About St Helena
With its uniquely rich diversity of heritage-based attractions, both built and natural, St Helena offers many things to see and lots to do — from visiting the Georgian town to the rugged coastline, from the rolling hills to the stark yet striking geology at Sandy Bay. That’s the thing about this destination…there’s so much more to the island than you may think. St Helena is home to the most varied heritage and nature, breathtaking views from the highest peaks, inviting waters, and 100% quaintness. We beckon you to a true discovery.
St Helena Island is situated in the South Atlantic Ocean, at 15° 56′ south and 5° 45′ west. The nearest land is Ascension Island, which is 703 miles (1,125km) to the North West. It is 1 200 miles (1 950km) from the South-West coast of Africa and 1 800 miles (2 900km) from the coast of South America. A 47 square mile Island, it is one of the remotest settled islands in the world. A sub-tropical paradise, it is also one of the most spectacular as far as contrast goes.
The climate of St Helena is controlled by the South Atlantic High Pressure Cell and the Equatorial Trough. Despite the Island’s locality within the tropics, its climate is kept mild and equable by the South East Trade Winds. The trade winds blow from high to low almost continuously, making our weather so changeable, a dull rainy morning can often lead onto a bright sunny afternoon. The four seasons are not recognised on St Helena, as there are no drastic weather patterns.
St Helena has a small population, mainly descended from people from Europe (mostly planters, government employees and ex-soldiers serving in the local St Helena Regiment), Chinese and slaves (mostly from Madagascar and Asia, only a few coming from Africa from 1840 onward). The estimated population of St Helena at the end of 2016 was 4550. St Helenians, also known as “Saints”, are known for their friendliness – everyone waves and greets each other, even to passing cars.
There are many traditions on St Helena. St Helena’s Day, is celebrated on 21st May. It was on this day in 1502 that the Island was discovered and so-named as it was the birthday of Saint Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. Festive seasons such as Christmas and Easter are celebrated in a very unique way. The traditional Christmas day lunch/dinner is a day long event with some households participating in a traditional ‘house crawl’ where groups of friends and family visit each other’s homes to wish them a Merry Christmas and to have few laughs, drinks and maybe sing a song or two…so expect to hear a lot of merry-making in Jamestown on this day.
USEFUL INFORMATION
All visitors must have valid passports (for at least 6 months after the intended travel date) along with return tickets and pre-booked accommodation. A fee of £20.00 is payable for all visitors over 12 years of age when arriving at St Helena.
All visitors must have valid medical insurance for at least £175,000 which includes aeromedical evacuation or other means to pay for treatment to cover themselves for the duration of their stay, proof of which must be produced on arrival.
If visitors wish to stay for more than 90 days they must apply for a residence permit, which can be issued for up to a period of 2 years.
For further information please visit the St Helena Immigration website
St Helena has limited international card acceptance services for cards such as VISA and Mastercard outside of cash advances at the local bank (fees apply). There aren’t any ATM’s on-island. Bank of St Helena’s Tourist Card is a Virtual Prepaid GBP Cash Card that will allow you to use a virtual bank card available on your mobile device and make payments on-island using the local card payment system called St Helena Pay. For more information and to apply for a Tourist Card, visit the Bank’s official website here
Banking services are provided by the Bank of St Helena with the main bank being located in Jamestown and smaller Kiosks at the airport and Jamestown wharf. The on island currency is the St Helena pound however sterling is also accepted.
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