrefour511,345 people
- Delmas395,260 people
- Pétionville376,834 people
- Port-de-Paix306,217 people
- Saint-Marc266,642 people
- Cité Soleil265,072 people
- Croix-des-Bouquets229,127 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| Night low (°C) | 14 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 15 |
| Sea (°C) | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 |
| Rain (mm) | 27 | 20 | 28 | 38 | 56 | 35 | 36 | 52 | 44 | 56 | 63 | 37 |
| Wet days | 6 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 7 |
| Sun h/day | 7.5 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 7.5 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 8.2 | 8.0 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 7.5 |
| Wind (km/h) | 12 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
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 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.3 |
| 2021 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +0.7 |
| 2022 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.2 |
| 2023 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +1.2 | +1.3 | +0.9 | +0.6 |
| 2024 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +1.3 | +1.2 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +1.3 | +0.8 | +0.9 |
| 2025 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.7 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Beata IslandDominican Republic30 km²41 m167 km away
TortugaHaiti180 km²459 m220 km away
Gonâve IslandHaiti684 km²765 m220 km away
Saona IslandDominican Republic109 km²5 m260 km away
Grand Turk
United Kingdom18 km²24 m275 km away
Île à VacheHaiti46 km²43 m296 km away
Ambergris Cay
Turks and Caicos Islands4.6 km²1 m264 km away
Inagua
Bahamas1,679 km²33 m332 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q25277) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | Natural Earth · public domain |
| 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, Lakeyas, Cascadyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
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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