Sal Island Cape Verdes holiday island
Santa Maria the tourist town
Sal is Portuguese for salt and Sal was once famous for its salt
pans. It still has a great salt lake at Pedra
de Lume, where you can float high as in the Dead Sea. But its
attraction today is that it has at Espargos
the main airport in the Cape
Verdes. It was first built by Benito Mussolini, and now puts the
Cape Verdes within six hours flight time of the British Isles. It
has a small port at Palmeira.
Santa Maria Beach
Santa Maria was settled by
sailors, Once known as a tuna
cannery, it has one of the world's great beaches. Not crowded, nor
is it cold or wet. The sea is luke-warm all year round. A whole
yellowfin tuna can be bought off the pier for £4-5 as the
catch is landed. It has plenty of European and local restaurants
and bars, many of which play music in the evenings. It has the most
tourist hotels. See aerial map.
H from Shropshire is sold on Ponta Preta
We had a fantastic holiday, Sal was everything I imagined it would
be and the beaches and sea were out of this world. We are waiting
for prices for a new development due to be released at Ponta Preta
which we liked very much.I must say we had a fantastic time and
I can't wait until the next time when hopefully direct flights will
be available, Thanks for everything,
D from Essex checked
Boa Vista and
Sao Vicente before coming back
to Sal.
"We liked Sal so much we have reserved an apartment , loved
Boa Vista but just a little bit too primitive: was a bit worried
on Sao Vicente to walk around as a few people warned us to be careful:
loved the hotel and beach at Sao Pedro though. We will be returning
in a couple of years time to see how apartment coming along: bet
everything will be so different then. Thanks again Claire"
R from Herts is concerned for the future
"If you are not interested in Water Sports (which are fantastic),
Sal is the place. It is very limited in cultural or geographical
sightseeing. Sal is part unspoilt wilderness, part building site.
There are more Real Estate Agents than restaurants. I wonder if
there will be anywhere that avoids development. I fear for the island`s
ecology. I hope the island`s symbol, the Turtle, doesn`t end up
like that of Mauritius - the Dodo."
W from Yorks is in no doubt
"There is a huge difference between Sal and Santiago in
my personal opinion. The two islands have different landscape, different
beaches, different coloured sea come to think about it. Sal is geared
for tourism, the airport has been taking tour operators from other
European countries and many independent travellers also. I for one
will be happy to fly from the UK/Lisbon/Sal even if they offer direct
flights to Santiago from the UK. I have no intention now or in the
future landing in Praia airport again. There is nothing to do in
Praia. No beaches with a good distance of the airport to go to.
Before I went to the Cape Verde Islands, I had an open mind, as
I wanted to invest and find a dream location to escape the bleak
winters of the UK. Maybe now I am biased. I love Sal, the beaches,
the cafes, the restaurants, the people. Everyone`s judgement is
different, the only way you will know what suits you is when you
visit."
E from Grenoble loved the empty beaches.
"Just to let you know that we've had an absolutely wonderful time
on our holiday in CV. I have never seen my husband so relaxed! He
just didn't want to go home, which is very unlike him! The surf
was rather flat for most of the week we were there but this allowed
us to relax and to visit the island. We had a 4x4 and certainly
made the most of it. We changed creek or beach every day each time
finding a beautiful and isolated spot where we were on our own for
hours on end. Pure bliss! We very much enjoyed the area around Murdeira
and also the east coast: although windy we found it wild and very
attractive."
A from Glasgow liked Murdeira
"We`ve seen it at its best. I can`t understand why anyone would
go anywhere else for winter sun, when you`ve got Sal. It was nice
to go to Santa Maria but to come back to Murdeira. The people in
the back of the alugguiers were charming and lovely. We bacame a
part of the community. We were always pleased to come back to the
quiet of Murdeira"
P from Manchester liked the primitive parts
"We had a great time thanks. At the moment Sal has got just about
the right mix of everything to make it a really interesting place
to go, a bit rough around the edges still, which I really like.
That probably won`t be the case in not so many years I guess! I
think we will go back, maybe try and see a couple of the other islands
next time. The villa was very good and all of your information was
very useful. "
