Boa Vista

Overview

Boa Vista is the easternmost island of Cape Verde and its third largest, a low plate of sand and rock covering about 631 km2, closer to the Sahara than any other island in the archipelago: the West African coast lies roughly 450 km away. The interior is desert. White dunes drift across the Deserto de Viana, date palms mark the few watercourses, and the highest point, Monte Estância, reaches only 387 m.

The coast is the draw. Long, mostly empty beaches run around the island, from the resort strips of Chaves and Cabral near Sal Rei to the wilder sweep of Praia de Santa Mónica in the southwest and the rusting hulk of the Cabo Santa Maria shipwreck on the north shore. Since the international airport opened in 2007, Boa Vista has grown alongside Sal into one of the two islands where Cape Verde’s package tourism concentrates, with all-inclusive hotels on the west coast and a population that rose from 9,162 at the 2010 census to 12,798 in 2021.

The same beaches that attract the hotels are among the most important loggerhead turtle nesting grounds in the world, and the shallow waters offshore are the only known breeding area of humpback whales in the eastern North Atlantic. Around 37 per cent of the island’s area is protected. How tourism and that wildlife coexist is the island’s defining question, and as a visitor you are part of the answer.

History & character

Portuguese navigators sighted Boa Vista in 1460, in the same wave of exploration credited to António de Noli and Diogo Gomes that brought the whole archipelago onto European charts. Permanent settlement came late: the first village, Povoação Velha, was established around 1620 to work the island’s salt.

Salt shaped everything that followed. The port town that grew up on the northwest coast in the late 1700s took the name Sal Rei, literally King Salt, and replaced the inland settlements as the island’s seat in 1820. Prosperity attracted trouble: pirates sacked the town in 1815 and again in 1817, after which the Portuguese built the Forte Duque de Bragança on the islet facing the harbour.

The island’s reefs and low profile made it a graveyard for shipping. The most visible reminder is recent: the Spanish freighter Cabo Santa Maria ran aground on the north coast on 1 September 1968, carrying, among machinery and provisions, four bronze bells cast for the new cathedral of Brasília. Its corroding hull on Praia de Atalanta became a visual symbol of Boa Vista, reproduced on postcards and book covers across Cape Verde.

For most of the twentieth century Boa Vista emptied out. Between 1940 and 2000 the population never exceeded about 4,200. Then the Aristides Pereira International Airport opened on 31 October 2007, resorts followed on the west coast beaches, and the census count jumped from 9,162 in 2010 to 12,798 in 2021, much of the growth from workers arriving from other islands.

That contrast, more than any single sight, is what a stay on Boa Vista feels like.

See & do

The desert and the beaches

The Deserto de Viana fills part of the island’s northwest, east of Sal Rei and Rabil: ridges of pale sand over dark volcanic rock, counted among the seven natural wonders of Cape Verde. Most visitors come on an organised 4x4 tour, but you can also arrange a taxi to the edge and walk in; early morning and late afternoon give the best light and bearable temperatures.

The beaches divide by coast. Praia de Chaves, about 5 km long and close to Rabil, carries the main resort development at its northern end and is the island’s principal surf spot; its southern reaches fall inside the Morro de Areia Nature Reserve. Praia de Santa Mónica in the southwest is the celebrated one: long, undeveloped and reached by rough track. On the north coast, Praia de Atalanta holds the Cabo Santa Maria shipwreck, the island’s most photographed object.

Wildlife

From June to October loggerhead turtles nest on around 35 km of monitored beaches, and guided night walks run in season; from roughly mid February to mid May humpback whales calve in the shallow waters offshore and boat trips go out to see them. Both are covered in detail in the nature section below.

Sal Rei and the islet

Sal Rei itself deserves half a day: the harbour, the market streets, the saltpans that named the town, and boat or board trips across to Ilhéu de Sal Rei, where the remains of the Forte Duque de Bragança stand open and free of charge.

Into the interior

A cobbled road nicknamed Route 66 crosses the arid middle of the island from Rabil to Fundo de Figueiras, passable with care in an ordinary car and the best way to see the palm groves, the eastern villages and the emptiness that defines Boa Vista. Walkers can climb Monte Estância (387 m), a flat-topped mountain in the southeast protected as a natural monument. Divers have an April to November season; in winter the sea is generally too rough.

Towns & cities

Sal Rei is the capital and the only town of any size, home to 9,610 of the island’s 12,798 people at the 2021 census. It has the port, the market, the ATMs and nearly all the independent restaurants and guesthouses; tourism outside the big resorts concentrates around Praia de Cabral.

Rabil, 6 km southeast of Sal Rei near the airport, is the second settlement and the island’s former capital, a quiet grid of low houses above the seasonal Lagoa do Rabil. Povoação Velha, in the southwest on the way to Santa Mónica, is the island’s oldest village, founded around 1620 when salt first brought settlers; today it is a handful of quiet streets, useful as a water stop on the way to the beach.

The east coast villages, Bofarreira, Fundo de Figueiras and their neighbours, see few visitors and reward the drive across Route 66 with palm groves and an older, slower Boa Vista. On the far south coast, Curral Velho is a deserted village beside an important seabird islet, reachable only by 4x4 track.

Food & drink

Eating on Boa Vista splits along the same line as everything else. Inside the all-inclusive resorts the buffets are international and self-contained. Outside them, the independent scene is concentrated in Sal Rei, where waterfront restaurants open in the evenings and beach bars around the bay generally close at sundown.

The honest local larder is short: fresh fish and seafood landed at Sal Rei, plus dates from the palm groves that have been farmed here alongside salt since settlement. As across Cape Verde, the standard plates are grilled catch of the day and cachupa, the national corn and bean stew. Nearly everything else is imported, so the usual brands of beer, wine and spirits are available but pricey, and menus at tourist restaurants often quote euros as readily as escudos. Tap water is desalinated and safe, though it tastes flat; most people drink bottled.

Nature

Loggerhead turtles

Boa Vista hosts one of the largest loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting populations in the world, and around two thirds of all nesting activity in Cape Verde happens on this one island. Thousands of females come ashore each season. Two conservation organisations anchor the protection work: the Turtle Foundation with its local sister Fundação Tartaruga, active since 2008, and BIOS Cabo Verde, which runs the monitoring camp at João Barrosa.

From June to October, rangers and volunteers patrol about 35 km of nesting beaches at night from camps in the north, northeast and south of the island, relocating threatened nests to a hatchery at Lacacão. The patrols work: on Porto Ferreira beach the number of turtles killed fell from 600 in 2007 to 60 in the first year of protection.

Humpback whales

The waters around Boa Vista are the only known breeding ground of humpback whales in the eastern North Atlantic. This population is classed as endangered, estimated at fewer than 300 to 400 individuals, which makes each sighting genuinely uncommon at a global scale. Whales are present from roughly mid February to mid May, with March to May the most reliable window for boat trips; BIOS Cabo Verde works with local operators to promote responsible watching practice.

Protected areas and birds

Some 37 per cent of Boa Vista is protected across 14 designated areas, including the Boa Esperança reserve behind the north coast (which takes in the Lagoa do Rabil and Praia de Atalanta), the Morro de Areia reserve in the southwest and the Monte Estância natural monument. The wetland at Curral Velho on the south coast is a designated Ramsar site, and the islet offshore is classed as an Important Bird Area.

The sea here is rich and fragile in equal measure: 24 cetacean species have been identified in Cape Verdean waters, and Boa Vista has recorded more than 50 strandings since 1999. In September 2019 a mass stranding near Bofarreira left 136 melon-headed whales dead, a reminder of how exposed this ecosystem is.

Climate

Boa Vista has a desert climate moderated by the ocean. The 1991 to 2020 monthly normals for the island show daytime highs from 24.1°C in February to 29.3°C in September, with nights between about 19°C and 24°C; the annual range is unusually narrow.

Rain is scarce and concentrated. The normals give roughly 105 mm a year, of which almost 90 mm falls in August, September and October (26.8 mm, 42.8 mm and 19.6 mm respectively); from March to June the monthly average is under 1 mm. Outside the short wet season you can plan as if rain does not exist.

The numbers understate the wind, which is a constant companion on an island with no high ground to break it. Winter brings the strongest blow and rough Atlantic swell, which is why the diving season effectively runs from about April to November and beach days in January can feel cooler than the thermometer suggests.

When to go

There is no bad season for the beach: daytime maxima stay between 24°C and 29°C all year. The choice is about what else you want to see.

• Mid February to mid May: humpback whale season, with March to May the peak for boat trips.
• June to October: loggerhead nesting season and the guided night walks that go with it.
• August to October: the only months with meaningful rain, usually brief showers; September is the warmest month.
• November to March: European winter high season for the resorts, with the strongest wind and the roughest sea. Divers should note the practical season runs about April to November.

If wildlife is the point of the trip, aim for March to May (whales, empty beaches, pre-summer temperatures) or July to September (turtles, warmer sea, a chance of a shower).

Getting there

By air

Aristides Pereira International Airport (BVC) sits about 5 km southeast of Sal Rei, near Rabil. Opened on 31 October 2007 and run since 2023 under the Vinci Airports concession, it handles both the package flights and the domestic network. Scheduled and charter links include TUI from British airports (around six hours from London), TAP and easyJet from Lisbon, and seasonal charters from Germany, France and elsewhere; domestically, Cabo Verde Airlines connects Boa Vista with Sal (about 25 minutes), Praia (about 40 minutes) and Maio. Routes change often, so check current schedules before building an itinerary around them.

Note that Bestfly Cabo Verde, which previously flew the domestic routes, announced the cancellation of all its flights in April 2024 and its schedules page still carries that notice; domestic flying has since rested with Cabo Verde Airlines. Treat any inter-island flight as worth reconfirming.

By sea

CV Interilhas runs the national ferry network from Sal Rei’s port. On the timetable in force when checked (programme dated 27 August to 10 October 2026), the round line ship Dona Tututa calls twice a week in each direction: southbound it leaves Sal at 23:59 and reaches Boa Vista at 03:00, continuing to Praia; northbound it leaves Praia (Santiago) at 14:00, arrives Boa Vista at 21:00 and continues overnight to Sal. Crossing times are about 3 hours from Sal and 7 from Praia.

Those antisocial hours are the reality of a freight-first line, and sailings shift or cancel with sea state. Wikivoyage calls the service plainly unreliable; if your onward flight depends on it, fly instead. Check the live schedule and buy tickets at cvinterilhas.cv.

Getting around

There is no public bus network. Aluguer minibuses and shared taxis shuttle along the paved road linking the airport, Sal Rei and the resort zone, and private taxis can be hired for beach drops and desert runs; agree the fare before setting off. The island has only about 64 km of national roads.

Beyond the tarmac, tracks take over. The cobbled Route 66 crosses the interior from Rabil to Fundo de Figueiras and is passable by ordinary car with care; reaching Praia de Santa Mónica, Curral Velho or the shipwreck beach comfortably means a 4x4, a quad or an organised excursion.

Quad and buggy tours are heavily marketed at the resorts; the environmental cost depends entirely on where they drive, so ask the route before you pay.

Practical info

Money. The Cape Verdean escudo (CVE) is pegged to the euro at 110.265 CVE per euro, which makes mental conversion easy: 1,000 CVE is roughly 9 euros. ATMs are available in Sal Rei, and cards are widely accepted at hotels and larger restaurants; carry escudo cash for aluguers, markets and the villages. Tourist operators commonly quote prices in euros.

Safety. The serious risk on Boa Vista is the sea: strong currents off the open, unwatched beaches. On land, petty theft around the commercial streets of Sal Rei is the main issue reported; take the usual precautions with valuables on beaches.

Health and water. Tap water comes from desalination and is considered safe, if flat-tasting. Sun and dehydration are the everyday hazards on an island with almost no natural shade. For anything beyond routine care you may need a transfer to another island, so travel insurance with evacuation cover is sensible.

Language and time. Portuguese is the official language and Kriolu the daily one; around the resorts and Sal Rei you can generally get by in English. Boa Vista shares the national timezone, one hour behind UTC.