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Greece GreeceCycladesIsland

Santorini

76.0 km² rising to 567 m out of the Sea of Crete.

When to go

Santorini seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
EmporeíoFiráMesariáOía
N 2 km

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

76.0km²

Area

71km

Coastline

567m

Highest point

17,430

People

24°C

Warmest sea

August

167km

To the mainland

When to go to Santorini

Best for the beach from July to September.

The sea is warmest in August (24 °C) and coolest in February (16 °C). Comfortable swimming (21 °C or more): from June to October.

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

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.

Greek island in the Cyclades

Santorini is an island in Greece. It belongs to Cyclades. It covers 76.0 km², with 71 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 567 m. About 17,430 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 167 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

  • Santorini International Airport (JTR)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at JTR airport (Santorini Island)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • FerriesOia - Old Port Fira, Santorini New Port - Nea Kameni, Naxos - Santorini (Athinios), Old Port Fira - Santorini New Port
  • 167 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
  • From July to Septemberbest 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 Santorini.

  • 21beachesKatharos beach, Red Beach, Vlychada beach and 18 more
  • 62viewpointsunique view to volcano, Red Beach, Akrotiri Castle and 59 more
  • 2lighthousesCape Akrotiri Lighthouse
  • 6ferry terminalsThira(Santorini) - Athinios Port, Santorini Old Port - Fira, Thira (Santorini) - Athinios Port and 3 more
  • 2marinasMarina Exomitis / Vlychada
  • 5named peaksProfitis Illas, Mesa Vouno, Kokkino Vouno and 2 more
  • 3volcanoesMavro Vouno
  • 7castles and fortsAkrotiri Castle, Castle of Skaros, Citadel of Oia and 4 more
  • 12ruins and archaeological sitesSkaros, Sanctuary of Artemidoros, Sanctuary of Aphrodite and 9 more
  • 3dive centresNavy's Waterworld Diving Center, Caldera Dive, Mediterranean Dive Club
  • 19waymarked walking routesSantorini Trail 01 - Pyrgos - Prophet Elias Monastery - Ancient Thera, Santorini Trail 02 - Mesa Gonia - Pyrgos - Emporio, Santorini Trail 03 - Perissa - Ancient Thera - Kamari and 16 more
  • 1campsitesSantorini Camping
  • 410hotels, guesthouses and apartments
  • 437restaurants, 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

Santorini in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Santorini, each with its own numbers.

  • 18beaches and covesCoastya
  • Beach with the warmest sea

    24.4°C

    Kántharos

    sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

18 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

  1. Kántharos24.4°C
  2. Arméni24.4°C
  3. Xiropígado24.4°C
  4. Gialós Karterádou24.4°C
  5. Períssa24.4°C
  6. Almyrá24.4°C
  7. Monólithos24.4°C
  8. Paralía Vourvoúlos24.4°C

10 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 110 m above the sea. 84 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 31 %0–50 m
  • 53 %50–200 m
  • 16 %200–500 m
  • <1 %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.

Santorini76 km²
Manhattan54 km²
Malta247 km²

10 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Towns on the island

  • Emporeío3,704 people
  • Firá2,376 people
  • Mesariá1,233 people
  • Oía1,087 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)151516182125272725221916
Night low (°C)131314151822242423201714
Sea (°C)161616171922242424222018
Rain (mm)968144261952218446487
Wet days131185310026913
Sun h/day4.24.97.18.910.612.512.611.69.87.45.53.9
Wind (km/h)262624211819232321212225

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020+0.3+0.4+0.3+0.3+0.8±0.0+0.1+0.4+1.5+1.9+1.0+0.9
2021+1.4+1.1+0.9+0.8+0.8+0.8+0.8+0.8+0.3−0.1+0.5+0.4
2022+1.0+0.7+0.6+0.2+0.5±0.0−0.8+0.1+0.6−0.9−0.5+0.6
2023+1.5+0.4+0.5+0.4−0.5−0.5+1.0+1.7+1.4+1.3+2.2+1.9
2024+1.9+1.0+1.1+1.1+0.3+0.8+1.0+1.5+1.4+0.9+0.7+1.2
2025+1.5+1.3+0.8+0.3+0.4−0.2+0.8+0.8+0.3+0.3+1.4+1.3

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Crater rim - Fira - Santorini - Greece - 10
Norbert Nagel · CC BY-SA 3.0
Building at the crater rim near Athinios port - Santorini - Greece
Norbert Nagel · CC BY-SA 3.0
Santorini lighthouse, Greece 001
Moonik · CC BY-SA 3.0
Panoramic view of Oia, Santorini island (Thira), Greece
Mstyslav Chernov · CC BY-SA 3.0

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q129296) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsCoastya — 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.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit