EcuadorGalapagos IslandsIslandUNESCO World Heritage
Santa Cruz Island
988 km² rising to 864 m out of the Pacific Ocean.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
988km²
Area
200km
Coastline
864m
Highest point
15,701
People
27°C
Warmest sea
March
1,032km
To the mainland
When to go to Santa Cruz Island
Best for the beach from May to July and from November to December.
The sea is warmest in March (27 °C) and coolest in August (22 °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 of the Galápagos Islands
Santa Cruz Island is an island in Ecuador. It belongs to Galapagos Islands. It covers 988 km², with 200 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 864 m. About 15,701 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 1,032 km away. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there
- Seymour Galapagos Ecological Airport (GPS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 23 km in a straight lineCar hire at GYE airport (Guayaquil)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesTransbordador Santa Cruz - Baltra
- 1,032 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From May to July and from November to Decemberbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
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On the island
What you find on Santa Cruz Island.
- 95beachesTortuga Bay, Bachas beach, Black Turtle Cove and 92 more
- 18viewpointsCerro Mesa, Grieta de las Tintoreras, Viewpoint of Garrapatero beach and Puerto Ayora and 15 more
- 1lighthouses
- 6ferry terminalsFerry, Finch bay hotel pier, Ferry a las Grietas and 3 more
- 2named peaksCerro Crocker, Cerro Mesa
- 1volcanoes
- 7dive centresDive Center Silberstein, Macarron Scuba Divers, Galápagos Deep and 4 more
- 3campsitesCerro Mesa, El Garrapatero
- 98hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 128restaurants, 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
Santa Cruz Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Santa Cruz Island, each with its own numbers.
10beaches and covesCoastya
Beach with the warmest sea
27.0°C
Playa de Las Bachas
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
10 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Playa Mansa26.8°C
- Playa de Los Alemanes26.8°C
- Playa Tortuga Bay26.8°C
- Playa Brava26.8°C
- Playa del Director26.9°C
- Playa de Las Bachas27.0°C
- Playa Garrapatero26.8°C
- Playa de Los Róbalos27.0°C
2 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 167 m above the sea. 70 % of it is below 200 m.
- 26 %0–50 m
- 44 %50–200 m
- 25 %200–500 m
- 6 %500–1,000 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
- Puerto Ayora12,696 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Night low (°C) | 24 | 25 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 22 |
| Sea (°C) | 25 | 26 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 23 |
| Rain (mm) | 44 | 64 | 53 | 60 | 17 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 12 |
| Wet days | 8 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Sun h/day | 7.7 | 8.2 | 9.1 | 8.7 | 8.3 | 7.5 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.6 | 7.5 | 7.3 |
| Wind (km/h) | 14 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 16 |
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 | +0.4 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | +1.3 | −0.4 | −0.8 | −1.4 | −1.5 | −0.5 | −0.3 | +0.1 | −0.4 |
| 2021 | −0.6 | −0.3 | +0.2 | −1.0 | −0.2 | +0.2 | +0.9 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.4 | −1.1 | −2.1 |
| 2022 | −1.5 | −1.1 | −0.3 | −1.4 | −1.4 | −1.2 | −0.1 | +0.3 | −0.8 | −2.2 | −1.4 | −0.9 |
| 2023 | −1.1 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +1.9 | +2.0 | +3.0 | +3.4 | +3.1 | +2.5 | +2.1 | +2.6 | +2.0 |
| 2024 | +1.1 | +1.0 | +1.0 | ±0.0 | −1.3 | −1.5 | −0.6 | −1.2 | −0.3 | −0.1 | +1.2 | −0.6 |
| 2025 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +1.2 | +0.9 | −0.1 | +0.7 | +0.6 | −0.1 | −1.6 | −0.2 | −0.9 | −1.1 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Baltra IslandEcuador25 km²37 m24 km away
Santa Fe IslandEcuador25 km²163 m39 km away
Pinzón IslandEcuador18 km²458 m34 km away
Isabela IslandEcuador4,711 km²1,707 m75 km away
Santiago IslandEcuador579 km²920 m58 km away
Bartolomé IslandEcuador1.3 km²67 m45 km awayRábida IslandEcuador5.0 km²367 m47 km away
Floreana IslandEcuador173 km²444 m73 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q713127) · 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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