SEALIFE EXPERIENCE
Sal Island Nature Excursions
tips for traveling to
cape verde
VISA
To enter Cape Verde, you only need to pay the tourist visa fee of 35€. You can do it directly at the airport of entry in Cape Verde upon arrival in the country or do it online on the official website. The tourist visa is for 1 month, if you intend to stay for a longer period than this, contact the nearest Cape Verde consulate in your country and ask for long-term visas. Here we leave you the official link for the online payment of the visa.
climate
Cape Verde is called the sunny paradise with good reasons. 365 warm days a year make it a wonderful destination to escape the cold European winter. When you plan a vacation to Cape Verde, no matter what time it is, you can count on high temperatures, here winter does not exist. The archipelago show off temperatures between 23º and 30º during the day and an average of 24º and 18º (in winter) at night. The months from October to mid-July are the windiest months so you can find some cloudy days, and from August to September the rainy season. So whatever time of the year you are planing to visit, what you are going to use the most are your flip flops, swimsuits and shorts. Put a hoodie in your suitcase if you come in the winter months and some trekking shoes if you plan to visit the green islands like Sao Nicolau, Santo Antao or Santiago.
currency
The official currency of Cape Verde is the Cape Verdean escudo: €1 – 110,270 CVE. Although all establishments accept the euro, we advise you to change money upon arrival at an official exchange establishment because in services (restaurants, shops, etc.) the change is made at 1€-100 escudos. You can also withdraw money from your card at cash machines throughout the country.
language
The official language of Cape Verde is Portuguese, since it was a Portuguese colony until 1975, although the language most widely spoken among its inhabitants is Cape Verdean Creole, a mixture of African and Portuguese.
You don't have to worry if you don't speak portuguese or creole, the people of Cape Verde are known for their "morabeza" (hospitality) and will do everything possible to understand you in your language and facilitate communication.
gastronomy
If you are a traveler who is a fan of home cooking, then you are in the ideal destination. The gastronomy here is characterized by being an African and Portuguese mix. The national dish that you can find on almost every corner is "Cachupa": a corn stew with green local banana, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, tomatoes, cabbage and bacon among other ingredients. Another typical dish is the "feijoada", similar to what you can eat in Brazil or Portugal with broad beans, rice and couscous. As for desserts, you can find varieties of tropical fruits, coconut pudding and papaya sweet with homemade cheese.
You also have to try the Fogo wine and the manecon, a sweet wine, a product of national pride, grown on the island of Fogo, which has an active volcano and very rich soil for growing vines.
In the greener islands like Santo Antao and Santiago they produce the national liquor called grogue, a distillate from sugar cane.
best surf spots
Sal Island is a paradise for water sports such as diving, windsurfing, kite surfing and surfing. There are several places to surf good waves on the island, the most popular being Ponta Preta. You can also surf at Monte Leao, Igreginha or at Santa Maria beach. There are 3 live websites where you can see the conditions, one in the pier in Santa Maria, another in Ponta Preta and another in Kite Beach. Here you have the link to the webcams.
travel
between islands
To travel between the islands of Cape Verde the best option is by plane. If you plan to move between islands, we advise you to check availability in advance with the only airline that operates between islands, since they only have one weekly flight between the different islands and it usually fills up quickly, so don't leave it for the last minute. Here the link to the airline company that operates in Cape Verde between islands.
To get to Santo Antao, the green pearl of the archipelago, the only option is by ferry since it does not yet have an airport, but there is a good connection from Sao Vicente with 2 ferries per day and the journey takes 45 minutes.