Local Info - Cape Verde

Most visitors come to Cape Verde to enjoy a tranquil, relaxing break in the tropical sun or to participate in a growing number of land-based and certainly water-based sporting activities.

And, of course, while you’re here, you’re going to want to go island hopping… at least to some of the other islands. So why not join us on now a quick-fire tour of a few of the areas to give you a feel for the variety of the region?

Let’s take the trip, starting with Sal, where our beautiful developments are…

Sal
Boa Vista
Brava
Fogo
Maio
Santo Antão
Santa Luzia
Santiago
São Nicolau
São Vicente

Sal

Sal is Cape Verde’s main tourism destination. The town of Santa Maria is the main tourist resort and centre of activity. Although it’s still very early days for Santa Maria and the whole of Sal, there’s plenty to entertain you.

Caribbean charm, just a few hours away...

Miles of beautiful sandy beaches and pristine waters make the island a water-sport paradise, attracting many enthusiasts. There are plenty of hotels, bars and restaurants offering a range of facilities. You’ll find some excellent bars and restaurants in Santa Maria and the town square is often full of musicians playing typical Cape Verde music for your entertainment.

Palmeira is Sal’s main port and is a fully working fishing harbour. It’s currently undergoing a makeover to bring its facilities up to “tourist status”. When it’s ready, it will no doubt be renamed Palmeira “Marina”.

Minimal rainfall

Once you leave the resort areas, Sal’s landscape is fairly flat and the lack of mountains means that there’s very little rainfall on the island. If you’re thinking of taking a trip through the island, be sure to visit the salt lake at Pedra de Lume where salt was the main resource of the island for many years. And where the island's name came from.

Take a trip to the volcano crater too, but don’t worry - the volcano is no longer active! Sal is the oldest island in the group, formed about 50 million years ago in a volcanic eruption.

The international airport on Sal is just 15 minutes from Santa Maria and very close to Espargos, a small town with a selection of bars restaurants and shops and of course, more live music.

Crystal clear seas, powder white beaches

Beautiful, crystal clear seas and white sand beaches will probably be your enduring memory of Sal. With the widest range of facilities, a lively nightlife and international flights as well as access to the other islands, it’s a very popular choice for visitors.

Boa Vista

Glorious white sand – miles and miles of it (about 35 miles/55km). The enormous, dazzling beaches will take your breath away… and so might the whales or loggerhead turtles if you are lucky enough to see them!

It’s the easternmost of the Cape Verde islands (450 km to Africa) and with a population of a little over 3,000, it's the least densely populated of all the inhabited islands.

Brava

Lying west of the island of Fogo, and in the lee of the huge Fogo volcano, this tiny island is rich in flora and fauna. Soaring mountains and deep valleys provide stunning sights.

First populated in the 1500s, its population increased in 1675 when its neighbour, Fogo, erupted. Brava is the only inhabited island in the archipelago with no airport.

Originally, its industry focused on whaling but these days it concentrates on agriculture.

Fogo

It’s an island of contrasts. Black sands and even blacker rocks will perhaps remind you of, say the lunar landscape of Tenerife.

Yet, because Fogo receives a reasonable amount of rainfall, you’ll also find lush, tropical vegetation, too.

Visit São Filipe, the capital, and you’ll find colonial-style, pastel-painted buildings with terracotta roofs which are nothing like you’ll find elsewhere on the island.

And then it’s up to Pico de Fogo – 2,829 metres (over 9,000 feet) above sea level. This still-smoking volcano looks down on the wispy clouds and the vineyards below which produce the Fogo Manecome wine.

Try any of the red, white or rosé variants… but don’t touch the brown stuff that’s also available. You’ll probably find it undrinkable!

Maio

A small island with only about 5,500 inhabitants. Both the north and southern shores are covered with white sandy beaches. Tourists have hardly made it here and it’s still quite wild and basic.

Hire a car and you can see the whole island in a day. You won’t have explored every nook and cranny, of course but you’ll have a good feel for the place.

Santo Antão

Santo Antão -or Saint Anthony – is probably the greenest island in the archipelago. It’s also the westernmost and the second largest of all the islands and the largest of the windward islands.

The island is divided north to south by a long mountain range which, in earlier days, was thought to be impenetrable. However, there’s now a road linking the two halves.

Try it, it’s an exhilarating trip. You’ll see dwellings clinging to the side of sheer (and we mean sheer) cliffs and workers taking care of their produce on inaccessible-looking terraces.

At Ribeira Grande in the north is the islands airport and at Porto Novo, in the south, is the island’s ferry port.

Make sure you try the local rum or grog.

Santa Luzia

Uninhabited Santa Luiza is the archipelago’s smallest island – located between São Nicolau and São Vicente and just about 35 km² in area.

The northern coast is rugged and wild but the south has idyllic, deserted beaches. Although it was once inhabited, the only obvious sign of modern times is the meteorology station.

Santiago

Located between the islands of Maio and Fogo, Saint James (Santiago) has a green and mountainous interior bordered by beautiful, sandy beaches. About fifty percent of Cape Verde’s population live here - it’s also the largest of the Cape Verde islands.

As the first of the islands to be settled, it has a very rich and interesting history. Cidade Velha (Old City) was founded as Cape Verde’s original capital in 1462.

Cidade Velha was an important trading post – handling thousands of slaves from Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone who were shipped to the Caribbean or Brazil.

Originally the island was simply called “large valley” - Ribeira Grande in Portuguese - and it was the valley itself which formed the prison for slaves in transit.

However, in the 1700s, slave trading was abolished when the island was plundered and the city destroyed by Frenchman Jacques Cassart. As a result, the capital was relocated to where it remains today - in Praia - about 15 km away.

Head up north and spend a day at Tarrafal. The mountain backdrop to the beach is striking and aside from taking in a few rays at the beach, you’ll be able to see the local fishermen bring in their catch of the day. You’ll enjoy it for sure.

Santiago’s main industries are tourism, fishing, a small amount of manufacturing and agriculture – maize, sugar, bananas, mangoes and coffee being the main crops.

São Nicolau

São Nicolau is a truly unspoiled island with very little tourism. It’s popular with walkers, naturalists and ornithologists. There are a range of historic buildings to see on the island, as well as the endangered fairytale Dragon tree.

São Vicente

Separated from Santo Antão and São Nicolau islands by the northwestern Saint Vincent Channel, São Vicente is the home to many Cape Verde writers, thinkers and musicians and considered to be the cultural centre of the islands.

Every year since the early 1980s the islanders hold a large music festival in August called the Baia das Gatas Music Festival. Its held under the full moon. Keep an eye out for the famous Cape Verdean singer everyone calls the “barefoot diva” – Cesaria Evora.

There’s an equally famous carnival, too – held in mid-February.

The main population is in the northern port town of Mindelo, well-known for its vibrant nightlife, also for live music and also for its charming architecture. The second most populous island (pop. 70,000), its main industries are tourism and fishing. It’s also the driest island and being one of the windward islands, is very popular with the surfing community.

São Vicent is roughly rectangular – about 24 kms across and about 16 km north to south – with mountains in the south, the southwest and west, part of the centre and also the north. Monte Verde, its highest point, is 725 metres above sea level. The remaining areas are essentially flat.