Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
155km²
Area
69km
Coastline
12m
Highest point
930
People
29°C
Warmest sea
August
594km
To the mainland
When to go to San Salvador Island
Best for the beach from December to April.
The sea is warmest in August (29 °C) and coolest in March (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 and district of the Bahamas
San Salvador Island is an island in Bahamas. It covers 155 km², with 69 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 12 m. About 930 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 594 km away.
Getting there
- San Salvador International Airport (ZSA)airport on the island, with scheduled flights
- 594 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From December to Aprilbest 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 San Salvador Island.
- 375beachesSandy Point, Grotto Beach and 373 more
- 2marinas
- 1ruins and archaeological sitesWallings Castle Ruins
- 1hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 1restaurants, 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 Salvador Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside San Salvador Island, each with its own numbers.
1beachCoastya
5lakesLakeyas
Largest lake
8.9km²
Great Lake
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
30.0°C
Great Lake
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
29.0°C
Green’s Harbour
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
5 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Great Lake8.9km²
- Storr's Lake2.9km²
- Granny Lake2.2km²
- Little Lake1.4km²
- Stout's Lake1.4km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 5 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
- Cockburn Town831 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 24 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| Night low (°C) | 23 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 |
| Sea (°C) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| Rain (mm) | 28 | 20 | 20 | 29 | 75 | 61 | 45 | 54 | 73 | 92 | 62 | 28 |
| Wet days | 8 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 17 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 13 | 9 |
| Sun h/day | 6.6 | 7.9 | 8.6 | 9.3 | 8.5 | 9.0 | 9.6 | 9.4 | 8.0 | 6.9 | 6.8 | 6.8 |
| Wind (km/h) | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 21 | 24 | 24 |
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 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.8 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.5 |
| 2021 | +0.4 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.5 | −0.3 | −0.3 | +0.1 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +1.0 | +1.2 |
| 2022 | +1.3 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +1.1 | +1.2 |
| 2023 | +1.3 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +1.0 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +1.0 |
| 2024 | +0.8 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.7 | +0.1 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +0.5 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +0.3 | −0.4 |
| 2025 | −0.4 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +0.1 | +0.5 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Rum Cay
Bahamas77 km²6 m55 km away
Cat IslandBahamas339 km²63 m99 km away
Long IslandBahamas413 km²43 m107 km away
Crooked IslandBahamas263 km²38 m146 km away
AcklinsBahamas457 km²6 m185 km away
EleutheraBahamas416 km²61 m207 km away
MayaguanaBahamas284 km²7 m246 km away
New ProvidenceBahamas213 km²6 m314 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q845540) · 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, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
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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