Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
180km²
Area
76km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
459m
Highest point
25,936
People
29°C
Warmest sea
September
837km
To the mainland
When to go to Tortuga
Best for the beach from January to April and in July.
The sea is warmest in September (29 °C) and coolest in February (26 °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.
Caribbean island that forms part of Haiti
Tortuga is an island in Haiti. It covers 180 km², with 76 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 459 m. About 25,936 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 837 km away.
Getting there
- Cap Haitien International Airport (CAP)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 71 km in a straight lineCar hire at CAP airport (Cap Haitien)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 837 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to April and Julybest 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 Tortuga.
- 2named peaksMorne Baranque, Morne Monge
- 2ruins and archaeological sitesFort de Rocher
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
Tortuga in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Tortuga, each with its own numbers.
2beaches and covesCoastya
3mountainsPeakyas
Beach with the warmest sea
29.3°C
Anse Manchette
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 134 m above the sea. 72 % of it is below 200 m.
- 26 %0–50 m
- 46 %50–200 m
- 28 %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).
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 26 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 |
| Night low (°C) | 24 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 25 |
| Sea (°C) | 27 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 |
| Rain (mm) | 43 | 25 | 33 | 37 | 69 | 49 | 39 | 55 | 74 | 96 | 88 | 46 |
| Wet days | 8 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 10 |
| Sun h/day | 7.3 | 8.5 | 9.0 | 9.4 | 8.9 | 9.4 | 10.0 | 9.6 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 7.1 | 7.4 |
| Wind (km/h) | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 20 | 24 | 22 | 17 | 18 | 21 | 23 |
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 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.2 | +0.7 | +1.0 | +0.3 | +0.7 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.3 |
| 2021 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | +0.3 | −0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.9 | +0.8 |
| 2022 | +1.0 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.5 |
| 2023 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +1.3 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +1.1 | +1.3 | +0.9 | +0.7 |
| 2024 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +1.2 | +0.5 | +0.7 |
| 2025 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.4 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +1.0 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Gonâve Island
Haiti684 km²765 m138 km away
Inagua
Bahamas1,679 km²33 m126 km away
Hispaniola
Dominican Republic76,420 km²3,101 m220 km away
Providenciales
United Kingdom116 km²49 m201 km away
West Caicos
Turks and Caicos Islands23 km²18 m184 km away
Ambergris CayTurks and Caicos Islands4.6 km²1 m185 km away
Île à VacheHaiti46 km²43 m236 km away
Grand TurkUnited Kingdom18 km²24 m234 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q208345) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | Natural Earth · public domain |
| 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.
The family
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