“Do not expect the usual sun, sand, sea and soulless beach resorts. Yes, there are pristine white sands with barely a soul on them and waters of Maldivian colour and clarity, but if you stick to the British routine of beach, buffet, bar and bed, you will be missing the point!...here, just five and a half hours from London, you can find as much variety as you would on most continents.”
Charles Starmer-Smith, The Daily Telegraph
CAPE VERDE VISASAll nationals require a full passport valid for a minimum of 6 months beyond the intended date of departure from Cape Verde and a visa in order to enter Cape Verde. You can either get this on entry at Sal airport or by prior arrangement with the honorary consulate in Liverpool Click here for more information from the Cape Verde Bureau in Liverpool.
FOOD & DRINK
With
little in the way of commercial fishing, marine life is abundant.
Hence, if you are a seafood lover (or a diver), you won´t be
disappointed. Lobster and tuna carpaccio come highly recommended. If
you are a salad dodger, you won´t be disappointed either: there isn´t
much!
With a variety of influences, you'll find restaurants serving everything from the local cachupa to traditional Italian fare.
The local drink that Cape Verdeans live (and die) for is the aptly named grogue. This
loosely translates as "fire water", but if you if you have a few too
many could more accurately describe the way your head might feel the
following morning. PLACES TO EATSAL
There are a large variety of restaurants in Santa Maria catering for most tastes from top restaurants like Odjo d’Áqua, to some great, local back-street ‘barbecue’ restaurants. Seafood dominates the restaurant menus with much of it caught fresh that day. You have to love fish to enjoy the food here. Yellow fin tuna, serra (wahoo) and smaller fish like garopa (reef fish) are the main catch. The lagosta (cray fish) is definitely worth trying.
The local food offers a variety of exotic dishes strongly influenced by African and Creole cooking. One of the local dishes is cachupa rica - a stew of hominy corn, beans and meat. Cachupa guisada being the best, which is just the beans fried with either tuna or fried egg on top.
Try the pinchos 150$ (fish or pork stick kebabs) and frango 150$ (chicken) that are cooked on a barbeque out front of the restaurant, where you can take a table. If concerned about becoming ill eating at some of the more ‘local’ restaurants it is worth considering that you may well get ill eating a lukewarm buffet at a good hotel, as opposed to well-cooked ‘street’ food.
Eating out you need to bear in mind that service Cape Verdian style is very 'relaxed', and can take an hour or so.
There are plenty of restaurants to suit all tastes on Sal, from great fresh seafood to Italian, and of course, some fantastic local secrets… you’ll find a few in here but more if you explore.The diet here is mainly protein and carb based. Don’t expect to find too many vegetables. Most meals are accompanied with rice and chips. The best place to go if you are in need of some good quality green stuff (plus cheeses, salami, etc) is Americo’s, who run a deli under their restaurant. It’s expensive though.
There are plenty of bars at which to drink coffee. Coffee in CV is very good, due to the Italian influence, and most bars have big espresso machines.Chez Pastis A wonderfully, cosy Italian restaurant with fantastic seafood and meat dishes, great wine and top class service. We recommend booking in advance. + 238 984 3696. Open from 6.30- 11pm
Restaurante Atlantis A blend of delicious Cape Verdean, Italian and French cuisine situated right on the beach and open for snacks, lunch and dinner. The food is delicious and the service is very good. Groups of up to 150 people catered for. + 238 42 1879 Open from 10am – 10.30pm
Restaurante Pizzeria Cretcheu Great pizzas and fantastic tuna carpaccio! +238 242 1068 Open from 12am – 3pm & 7 – 10.30pm
Morabeza Beach Club Located right on the beach at Hotel Morabeza this is a fantastic place for lunch. Try the freshly caught fish of the day! Open from 12 – 3pm
Papayas Restaurant & Bar Situated in Porto Antigo, this is a great place to watch the sunset over Santa Maria bay and enjoy a cocktail and a pizza. They also serve up a smashing full English breakfast… + 238 973 3482 Open from 8am – 11.30pm
Casa Canaria For something different try this lovely tapas restaurant. Run by a Spanish family, it is a very reasonably priced place to eat and the food is absolutely delicious. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Closed on Fridays.
Restaurant Farolin @ Hotel Odjo D’Agua Famous for it’s seafood and situated on a rock in the sea, the food, atmosphere and views are great. +238 242 2117 Open from 7 – 11pm
Leonardo’s A superb Italian restaurant with a wonderful atmosphere and a fantastic choice of wines. + 238 981 0057 Open from 11am – 3pm & 7 – 11pm
Restaurante Americos
Incredible seafood and local dishes at reasonable prices. + 238 242 1011 Open from 12am – 12pm
Zum Fischerman A superb German-run seafood restaurant with a large choice of freshly caught fish. Open from 7 – 11pm
Café Creole Don’t be frightened to “go local”, you can taste some of the finest local dishes here at reasonable prices. Open from 11am – 3pm & 7 – 11pm
Aquarium Located just past the cultural centre, in Santa Maria, Aquarium is right on the beach and serves local Cape Verdean cuisine, seafood and meat dishes to the sound of some lovely relaxing local live music. Open for lunch and dinner.
BARS & CLUBS
Calema Pub A great, lively bar in the centre of town (next to Caixa Economica bank), it’s the perfect place for a spot of people watching. Try their caipharinhas…
Morabeza Bar, Hotel Morabeza 2 for 1 drinks at happy hour (6.30 – 7.30 daily). Good atmosphere and a great meeting place.
Tam Tam Irish owned café/bar with lots of character. It serves delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner and an amazing Irish coffee. Also show most international football matches. Open Monday – Saturday 8 – 12.30am
Chill Out As the name suggests, Chill Out is a great place to watch the world go by.
Pirata Pirata is a favourite with locals and tourists. Playing a mixture of local music & European pop & dance. Don’t get here before midnight cause it’ll be empty.
Night Life
SAL
Santa Maria isn’t a party town. However, there are still plenty of bars in which there is a sociable scene.
Heading into town for a meal? On route try the local grogue. Grogue is distilled from sugarcane and can be a little rough on its own. Ponche is (literally a punch), made by adding honey and fruit, and much more drinkable. An evening wouldn’t be right without a stop at one of the small grogue shops around town and back streets of Santa Maria. It’s a chance to meet some of the local people, who we always found to be friendly. A shot of ponche costs around 50$.
If you have energy left try Tam Tam’s, Calema’s, the Chill Out bar, or one of the many other bars around town, where you can usually drink until midnight. Looking to offer yourself up as a wind or swell sacrifice then Pirata’s (bar discoteca) kicks off after midnight .
SAO VICENTE
Lobby-bar - Surrounded by the best Capeverdian music, played live, enjoy a drink in this bar located on the terrace standing directly over the Amilcar Cabral square.
Syrius Terrace - For those who enjoy a younger, more relaxed atmosphere, the hotel Oásis Porto Grande has the Syrius Terrace. Located on the other side of the hotel reception, facing the Amilcar Cabral square, here the guest can appreciate a light meal or simply put a break on the heat by having a refreshing beverage.
Syrius Disco - For those who look for a more animated stay, Syrius disco, a reference in the Mindelo nightlife, is located outside the hotel building, offering free access to the hotel guests.
Schedules:
• Lobby-Bar - 09h00-02h00
• Syrius Terrace - 18h00-02h00
• Syrius Disco - (Wed-Sun) 23h00-06h00
MONEY
Few hotels and even less restaurants accept credit cards so it may be better to pay for accommodation in advance.
You will need either Euros (¤) or Cape Verdian Escudos ($/CVE) to pay.
Car hire companies, and those providing excursions do accept credit cards, but for everything else you will need cash. You can change travellers’ cheques at one of the two banks in Santa Maria (Caixa and Banco Atlantico). There are also ATM’s at the western end town.
Commission is approx 500$ and is charged based on the denomination i.e. if you have e.g. ¤200 and ¤100 cheques it will cost you 1000$, so try and get one denomination. Also, some branches apply some unfair charges, for example, you will charge again if the serial numbers on the cheques are not consecutive!
Cape Verdian Escudos are only available in Cape Verde. If you bring Euros it is possible to change money at a friendly bar, which may give a better rate of exchange than spending euros in stores.
Banking and business hours:
Banks 08:00-14:00 Monday to Friday;
Shops 08:00-12:00 and 15:00-19:00 Monday to Saturday.
HEALTHNo vaccinations are required for entry to Cape Verde, however it is recommended that precautions be taken against cholera, typhoid fever, polio, Hepatitis B and, more recently dengue fever. Water is unsafe to drink without prior treatment. Medical facilities are good on Sal, but limited on other islands and some medicines are in short supply. There are two very new, modern clinic on Sal on is in Murdeira and run by a German doctor and the other is in Santa Maria (behind the Djadsal hotel) and run by a Spanish doctor. Health & travel insurance is strongly advised, with coverage for emergency repatriation.
Transport
SAL
Car hire: Rag a 4WD around the island, see the salt pans and take a bath in the concentrated saltwater at Pedra de Lume, Buracona natural swimming pool and nearby the blue eye, an underground pool. It also worth checking out the other windsurf/surf spots around the island. It’s a great drive.
This is the only country in which I’ve hired a car where off roading is actively condoned. There are few main roads to take you around Sal, and the only way to reach most surf spots, and tourist sites is via dirt tracks. However, half a day of bumping over corrugated surfaces soon sees off the initial excitement of off roading.
Car hire from ¤45 to ¤65 per day, with an excess of ¤1000.
Traffic drives on the right-hand side and an International Driving Licence is required.
Communications
If you use Vodaphone, Orange or O2 you will be able to use your mobile phone in Cape Verde. Internet is widely available in most hotels, as well as internet cafes.
Wind conditionsCape Verde lies within the northeast trade wind belt. The belt of high pressure in the Azores forces air to move towards the belt of low pressure air along the equator creating the prevailing north easterly trade wind that blows over Cape Verde consistently from October to June, but strongest from February to June. However, between November and February the NE trade wind near CV can become interrupted by the Harmattan wind from the Sahara giving more E to ENE Force 3-5. With high pressure over about 1030 hPa, the Harmattan can become strong and because this wind blows off the Sahara it is dust-laden and can reduce visibility creating some very overcast and chilly days, although this is rare. The trade wind slackens in the summer. In general, the wind needs a forecast of 20/22kts for it to properly kick in at that strength. Windguru is generally pretty accurate. Often the wind drops a few knots around 1pm, but increases again later. SwellThe great thing about CV is that it offers waves and super-flat conditions to suit all levels of sailor, most of the time.
The
Santa Maria bay, where all of the windsurfing centres on Sal can be
found can be described as flat to choppy to big chop depending on the
swell and wind direction. At the eastern end, it can be super flat near
the shoreline in N to NE winds but if there is too much easterly, it
can get pretty choppy right across the whole bay.
West coast
wave spots like Ponta Preta work best with a NW swell but westerly
swell also works. A minimum of 1.5m is needed (1.5/2m at Ponta Preta).
The swell is generated from Atlantic lows and hurricanes that hit
America. Best time of year for this swell is mid-Jan to March.
Swell
on the east coast is, in general, wind generated but wraps to create
some nice waves at Ponta Leme Velho, Salinas and in the bay of Santa
Maria. However any storm driven swell from the south can also produce
some waves.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: SalSantiago
Equipment
Windsurfing, kitesurfing, and surfing equipment can be hired from any of the rental centres dotted along the south coast of Santa Maria bay, and are generally of very good quality. If you are a beginner or an intermediate this is definitely the way to go.
For more advanced sailors and surfers looking for a bigger challenge, you will need to bring your own gear as rental centres will not risk their gear being taken to westerly point breaks (for good reason!).
Thomson currently charge £30 per board each way.
Contact us for more info on this.
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