Guinea-Bissau
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
78.2km²
Area
101km
Coastline
34m
Highest point
6,024
People
29°C
Warmest sea
November
2km
To the mainland
When to go to Bolama Island
Best for the beach from November to February.
The sea is warmest in November (29 °C) and coolest in January (25 °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 Bissagos archipelago, Guinea-Bissau
Bolama Island is an island in Guinea-Bissau. It covers 78.2 km², with 101 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 34 m. About 6,024 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 2 km away.
Getting there
- Osvaldo Vieira International Airport (OXB)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 39 km in a straight line
- FerriesSão João - Bolama
- 2 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From November to Februarybest 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 Bolama Island.
- 4beachesPraia de Bolama de Baixo, Praia de Ofir, Praia de Gaimoreia and 1 more
- 3lighthouses
- 1ferry terminalsBolama
- 4marinasBolama and 3 more
- 13ruins and archaeological sitesBanco Nacional Ultramarino / Hotel de Turismo, Casa da família Nunes Correia, Casa Pinto and 10 more
- 1hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 9restaurants, 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.
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 12 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).
Towns on the island
- Bolama10,769 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 29 | 31 | 33 | 33 | 32 | 30 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 29 |
| Night low (°C) | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 21 |
| Sea (°C) | 25 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 27 |
| Rain (mm) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 142 | 405 | 518 | 363 | 188 | 15 | 0 |
| Wet days | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 23 | 2 | 0 |
| Sun h/day | 8.5 | 8.9 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 8.7 | 6.7 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 5.5 | 7.0 | 7.9 | 8.3 |
| Wind (km/h) | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 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 | +0.2 | +1.5 | +2.0 | +1.5 | +1.0 | +0.3 | −0.3 | −0.2 | −0.7 | +0.3 | +0.7 | +0.1 |
| 2021 | +1.1 | +1.1 | +0.8 | +1.1 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.4 | +1.0 | +0.5 | +1.0 |
| 2022 | +1.7 | +1.4 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +1.0 |
| 2023 | +1.0 | +0.6 | +1.3 | +1.5 | +1.2 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +1.5 | +1.0 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +1.1 |
| 2024 | +2.0 | +2.3 | +1.5 | +1.1 | +1.4 | +1.1 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.4 | −0.1 | +0.6 | +0.4 |
| 2025 | +0.6 | −0.2 | +0.2 | +0.7 | +1.2 | +0.9 | +0.5 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −1.0 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Senegal
Guinea
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q12722851) · 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 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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