Boa Vista
The third largest of the Cape Verde islands, with a sand desert inland, long beaches where loggerhead turtles nest, and fewer than fifteen thousand people.
- Arrival
- Aristides Pereira International · BVC
- To Sal Rei
- About 5 km north-west of the airport
- Private jets
- Customs and jet fuel, 8 am to 6 pm
- Best time
- All year
The city
Dunes, salt and turtle beaches.
Boa Vista covers 631 square kilometres, and most of its 14,000 or so inhabitants live in Sal Rei, the little capital on the north-west coast. Its highest point, Monte Estância, reaches only 387 metres, and the Viana desert gives the island its best-known landscape.
Salt drew the first settlers to Povoação Velha in 1620. Today the island has fourteen protected areas, and its beaches, Santa Mónica and Chaves among them, are important nesting grounds for loggerhead turtles.
Arriving
Five kilometres from Sal Rei.
Aristides Pereira International opened in October 2007, about five kilometres south-east of Sal Rei. Vinci Airports has run it since 2023.
- Dakar 1 h 05
- Marrakech 3 h 15
- Tunis 5 h 30
- Munich 6 h 30 long-range jet
- Toronto 8 h 15 long-range jet
When to go
All year round.
Dry, with almost no rain from March to June. Highs move from 24 °C in winter to 29 °C in September and October, the wettest weeks, though even September averages under 70 millimetres. The sea is 22 °C in spring and 27 °C in autumn.
- 24° J 5 23°
- 24° F 3 22°
- 25° M 0 22°
- 25° A 0 22°
- 25° M 0 22°
- 26° J 0 23°
- 27° J 9 24°
- 28° A 37 26°
- 29° S 67 27°
- 29° O 26 27°
- 27° N 6 26°
- 25° D 5 24°
What to see and do
Days in and around Boa Vista.
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Landmark
Deserto de Viana
The sand desert that sets Boa Vista apart from its neighbours.
-
Landmark
Povoação Velha
The island's first settlement, founded in 1620 for its salt and left for Porto Inglês after pirate raids.
-
Landmark
The turtle beaches
Long strands such as Santa Mónica, where loggerhead turtles come ashore to nest.
-
Wildlife
Humpback whale watching from Sal Rei
Humpback whales come to the waters off Sal Rei to give birth and raise their calves, and boats with a marine biologist go out to watch them.
-
On the water
Praia de Estoril
Just south of Sal Rei, this beach is where Boa Vista learns to kitesurf, windsurf, surf and sail, with boards and kayaks for hire.
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Culture
Cabo Santa Maria shipwreck
Stranded on the north coast in 1968, the Spanish cargo ship lies rusting on the sand and serves divers as an artificial reef.
Where to stay
Resorts on the long beaches.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Hotel Riu Palace Boavista Opened in November 2018 with four restaurants, a spa and rooms that step straight into the pool, on a beach four kilometres long.
- Barceló Marine Boa Vista An adults-only hotel of 160 rooms on the Atlantic, opened in September 2025.
- Hotel Riu Karamboa For adults only, with five heated pools and swim-up suites on the beachfront.
- Hotel Riu Touareg An all-inclusive resort on the beach with six restaurants and an infinity pool among its five.
Elsewhere in Cape Verde
More reasons to come.
- Sal Salt pans in an old crater, and the beach of Santa Maria.
- Praia The capital on Santiago, near Cidade Velha, the first colonial town in the tropics.
- Mindelo The harbour town of São Vicente, home of its music.
- Santo Antão Green valleys and mountain trails, an hour by ferry from Mindelo.
- Fogo A volcano still active, with vines growing in its crater.
Flying to Boa Vista?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.