Canada
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
29.3km²
Area
99km
Coastline
1m
Highest point
5
People
18°C
Warmest sea
August
154km
To the mainland
When to go to Sable Island
Best to visit in August.
The sea is warmest in August (18 °C) and coolest in March (2 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
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 Nova Scotia, Canada
Sable Island is an island in Canada. It covers 29.3 km², with 99 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 1 m. About 5 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 154 km away.
Getting there
- Sydney / J.A. Douglas McCurdy Airport (YQY)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 248 km in a straight lineCar hire at YQY airport (Sydney)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 154 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- Augustbest 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 Sable Island.
- 2lighthousesEast Light, West Light
- 1named peaksBald Dune
- 14ruins and archaeological sitesOld Main Station, Old Number 2 Lifesaving Station, Old Number 3 Lifesaving Station and 11 more
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
Sable Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Sable Island, each with its own numbers.
1lakeLakeyas
Largest lake
0.10km²
Lake Wallace
according to Lakeyas
1 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Lake Wallace0.10km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 3 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.
- 100 %0–50 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.
10 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 6 |
| Night low (°C) | 0 | -1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 3 |
| Sea (°C) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 119 | 122 | 126 | 117 | 90 | 98 | 104 | 104 | 90 | 129 | 132 | 136 |
| Wet days | 17 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 18 |
| Sun h/day | 1.5 | 2.9 | 5.1 | 6.1 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.6 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 4.3 | 2.5 | 1.2 |
| Wind (km/h) | 35 | 35 | 32 | 28 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 22 | 25 | 29 | 32 | 34 |
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 | −0.1 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +1.2 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +2.6 |
| 2021 | +2.1 | +1.5 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +1.6 | +1.2 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +1.3 | +1.9 | +0.5 | +1.4 |
| 2022 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +1.5 | +1.4 | +0.3 | +1.0 | +1.7 |
| 2023 | +2.1 | +2.2 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +1.5 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +0.3 | −0.4 |
| 2024 | −0.4 | −0.1 | +0.5 | +0.1 | −0.4 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +1.7 | +1.4 | +0.6 | −0.8 | −0.5 |
| 2025 | ±0.0 | −0.5 | −0.2 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +1.5 | +2.0 | +0.7 | +0.2 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q1336091) · 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 | Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; 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.
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