EcuadorGalapagos IslandsIslandUNESCO World Heritage
Santa Fe Island
24.7 km² of land in 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
24.7km²
Area
27km
Coastline
163m
Highest point
0
People
27°C
Warmest sea
March
1,018km
To the mainland
When to go to Santa Fe 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 of the Galápagos archipelago
Santa Fe Island is an island in Ecuador. It belongs to Galapagos Islands. It covers 24.7 km², with 27 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 163 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 1,018 km away. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there
- Seymour Galapagos Ecological Airport (GPS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 47 km in a straight lineCar hire at GYE airport (Guayaquil)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 1,018 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 Santa Fe Island.
- 2beaches
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 109 m above the sea. 97 % of it is below 200 m.
- 14 %0–50 m
- 84 %50–200 m
- 3 %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.
5 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
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 | 26 | 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 | 23 |
| Rain (mm) | 39 | 60 | 53 | 58 | 16 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 14 |
| Wet days | 7 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 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 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 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 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | +1.2 | −0.5 | −0.8 | −1.4 | −1.4 | −0.5 | −0.3 | +0.1 | −0.5 |
| 2021 | −0.7 | −0.3 | +0.2 | −1.0 | −0.2 | +0.2 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.3 | −1.0 | −2.2 |
| 2022 | −1.4 | −1.1 | −0.3 | −1.5 | −1.6 | −1.2 | −0.1 | +0.4 | −0.7 | −2.3 | −1.2 | −0.8 |
| 2023 | −1.1 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +2.0 | +2.0 | +3.0 | +3.4 | +3.2 | +2.6 | +2.2 | +2.7 | +1.9 |
| 2024 | +1.0 | +1.1 | +1.0 | ±0.0 | −1.4 | −1.4 | −0.7 | −1.2 | −0.2 | −0.1 | +1.2 | −0.5 |
| 2025 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +1.3 | +0.9 | −0.1 | +0.7 | +0.7 | ±0.0 | −1.7 | ±0.0 | −0.8 | −1.0 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Santa Cruz IslandEcuador988 km²864 m39 km away
Baltra IslandEcuador25 km²37 m47 km away
San Cristóbal IslandEcuador561 km²759 m73 km away
Floreana IslandEcuador173 km²444 m67 km away
Española IslandEcuador60 km²125 m74 km away
Isabela IslandEcuador4,711 km²1,707 m107 km away
Pinzón IslandEcuador18 km²458 m71 km away
Santiago IslandEcuador579 km²920 m95 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q408211) · 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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