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Visitor Information
Come and discover our island
We are pleased to provide some information for anyone considering visiting St. Helena, one of the world's most remote inhabited islands. You may also be interested in our ‘Pictures’ page and our detailed features. And if the only thing you know about St. Helena is that Napoleon Bonaparte died here, you may be interested to read some fascinating facts about him. Click here if you fancy a walk.
Skip to: Where is St. Helena? How to get here Weather and Travel Advice A souvenir of your visit St. Helena Place-Name Puzzle Learn about St. Helena Money More Detail Official Tourist Brochures A longer stay?
Where is St. Helena?
15°58‘48"S 5°45‘0"W
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How to get here
Come here on your yacht, or travel on the RMS St. Helena, seen below in James Bay
(Read more on our ‘The RMS St. Helena’ page; for bookings see the RMS St. Helena website)
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Weather and Travel Advice
How about St. Helena at Christmas?
The weather on St. Helena is one of the island's more unusual features. It can be sunny and calm in one place, and wet and windy only a few miles away. There's time zone and weather information here and the site indexed below gives a general island view.
Remember also that St. Helena is in the Southern Hemisphere, so our summer runs from (roughly) November through to May. Click here for the current RMS Schedule & Fares
Travel advice for St. Helena is available from various sources:
If travelling on the RMS St. Helena further advice applies in relation to your journey.
The St. Helena Government also provides information on local medical facilities and insurance requirements
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A souvenir of your visit
You can buy attractive souvenirs of your visit at the 
Moonbeams shop in Jamestown.
And if you've taken so many photos your camera's memory card is getting full you can have your photos transferred to a CD or DVD, to make room for more - just ask in the shop for details.
St. Helena Place-Name PuzzleWhile you are here you could try to find out why some of the island's places have the names they do. At first sight some of the names seem quite illogical{1}. For example:
Maybe the answer can be found at the Tourist Office . . . and maybe that's why they say this is the "most extraordinary place on earth". | Learn about St. HelenaTo learn about St. Helena probably the best place to start is the Wikipedia article on St. Helena. You could also usefully read the "Homepage of Saint Helena" which is full of intereting and useful information on many topics and some fascinating old photos. There are also more useful links on our ‘Related Sites’ page. And don't forget our slide show ‘Images of St. Helena’.
"The world was not left to us by our parents, Money
The local currency in St. Helena is the Saint Helena Pound (SHP) which is linked at parity to the British Pound (Sterling; GBP). Notes and coins are similar in denomination and appearance to their UK counterparts. Banking services on St. Helena are provided by the Bank of St. Helena from whom further information may be obtained. A currency converter is available from XE.com. |
More Detail
As if being a beautiful sub-tropical island paradise is not enough, St. Helena has many interesting aspects. Some of them are mentioned here. If there is something about St. Helena that we have not covered please contact us and we'll try to add it in.
Click on the links to learn more about each subject . . .
Skip to: Diving Island Donkeys Jacob’s Ladder Jonathan the tortoise Napoleon Bonaparte Photography The RMS St. Helena ‘Seabirds’ Walking St. Helena The Wirebird Yachting
| DivingFor old wrecks . . . and anyone else. |
| Island DonkeysFormerly the backbone of St. Helena transport |
| Jacob’s LadderStairway to heaven? |
| Jonathan the tortoiseThe world’s oldest resident? |
| Napoleon BonaparteSome things you maybe don’t know about him |
| PhotographyLeave only footprints; take only photographs |
| The RMS St. HelenaThe last operating Royal Mail Ship |
| ‘Seabirds’‘Gygis alba’ to be precise |
| Walking St. HelenaWell off the beaten track |
| The WirebirdBird on a wire? |
| YachtingA convenient stopover in the South Atlantic |
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Official Tourist Brochures
The 2011 tourism brochures can be downloaded from here:
Incidentally, the ‘Jamestown at Night’ photo on p14 of the Visitor Guide includes the Moonbeams Shop, as shown here:
A longer stay?
 | Think you might want to stay here permanently? The island is idyllic, the people are friendly, there are no snakes; what more could you want? Before you sell up, read the book Curious Little World - A Self-Imposed Exile on St. Helena Island, by Rex Bartlett. As Rex writes, "You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll be glad it's not you. And you'll wish it was." |
{1} though since we first published this, a theory has been offered to us. It goes like this: Most St. Helenians have nicknames, and often these are deliberately contradictory. ‘Polar Bear’ is a chap with very dark skin. So is ‘Seabird’. So maybe these place names are intentionally the opposite of the true description. Perhaps Barren Ground is so named because it is so fertile. If you can verify this, or have another theory, please contact us.