EcuadorGalapagos IslandsIslandUNESCO World Heritage
San Cristóbal Island
561 km² rising to 759 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
561km²
Area
169km
Coastline
759m
Highest point
5,500
People
27°C
Warmest sea
March
927km
To the mainland
When to go to San Cristóbal 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
San Cristóbal Island is an island in Ecuador. It belongs to Galapagos Islands. It covers 561 km², with 169 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 759 m. About 5,500 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 927 km away. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there
- Seymour Galapagos Ecological Airport (GPS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 104 km in a straight lineCar hire at GYE airport (Guayaquil)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- Ferries3 ferry terminals on the island
- 927 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 San Cristóbal Island.
- 70beachesPlaya Puerto Chino, Playa Manglecito, Playa Mann and 67 more
- 17viewpointsTijeretas viewpoint, Cerro Tijeretas, Tijeretas and 14 more
- 2lighthousesLighthouse
- 3ferry terminalsHammerhead Shark Ecotouristic Dock
- 5named peaksCerro Brujo, Cerro Mundo, Pan de Azúcar and 2 more
- 1volcanoesCerro El Tropezón (El Niño)
- 1ruins and archaeological sitesNaval Cannon
- 4dive centresAlpha, Darwin, Blue Evolution and 1 more
- 62hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 91restaurants, 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
San Cristóbal Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside San Cristóbal Island, each with its own numbers.
19beaches and covesCoastya
5mountainsPeakyas
Beach with the warmest sea
26.7°C
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
19 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Playa Baquerizo26.7°C
- Playa de Cabo de Hornos26.7°C
- Playa Mann26.7°C
- Playa de Los Marinos26.7°C
- Playa Dorada26.7°C
- Playa Tongo Reef26.7°C
- Playa La Lobería26.7°C
- Playa de Ochoa26.7°C
11 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
5 mountains
on Peakyas, the mountain atlas
- Cerro San Joaquín
- Cerro Pan de Azúcar
- Monte Pitt
- Cerro Mundo
- Cerro Brujo
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 140 m above the sea. 78 % of it is below 200 m.
- 29 %0–50 m
- 48 %50–200 m
- 18 %200–500 m
- 4 %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.
50 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Puerto Baquerizo Moreno7,290 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 25 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| Night low (°C) | 24 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| Sea (°C) | 25 | 26 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| Rain (mm) | 36 | 54 | 48 | 52 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 16 |
| Wet days | 8 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Sun h/day | 8.0 | 8.6 | 9.3 | 8.8 | 8.4 | 7.5 | 6.6 | 6.2 | 6.0 | 6.8 | 6.9 | 7.4 |
| Wind (km/h) | 15 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 17 |
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 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +1.0 | −0.5 | −0.9 | −1.5 | −1.4 | −0.3 | −0.4 | +0.1 | −0.5 |
| 2021 | −0.6 | −0.4 | +0.2 | −0.9 | −0.3 | +0.1 | +1.0 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.2 | −1.0 | −2.1 |
| 2022 | −1.2 | −1.2 | −0.1 | −1.5 | −1.5 | −1.2 | +0.1 | +0.4 | −0.8 | −2.1 | −1.3 | −0.8 |
| 2023 | −0.9 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +2.1 | +2.0 | +3.0 | +3.3 | +3.2 | +2.6 | +2.3 | +2.7 | +1.9 |
| 2024 | +1.0 | +1.1 | +1.0 | −0.4 | −1.7 | −1.3 | −0.8 | −1.0 | −0.2 | +0.1 | +1.1 | −0.2 |
| 2025 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +1.5 | +0.8 | −0.1 | +0.5 | +0.7 | −0.1 | −1.5 | +0.1 | −0.8 | −0.9 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Española IslandEcuador60 km²125 m70 km away
Santa Fe IslandEcuador25 km²163 m73 km away
Santa Cruz IslandEcuador988 km²864 m108 km away
Baltra IslandEcuador25 km²37 m104 km away
Floreana IslandEcuador173 km²444 m128 km away
Genovesa IslandEcuador14 km²64 m140 km away
Santiago IslandEcuador579 km²920 m157 km away
Bartolomé IslandEcuador1.3 km²67 m140 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q855652) · 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, Peakyas — 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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