Sal is where most visitors land, and Santa Maria is the reason. Eight kilometres of white sand, turquoise water, and the kind of steady breeze that makes Sal one of the world's top kitesurfing and windsurfing destinations. Ponta Preta, just west of town, is the wave spot—a beach with dark golden sand and a ferocious Atlantic swell.
The town itself is relaxed—restaurants, bars, boat excursions. In the salt flats east of Santa Maria, you can float in the natural pools and spot flamingos on the lake. Day trips take you to see baby lemon sharks in the warm shallows.
Boa Vista, 40 minutes north by air, is a different world. Low, flat, and almost empty. Santa Monica Beach stretches 18 kilometres of golden sand without a soul in sight. The Viana desert dunes pile up to 50 metres high. Loggerhead turtles nest on the beaches from June to October.
Get around Boa Vista by 4x4—that's the only way to reach the wild strands. The capital Sal Rei has a small, pleasant square and a growing restaurant scene. Both islands suit people who want uncomplicated sunshine.
Best time: December to April for dry, sunny weather and ideal watersport conditions. Temperatures stay between 24 and 28°C year-round.
Santo Antão has no airport. You take a ferry from Mindelo on São Vicente—45 minutes across a stretch of open Atlantic that can be rough. Once you dock at Porto Novo, the landscape changes completely. Ribeira Grande. Terraced valleys. Banana palms and sugar cane climbing volcanic ridges. The air smells green.
The classic walk descends from the Cova crater—a dramatic caldera now planted with crops—down through the Paul valley to the sea. Five hours. You pass stone villages, farmers carrying firewood, children walking to school on paths that have been here for centuries.
The north coast trail along Ponta do Sol is different—exposed, wind-battered, dramatic. Cliffs drop into the Atlantic. The path clings to the edge. It's one of the most spectacular coastal walks in the Atlantic islands.
Stay in Ribeira Grande or Ponta do Sol. Local guesthouses are simple and inexpensive. The pace slows here. Grogue (Cape Verdean sugarcane spirit) is distilled on the island and poured freely. This is the Cabo Verde most tourists never see.
Hiking season runs October to May. The north coast can be walked year-round, though the summer wet season (July to September) brings lush green valleys and cheaper prices.
Fogo means fire. The island is a single active volcano rising from the ocean: Pico do Fogo, 2,829 metres, the highest point in Cabo Verde. You can see it from the plane as you approach—a perfect cone with a ragged summit.
Inside the crater rim sits Cha das Caldeiras, a village of a few hundred people living on black lava fields surrounded by volcanic walls. They grow wine grapes here—the volcanic soil produces an unusually good red. Fogo wine is sold throughout the islands and exported.
The summit climb takes four to five hours round trip. You start before dawn from Cha das Caldeiras, scramble up loose cinder slopes, and reach the top as the sun comes up over the Atlantic. The view covers the entire archipelago on a clear day.
São Filipe, the island's capital, is one of Cabo Verde's most beautiful towns—Portuguese colonial architecture, cobbled streets, and a cliff-edge lookout above the beach. Stay there and make day trips into the crater.
São Vicente's capital Mindelo is Cabo Verde's cultural heart. Built around a deep natural harbour, it was a major Atlantic coaling station in the 19th century. British and Portuguese influence left behind wide avenues, a market hall that looks like a scaled-down version of Lisbon's, and a cosmopolitan population.
Cesaria Evora was born here. The late singer—known as the Barefoot Diva—brought morna to the world. Morna is Cabo Verde's defining musical form: slow, melancholic, played on guitar and violin, sung in Creole. UNESCO listed it as intangible cultural heritage in 2019. You'll hear it live in bars and restaurants throughout Mindelo on any given evening.
Carnival in Mindelo (February) is the best in Africa after Rio and Trinidad, according to those who've been to all three. Weeks of costumes, parades, samba and funaná. The whole island dances. Book accommodation months in advance.
Day trips from Mindelo go to Baia das Gatas—a natural swimming pool formed by volcanic rock, popular for a summer music festival—and Monte Verde, the island's highest point with views across to Santo Antão on clear days.
Sodade is a Cape Verdean concept: the longing to leave and the longing to return, at the same time. It's in the music. You'll understand it better when you're home and already planning to go back.