Local currency is the St Helena Pound (£) which is on parity with the Pound Sterling (£).
The island’s Bank accepts St Helena Pound, Great British Pound, South African Rand (notes only), United States Dollar (notes only) and Euro (notes only). It is recommended if travelling with cash to arrive with Pound Sterling.
Personal bank cards are only accepted at a small number of locations along with a Cash Advance Service with the Bank of St Helena. There are no ATMs on the Island. Cards accepted at the Bank of St Helena (local bank) are VISA, VISA Debit, Mastercard and Maestro.
Bank of St Helena offers a Virtual Prepaid GBP Cash Card called the Tourist Card that allows visitors to tap into the local card services on Ascension Island (known locally as St Helena Pay). The Tourist Card is available on a mobile device and topped up using a personal card (e.g. Visa). When you depart, the remaining balance can be unloaded back to your personal card. See this news item for more details.
Due to the internet limitations on the Island, it is recommended to register and load the card and download the App before travelling.
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We just visited Ascension – five yachts – and for all of us it was an absolute highlight of the Atlantic. It’s an incredible island and not to be missed. The walks on Green Mountain are easy and nothing less than spectacular- Elliot’s and Dew Pond are absolute must do’s. Also Mars Bay, sooty tern bird colony, and Comfortless Cove (take your dinghy over) and the unusual cemetery behind Comfortless Cove – not to be missed.
You can hire cars – arrange with Kitty at the Harbour Master’s office ahead of time. (I don’t have her email on me but get it from Immigration at St Helena if you can’t find it) You MUST now apply ahead of time for a visa – it’s online and not difficult! The websites give confusing info on this but you do need to apply ahead.
The anchorage can be a bit rolly but we had no problem at all. It’s an awesome anchorage in the turtle season – they will be all around your boat along with the fish. Provisioning is also quite good here – plenty of cheese, bread, frozen goods – short on fresh food but have frozen berries etc. Anyway its better than St Helena in our opinion.
Finally – the people are awesome. Welcoming and beyond friendly. And it’s always pleasant to be in a place where there’s no such thing as theft or locking up required etc. Cannot recommend Ascension enough!!!
We anchored of Ascension to in Sept 2017. The hotel had closed, there were no cars for hire, the transport was limited to a bus at weekends on a fixed route, the one saving grace was the supermarket (operated by a Falklands company) it was great! We were also trapped onboard due to very large swells making the landing unsafe. Eventually realised our anchor had fouled and due to the diving ban no one was allowed to help us. The whole island is really a large semi military – communications centre in a geographically strategic location. The people were were very nice but nothing goes on here!!! Best bypass enroute to Brazil or the Caribbean
After a short 7 day sail up from St Helena, we arrived at Ascension. We had pre-applied for permits to visit as this is basically a joint military base for the British and American forces and part of the British Overseas Territories.
Once we arrived and set our anchors, we had to wait 4 days for the swell to calm down before we could get to land. The pier landing is small and fairly dangerous when there is a swell and currents – never mind the Galapagos sharks that always seen to lurk around the landing.
Link to attacks http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/27/second-shark-attack-three-months-ascension-island
The volcanic landscape is a sight to see as well as the area up at the higher altitudes of Green Mountain. We hired a car from the Obsidian Hotel (but see notes below) to do a day’s sightseeing and lunch at the Two Boats club.
Friends of ours also sailed to Ascension in September 2017 and they said that they would probably be the last tourists that are allowed to come to the island as it was “closing down” …. No more cars or accommodation & meals at the hotel etc. Will have wait for a more complete update on the situation and hopefully their official website information is also updated.
For information on visiting Ascension Island please contact the Ascension Island Tourist Information Office on tourism@ascension.gov.ac they will be able to provide information on entry permits, light dues, services and facilities, car hire, tours and much much more.
Further information also available on the website http://www.ascension-island.gov.ac and the facebook page http://www.facebook.com/Ascension-island-tourism