Brazil
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
422km²
Area
184km
Coastline
523m
Highest point
7,001,161
People
26°C
Warmest sea
February
1km
To the mainland
When to go to Santa Catarina Island
Best for the beach from December to April.
The sea is warmest in February (26 °C) and coolest in August (18 °C). Comfortable swimming (21 °C or more): from November to May.
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 Brazil
Santa Catarina Island is an island in Brazil. It covers 422 km², with 184 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 523 m. About 7,001,161 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 1 km away.
Getting there
- Hercílio Luz International Airport (FLN)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at FLN airport (Florianópolis)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesCosta da Lagoa - Trapiche do Rio Vermelho, Armação - Ilha do Campeche, Passeio Canasvieiras - Scuna Sul, Naufragados - Caieira da Barra do Sul
- 1 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
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 Santa Catarina Island.
- 72beachesPraia do Sambaqui, Praia da Tapera, Praia da Caiacanga-Açú Norte and 69 more
- 71viewpointsMirante da Lagoa da Conceição, Ponto de Vista, Mirante do Morro das Pedras and 68 more
- 4lighthousesFarol Naufragados, Farol da Barra and 2 more
- 29ferry terminalsTerminal Lacustre Professora Ruth Bastos de Oliveira, Ponto #16, Ponto #17 and 26 more
- 11marinasMarina Santo Antônio, Iate Clube Veleiros da Ilha, Marine Eco Park and 8 more
- 57named peaksMorro do Ribeirão, Morro da Lagoa, Morro do Macacú and 54 more
- 24waterfallsCachoeira da Gurita, Cachoeira da Carabina, Poção do Córrego Grande and 21 more
- 6castles and fortsPalácio Cruz e Sousa, Fortaleza de São José da Ponta Grossa, Forte Santa Bárbara and 3 more
- 13ruins and archaeological sitesEngenho do Vitorino, Dólmen da Oração, Sítio Arqueológico and 10 more
- 12surf spotsEscola de Surf, Escola de Surf Paz na Terra, Local and 9 more
- 6waymarked walking routesTrilha da Fortaleza à Galheta, Trilha da Boa Vista - Barra da Lagoa, Caminho dos Pescadores and 3 more
- 16campsitesSun Coast, Kings Way, Elase Sede de Praia and 13 more
- 237hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 560restaurants, 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
Santa Catarina Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Santa Catarina Island, each with its own numbers.
34beaches and covesCoastya
14mountainsPeakyas
2lakesLakeyas
Highest point
285m
Morro da Cruz
according to Peakyas
Largest lake
19.8km²
Lagoa da Conceição
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
27.5°C
Lagoa da Conceição
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
25.9°C
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
34 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Mole Beach25.7°C
- Ingleses Beach25.9°C
- Praia Brava25.9°C
- Praia Campeche25.7°C
- Praia Morro das Pedras25.7°C
- Praia do Saco Grande25.7°C
- Praia do Nelinho25.7°C
- Praia da Cachoeira25.9°C
26 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
14 mountains
on Peakyas, the mountain atlas
- Morro da Cruz285m
- Morro dos Macacos
- Morro Pelado
- Morro do Peri de Cima
- Morro da Tapera
- Morro da Boa Vista
- Morro do Indaiá
- Morro do Matadouro
6 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
2 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Lagoa da Conceição19.8km²
- Lagoa do Peri4.9km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 71 m above the sea. 87 % of it is below 200 m.
- 64 %0–50 m
- 23 %50–200 m
- 13 %200–500 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
- Florianópolis508,826 people
- Ribeirão da Ilha21,000 people
- Freguesia do Ribeirao da Ilha21,000 people
- Trindade15,100 people
- Saco dos Limoes14,000 people
- Itacorubi12,000 people
- Costeira do Pirajubae9,300 people
- Lagoa5,200 people
- Santa Monica5,100 people
- Corrego Grande5,000 people
- Morro da Cruz5,000 people
- Pantanal4,700 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 28 | 28 | 27 | 25 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 25 | 27 |
| Night low (°C) | 21 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 19 |
| Sea (°C) | 26 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 24 |
| Rain (mm) | 189 | 146 | 141 | 101 | 114 | 96 | 96 | 103 | 152 | 144 | 134 | 153 |
| Wet days | 22 | 20 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 17 | 20 |
| Sun h/day | 6.7 | 6.6 | 6.4 | 5.9 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 5.1 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 6.2 | 6.5 |
| Wind (km/h) | 16 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 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 | +0.1 | −0.2 | −0.5 | −0.6 | −0.1 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.6 |
| 2021 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +1.1 | +1.1 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.2 | −0.7 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.5 |
| 2022 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.1 | −0.3 | −0.3 | −1.7 | −0.7 | +0.7 | −0.1 | −0.4 | −0.3 | +0.5 |
| 2023 | +0.2 | +0.7 | +0.2 | −0.2 | +1.3 | +2.1 | +1.5 | +0.6 | +0.2 | −0.7 | −0.2 | +0.8 |
| 2024 | −0.2 | +0.5 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | +0.5 | +0.1 | −1.2 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +1.5 | +1.0 | −1.2 |
| 2025 | −0.1 | +1.0 | −1.3 | −0.5 | +1.0 | +0.7 | −0.5 | −0.8 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | −1.2 | +0.1 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q1191273) · 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, 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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