Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
595km²
Area
216km
Coastline
130m
Highest point
197,000
People
29°C
Warmest sea
September
604km
To the mainland
When to go to Grande-Terre
Best for the beach from January to May.
The sea is warmest in September (29 °C) and coolest in February (26 °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 Guadeloupe, France
Grande-Terre is an island in France. It belongs to Lesser Antilles. It covers 595 km², with 216 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 130 m. About 197,000 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 604 km away.
Getting there
- Maryse Condé International Airport (PTP)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at PTP airport (Pointe-à-Pitre)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesLigne Saint-François - La Désirade, Ligne Pointe à Pitre - Les Saintes, Ligne Pointe-à-Pitre - Saint-Louis (Marie-Galante), Ligne Pointe-à-Pitre - Roseau
- 604 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to Maybest 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 Grande-Terre.
- 77beachesPlage des Alizés, Plage de Montal, Petite Anse and 74 more
- 67viewpointsPointe de La Grande Vigie, Porte d'Enfer, Anse Salabouelle and 64 more
- 2lighthousesPhare du Boulevard Cicéron, Phare
- 13ferry terminalsGare Maritime de Pointe à Pitre, Terminal de Croisière, Gare Maritime de Bergevin and 10 more
- 13marinasMarina de Saint-François, Port de pêche de Petit-Canal, Marina de Port-Louis and 10 more
- 5named peaksMorne L'Escade, Morne Fréchou, Morne Pavillon and 2 more
- 3castles and fortsFort l'Union, Fort Fleur d'Épée, Ancien Fort
- 139ruins and archaeological sitesAncien Moulin, Moulin de Néron, Habitation Néron and 136 more
- 7dive centresLa Plongée Caribéenne, Noa Plongée, Gwadive and 4 more
- 8surf spotsSpot de Damencourt, Spot du Souffleur, Plage de la Chapelle and 5 more
- 6waymarked walking routesLe Littoral de Saint-Félix, Boucle de Deville, Boucle du moulin de Poyen and 3 more
- 1campsitesAire Plage de l'Anse Maurice
- 124hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 377restaurants, 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
Grande-Terre in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Grande-Terre, each with its own numbers.
93beaches and covesCoastya
Beach with the warmest sea
29.0°C
Anse Tabarin
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
93 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Plage des Raisins Clairs29.0°C
- Plage de Bois Jolan29.0°C
- Plage de Sainte-Anne29.0°C
- Plage de l'Autre Bord28.9°C
- Plage de la Caravelle29.0°C
- Anse Vinaigricove29.0°C
- Anse du Souffleurcove29.0°C
- Anse Salmoncove28.9°C
85 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 34 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.
- 79 %0–50 m
- 21 %50–200 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
- Les Abymes53,514 people
- Le Gosier28,698 people
- Sainte-Anne22,859 people
- Le Moule22,692 people
- Pointe-à-Pitre15,181 people
- Saint-François12,732 people
- Petit-Canal8,554 people
- Port-Louis5,515 people
- Anse-Bertrand5,146 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 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 |
| Night low (°C) | 26 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| Sea (°C) | 27 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 |
| Rain (mm) | 41 | 32 | 36 | 51 | 83 | 96 | 115 | 130 | 134 | 161 | 130 | 67 |
| Wet days | 14 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 16 | 16 |
| Sun h/day | 7.9 | 8.4 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 7.8 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 7.5 |
| Wind (km/h) | 26 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 26 | 27 | 24 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 25 |
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 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.3 | +0.8 | +0.1 | −0.2 | +0.1 |
| 2021 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.3 |
| 2022 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | −0.1 | −0.3 | ±0.0 |
| 2023 | +0.1 | −0.2 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +1.3 | +1.0 | +0.5 | +0.7 |
| 2024 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +1.4 | +1.3 | +1.7 | +1.6 | +1.3 | +1.1 | +1.2 | +1.5 | +1.3 | +1.2 |
| 2025 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.5 | +0.5 | ±0.0 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +0.2 | +0.3 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Basse-Terre Island
France850 km²1,467 m32 km away
Dominica
Dominica787 km²1,447 m101 km away
Marie-GalanteFrance160 km²200 m46 km away
La DésiradeFrance20 km²276 m40 km away
Montserrat
United Kingdom102 km²1,042 m95 km away
Terre-de-Bas IslandFrance6.8 km²292 m56 km away
Terre-de-Haut IslandFrance4.5 km²303 m53 km away
Antigua
Antigua and Barbuda272 km²402 m94 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q527799) · 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.
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