Africa · Beach and resort guide
Winter sun, wide beaches and large resorts with a deliberately slow pace.
Is it right for you?
A strong fit for
Resort relaxation, families and value-led winter sun.
We would think twice for
Travellers who want sightseeing, lush scenery or a town to explore, because Sal and Boa Vista are desert islands with beaches, and the holiday lives almost entirely inside the resort.
What we would want you to know
Wind and limited life outside some resorts should be understood.
Our research-led view
We have not stayed in Cape Verde, so our view of Sal and Boa Vista is built from research and the enquiries we handle. We use it to settle one question for each client: would these windswept desert islands suit them better than the Canaries or the Red Sea for the same winter week?
We have not been here ourselves yet and will never pretend otherwise. This advice comes from the operator, mapping, hotel and transfer research we do for real enquiries.
Map and areas
Sal's southern tip, where a small town of bars, restaurants and craft shops sits beside a long white beach and a fishing pier. Most hotels line the sand on either side, and those closest to town let you walk out for dinner. It is also the islands' kitesurfing centre, which tells you about the wind, and souvenir sellers on the beach can be persistent.
A quiet bay on Sal's west coast, out of the prevailing wind, with a low-key holiday village rather than big resorts and calm, clear water for swimming. It suits independent couples and families happy to take a taxi or hire car into Santa Maria for evenings out. There is nothing to walk to, and shops are limited.
Boa Vista's small capital: a square with a church and cafés, a harbour where the fishing and whale-watching boats leave, and the sheltered Estoril beach with its kitesurfing schools. Hotels in town are small and simple, which suits independent travellers more than families wanting a big pool. Most of the island's large resorts are a taxi ride away along the coast.
A long, dune-backed beach south of Sal Rei, where several of the island's big all-inclusive resorts stand on their own. Walks along the sand go on for miles and the sun sets over the sea, but the Atlantic here can be rough, with strong currents on windy days. Evenings stay in the resort, as there is nothing nearby.
The port city of São Vicente, with pastel colonial buildings, a crescent harbour, a strong live music scene and the ferry to Santo Antão's mountains. It is for travellers who want Cape Verdean life rather than a resort, usually as part of an island-hopping trip. The town beach is modest, and getting here from Sal or Boa Vista adds an inter-island connection and most of a day.
Weather and seasons
Cape Verde's calendar is set by the trade wind. From about December to May it blows hard and steadily, which keeps February's 25°C comfortable and delights kitesurfers, but whips sand across exposed beaches and makes water at around 22°C feel cooler still. Winter can also bring a dusty haze off the Sahara that softens the sun for days at a time. The wind eases in summer, when loggerhead turtles come ashore to nest, and by September highs reach around 31°C, and the Atlantic warms to about 27°C by October. Late summer is the short rainy season, though on Sal even September's rain usually comes in a few heavy bursts rather than wet days. Prices peak over Christmas and in the February half term week.
Worth timing a trip around
Mindelo stages the biggest parades, with costumed groups and floats built over months, while Sal Rei and Santa Maria hold smaller, friendlier versions on the same days.
Several nights of music from Cape Verde, Africa and beyond in the capital, Praia, on Santiago. Worth building into an island-hopping trip.
Cape Verde marks its independence from Portugal in 1975 with parades, music and flags across the islands, and local families head for the beaches.
A beach music festival at Baía das Gatas, near Mindelo, drawing crowds from across the islands and the diaspora. Rooms in Mindelo book up well ahead.
| Month | High | Low | Sea | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°C | 19°C | 23°C | 0 mm |
| February | 25°C | 18°C | 22°C | 0 mm |
| March | 26°C | 18°C | 22°C | 0 mm |
| April | 26°C | 19°C | 22°C | 0 mm |
| May | 27°C | 20°C | 23°C | 0 mm |
| June | 28°C | 21°C | 23°C | 0 mm |
| July | 29°C | 23°C | 24°C | 0 mm |
| August | 30°C | 24°C | 26°C | 6 mm |
| September | 31°C | 24°C | 27°C | 69 mm |
| October | 31°C | 24°C | 27°C | 8 mm |
| November | 29°C | 22°C | 26°C | 2 mm |
| December | 27°C | 20°C | 24°C | 0 mm |
Temperatures are 2015 to 2024 averages from NOAA records for Amilcar Cabral Intl, 17 km away at 54 m. Rainfall is from the GPCC rain-gauge analysis (Deutscher Wetterdienst) for 2010 to 2019 and shows the typical (median) month, so one freak storm does not skew it. Sea temperatures: NOAA OISST, 1991 to 2020.
Sand, shingle and swimming
Soft pale sand running for kilometres from the town, shelving gently, with a wooden pier at the centre where fishermen land their catch. The sea is usually swimmable, although the wind can make it choppy, and most loungers belong to the hotels.
A wild beach west of Santa Maria where big Atlantic waves draw experienced surfers and kitesurfers. Currents are strong, so come to watch rather than swim.
A sweep of pale sand backed by high dunes and the ruined chimney of an old brickworks. Beautiful and uncrowded, but exposed, so swim only where the flags say it is safe.
Boa Vista's long, empty southern beach of powdery sand, reached by 4x4 or on a quad trip. There are no facilities and the surf can be powerful, so it is for walking and photographs rather than swimming.
The town beach at Sal Rei, partly sheltered by the islet offshore, with shallow water and kite schools at one end. A good place for a swim and lunch on a day exploring the town.
Things to do
Salt pans inside an extinct volcanic crater, reached through a tunnel in the crater wall, where the brine is so dense you float without trying. Avoid shaving beforehand, keep the water out of your eyes, and use the showers afterwards.
A natural rock pool on Sal's rugged north-west coast, beside a cave where sunlight turns the water electric blue. The effect is strongest around midday in sunshine, and waves can wash over the rocks, so stay back when the sea is up.
Young lemon sharks, harmless to people, gather in the shallows of this bay on Sal's east coast, and you can wade out knee-deep to watch them glide past. Wear water shoes, keep still and never touch them.
From about July to October loggerhead turtles come ashore on Sal and Boa Vista to lay their eggs, and the hatchlings follow later in the season. Join a licensed guided walk, because torches, flash photography and wandering the beaches at night disturb them.
Humpback whales come to breed off Boa Vista from about March to May, and boats leave Sal Rei harbour in the mornings, when the sea is calmer. Sightings are likely rather than guaranteed, and the swell can be lively, so take seasickness tablets.
Santa Maria's Kite Beach and Sal Rei have schools for every level, and the steady winter wind makes learning quicker than on gustier coasts. Book a block of lessons early in the holiday, in case a calm day intervenes.
A sea of pale dunes in the middle of Boa Vista, crossed on quad and 4x4 trips that often carry on to the rusting wreck of the Cabo Santa Maria on the north coast. Go early or late, when the sand is cooler and the light softer.
Evenings of morna and coladeira in the bars and restaurants of Mindelo, the home town of the singer Cesária Évora. Music starts late and runs on, especially at weekends.
A ferry from Mindelo crosses to Santo Antão, whose green valleys, terraced fields and cobbled cliff-edge roads are the walking highlight of the islands. The crossing can be rough, and two nights let you walk a valley such as Paul without watching the clock.
Towards lunchtime the boats come in and tuna and wahoo are cleaned and sold on the jetty. It is the liveliest scene in town, and the light is best for photographs in the late morning.
Food and drink
The national dish: hominy maize slow-cooked with beans, vegetables and fish or meat. Leftovers are fried for breakfast as cachupa refogada, topped with an egg and sausage.
Grogue is a fiery sugar-cane spirit from small stills, the best of it from Santo Antão. Ponche, sweetened with molasses or honey, is the gentler version.
Crisp pastries of maize and sweet potato dough stuffed with spiced tuna, whose name means pastry with the devil inside.
Red and white wines from vines grown inside the volcanic crater of Chã das Caldeiras on Fogo, found in the better restaurants across the islands.
Fresh white goat's cheese served with sweet papaya jam, the classic Cape Verdean dessert.
Tuna, wahoo and grouper landed that morning and grilled simply, the thing to order in Santa Maria's restaurants.
Money
Most Cape Verde holidays are sold all inclusive, and away from Santa Maria that is usually the sensible choice, because there is little outside the hotel gates to spend money on. The price moves with the hotel's position on the beach and with how well its pools and gardens are sheltered from the wind, both worth paying extra for in winter. Set money aside for kitesurfing lessons, a guided turtle night in season or a whale trip in spring.
Flights and transfers
Direct flights run from Manchester and London to Sal and Boa Vista in around six hours: further than the Canaries, closer than the Caribbean, and that is exactly the niche the islands fill.
Flights from UK airports
Route check September 2026. Some routes are seasonal and schedules change, so we confirm the live options when we quote.
Practical details
1 hour behind the UK in winter, 2 hours in summer
Cape Verdean escudo (CVE), pegged to the euro; euros are widely accepted on Sal and Boa Vista
Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole (Kriolu); English is spoken in the resorts
Type C and F, 220V
On the right
Desalinated but not recommended for drinking; use bottled water
Not expected; around 10 percent in restaurants, and small tips for guides and drivers are welcome
Entry for British passport holders
Visa. No visa needed for stays of up to 30 days, but you must pre-register and pay the airport security fee online before you travel.
Passport. Valid for at least 6 months after you arrive.
Summarised from the FCDO travel advice on gov.uk, checked 29 September 2026. Rules change: read the current entry requirements and the full travel advice before you go.
Questions we get asked
For some people, yes, especially from December to May, when the trade wind blows most days on Sal and Boa Vista. It keeps the heat comfortable, but it can sandblast exposed beaches and chill you after a swim. Hotels with sheltered pools and gardens make a big difference, and from June to October the wind is much lighter.
Choose Sal for a town to walk into, more restaurants and easy outings such as the salt crater, with Santa Maria at its heart. Choose Boa Vista for wilder, emptier beaches, big self-contained resorts and turtles in season, accepting that there is little to do beyond the hotel. Both are flat, dry and windy.
In places. Santa Maria's bay and Sal Rei's Estoril beach are usually gentle, but much of the coast faces the open Atlantic, with big waves and strong currents, and many beaches have no lifeguards. Swim where your hotel or a flag says it is safe. The water is refreshing in winter, at around 22°C.
Loggerhead turtles nest from about July to October, and the hatchlings emerge from roughly September to November. Boa Vista hosts one of the Atlantic's major nesting populations, and Sal has nesting beaches close to the resorts. Only go out with a licensed guide, who will know which beaches are open at night.
A little, and it is worth doing. On Sal there are the salt pools at Pedra de Lume, the Blue Eye at Buracona and the lemon sharks in Shark Bay, plus Santa Maria's bars. Boa Vista offers quad trips into the Viana Desert, whale boats in spring and turtle walks in summer. The greener, more cultural islands need an inter-island connection.
About 6 hours from Newcastle, which is longer than the Canaries and far shorter than the Caribbean. The islands are one hour behind the UK in winter and two in summer, so your body clock barely notices the change.
Photographs
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