EcuadorGalapagos IslandsIslandUNESCO World Heritage
Santiago Island
579 km² rising to 920 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
579km²
Area
147km
Coastline
920m
Highest point
0
People
27°C
Warmest sea
March
1,075km
To the mainland
When to go to Santiago 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 in the Galápagos Archipelago, Ecuador
Santiago Island is an island in Ecuador. It belongs to Galapagos Islands. It covers 579 km², with 147 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 920 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 1,075 km away. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there
- Seymour Galapagos Ecological Airport (GPS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 53 km in a straight lineCar hire at GYE airport (Guayaquil)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 1,075 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
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 Santiago Island.
- 10beachesPlaya Espumilla and 9 more
- 1lighthousesPuerto Egas
- 1named peaks"Monje"
- 9volcanoesVolcán Santiago and 8 more
- 1ruins and archaeological sitesFábrica de sal
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
Santiago Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Santiago Island, each with its own numbers.
2beaches and covesCoastya
Beach with the warmest sea
27.2°C
Playa Espumilla
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 178 m above the sea. 68 % of it is below 200 m.
- 30 %0–50 m
- 39 %50–200 m
- 22 %200–500 m
- 9 %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).
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 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 24 |
| 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 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +1.3 | −0.4 | −0.9 | −1.6 | −1.5 | −0.6 | −0.4 | ±0.0 | −0.5 |
| 2021 | −0.6 | −0.5 | +0.2 | −1.2 | −0.2 | +0.3 | +0.8 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.4 | −1.2 | −2.2 |
| 2022 | −1.7 | −1.2 | −0.1 | −1.3 | −1.5 | −1.3 | −0.1 | +0.2 | −0.9 | −2.1 | −1.5 | −1.1 |
| 2023 | −1.2 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +1.7 | +1.9 | +3.0 | +3.4 | +3.1 | +2.2 | +2.0 | +2.4 | +2.0 |
| 2024 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +1.1 | ±0.0 | −1.3 | −1.4 | −0.6 | −1.1 | −0.1 | −0.2 | +1.1 | −0.7 |
| 2025 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +1.2 | +0.9 | −0.1 | +0.8 | +0.5 | −0.3 | −1.2 | −0.5 | −1.1 | −1.4 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Bartolomé IslandEcuador1.3 km²67 m17 km awayRábida IslandEcuador5.0 km²367 m18 km away
Santa Cruz IslandEcuador988 km²864 m58 km away
Isabela IslandEcuador4,711 km²1,707 m67 km away
Pinzón IslandEcuador18 km²458 m40 km away
Baltra IslandEcuador25 km²37 m53 km away
Marchena IslandEcuador131 km²343 m70 km away
Fernandina IslandEcuador646 km²1,476 m95 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q408217) · 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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