Sal and Boa Vista are the two islands almost every first-time visitor to Cape Verde ends up choosing between. They have more in common than the brochures suggest: flat, dry, sandy, sunny, and windy in winter. Neither has the green mountains of Santo Antão or the volcano of Fogo. What really separates them is what happens when you step outside your hotel.
Sal or Boa Vista: the short answer
Sal suits a first trip; Boa Vista suits travellers who want space and turtles. On Sal the town, the calmest beach and most excursions are a short walk or taxi ride away. Boa Vista is emptier and wilder, with dunes and some of the Atlantic's most important turtle beaches, and it works best if you are happy to base yourself in a resort and book trips from there.
Choose Sal if you want
- To walk from your hotel to restaurants and bars every evening
- One long, shallow, sheltered beach for swimming every day
- Kitesurfing or diving with the widest choice of schools
- To explore on your own by taxi on paved roads
- The widest range of places to stay, from guesthouses to large resorts
Choose Boa Vista if you want
- Kilometres of near-empty beach and real sand dunes
- Loggerhead turtles nesting from roughly June to October
- An all-inclusive week with little reason to leave the resort
- Fewer people and far less development
- Desert, shipwreck and 4x4 excursions
Popular all-inclusive resorts on each island
Sal
Meliá Dunas Beach Resort & Spa
The only resort on this list with clubs for babies and teenagers as well as children: from six months to 17.
- Baby club (6 months–4), kids' club (5–12), teen club (13–17)
- On-site aqua park and splash park
- Beachfront, about 4 km west of Santa Maria
Riu Palace Santa Maria
A large, modern resort with the Splash Water World water park and a children's pool with slides.
- RiuLand kids' club for ages 4–7 and 8–12
- Splash Water World water park on site
- Beachfront, roughly 3.5 km west of the pier
Boa Vista
Riu Touareg
A huge resort on its own on the south coast, near Santa Mónica. Plan on the pools: this is open Atlantic, and Sal Rei is about 35 km away.
- RiuLand kids' club daily, ages 4–7 and 8–12
- Children's pool and a separate infants' pool, heated in winter
- About 40–50 minutes from the airport
Riu Palace Boavista
Next to the adults-only Riu Karamboa, whose Splash Water World water park guests can use.
- RiuLand kids' club for ages 4–7 and 8–12
- Children's pool with slides and a small children's pool
- Water park at neighbouring Riu Karamboa
Sal vs Boa Vista at a glance
The Edge column shows which island does better on that one point, not overall.
| Topic | Sal | Boa Vista | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swimming | Santa Maria: long, shallow and sheltered | A few calm spots near Sal Rei; most coast faces open swell | Sal |
| Empty beaches | Limited outside the resort strip | Kilometres of sand, including Santa Mónica | Boa Vista |
| Walkable town | Santa Maria, with beach and restaurants together | Sal Rei, but most resorts are a taxi ride away | Sal |
| Eating out | Wide choice at different prices | Smaller choice, mostly in Sal Rei | Sal |
| Nightlife | Beach bars and live music | Mainly in-resort entertainment | Sal |
| Kitesurfing and diving | Most developed schools and dive centres | Good conditions, fewer operators | Sal |
| Landscape | Flat and arid, with salt pans | Flat and arid, with real sand dunes | Boa Vista |
| Turtles | Some nesting | One of the Atlantic's major nesting sites | Boa Vista |
| Exploring independently | Easy by taxi, sights under half an hour away | Rough tracks beyond the main corridor; tours or 4x4 | Sal |
| Crowds | Busier | Quieter | Boa Vista |
| Weather | Dry, sunny, windy in winter | Very similar | Even |
| Airport transfer | Short, on paved road | Short to the main resorts | Even |
Sal takes more rows. Boa Vista takes the ones some people book the whole trip for: space, dunes and turtles.
Beaches: emptier or safer?
Both islands sell themselves on their beaches, and this is where expectations most often go wrong.
Sal: one excellent swimming beach
Praia de Santa Maria is long, shallow and sheltered, and it is walkable from most of the town's accommodation. It is the only beach on Sal where a family can spend a day without thinking too hard about the sea. The island's other beaches are for kitesurfers, for looking at, or, at Ponta Preta, actively dangerous to swim from. Murdeira Bay is calm but has a rocky entry. Full detail in the beaches of Sal.
Boa Vista: more sand, fewer easy swims
Boa Vista has beaches on a scale Sal cannot match. Santa Mónica runs for kilometres with almost nobody on it. But most of the coast faces open Atlantic swell, and Santa Mónica itself is about an hour's rough drive from Sal Rei, with no shade, bar or lifeguard. Easy swimming happens in a few places near town, such as Praia de Cabral, and in the more sheltered stretches of Praia de Chaves in front of the resorts. See the beaches of Boa Vista.
| If you want | On Sal | On Boa Vista |
|---|---|---|
| A calm daily swim | Praia de Santa Maria | Praia de Cabral or Estoril near Sal Rei |
| A beach from your resort | Santa Maria's resort strip | Praia de Chaves or Salinas; check flags |
| An empty beach | Walk east along Santa Maria | Santa Mónica, by excursion |
| Kitesurfing | Kite Beach, north-east of Santa Maria | Praia de Chaves and Estoril |
For a daily swim, Sal is easier. For scale and solitude, Boa Vista wins. On either island, take flags and local advice seriously, because currents catch visitors out every season. More on sea safety in is Cape Verde safe?
Weather and wind: is there a difference?
Weather will not decide this for you. The islands are neighbours, both among the driest in Cape Verde, and they get the same sun. Plan around the wind instead: both are flat and exposed to the trade winds, which blow hardest from roughly December to March. Kitesurfers love it; parasols do not. August to October is warmer and more humid, with the odd short shower. Month-by-month detail is in the Cape Verde climate and Cape Verde by month.
Town, food and nightlife
Santa Maria is a real town that happens to be a resort: a compact grid of streets with restaurants at a range of prices, bars, shops, a fishing pier and the beach at the end of it. You can eat somewhere different every night without organising anything, and walk home afterwards.
Sal Rei on Boa Vista is a low-key town with a central square, local restaurants and a working harbour. It is pleasant for an evening, but for most resort guests it is a taxi ride away, so it becomes an outing rather than a routine. If eating out matters to you, staying in Sal Rei itself solves this.
Santa Maria has beach bars and live music; on Boa Vista, evenings mostly mean your resort's own entertainment. More in nightlife in Cape Verde. Whichever island you choose, try cachupa, the national dish, and read our guide to food and drink.
Things to do and excursions
Both islands have a similar number of sights. They differ in character and in how easy they are to reach.
On Sal
Float in the salt crater at Pedra de Lume, see the Blue Eye at Buracona, wade with juvenile lemon sharks at Shark Bay, visit the harbour at Palmeira, and use the country's most developed kitesurfing and diving centres. Most sights are under half an hour away by taxi.
On Boa Vista
Cross the dunes of the Viana desert, see the Cabo Santa Maria shipwreck, walk the abandoned village of Curral Velho, buy pottery in Rabil, and take a quad or buggy tour across the interior. Several of these need a 4x4 or an organised excursion.
On Sal you can decide over breakfast where to go. On Boa Vista, most trips need booking the day before. Full lists with timings: things to do on Sal and things to do on Boa Vista.
Popular excursions on Sal and Boa Vista
Prices, times and availability are shown on GetYourGuide. Many tours offer free cancellation.
Sal island tour with a local guide
- About 6 hours, hotel pick-up
- Buracona Blue Eye, Pedra de Lume, Palmeira
- Private option available
Catamaran trip from Santa Maria
- Sail along Sal's west coast
- Swim and snorkelling stop
- Pick-up available
Boa Vista island tour
- Full day with hotel pick-up
- Viana Desert, Curral Velho, Ervatão beach
- Swim stop and lunch break
Turtle watching on Boa Vista
- Night tours from Sal Rei and resorts
- Licensed conservation projects
- Hatchlings from August
Browse all: Sal tours ↗ · Boa Vista tours ↗
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Turtles, whales and wildlife
This is Boa Vista's clearest advantage. The island has some of the most important loggerhead turtle nesting beaches in the Atlantic, and a properly run night tour in season is one of the most memorable things you can do in Cape Verde. Nesting runs from roughly June to October, with hatchlings from around August into November. See turtle watching on Boa Vista, and only go with a licensed conservation project.
Sal has turtle nesting too, on a smaller scale. For the national picture, read our turtle watching guide.
Both islands run humpback whale watching trips from roughly March to May. Boa Vista has the edge, with boats leaving from Sal Rei harbour; see whale watching on Boa Vista. Sightings are never guaranteed.
Turtle season and whale season do not overlap, so if wildlife is a main reason for your trip, pick your month first and your island second.
Where to stay: town or resort?
Where you stay on each island matters almost as much as which island you choose. Here are the main bases.
| Base | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Maria town, Sal | First trips, eating out, independence | Busier, with beach vendors |
| Resort strip, Sal | Family packages and all-inclusive | Some hotels are a 20–30 minute walk from town |
| Murdeira, Sal | Quiet self-catering with a hire car | Isolated |
| Praia de Chaves or Salinas, Boa Vista | All-inclusive resorts, space, kitesurfing at Chaves | Little within walking distance |
| Sal Rei town, Boa Vista | Independent travel, local food, boat trips | Simpler accommodation than the resorts |
More detail in where to stay on Sal, where to stay on Boa Vista and the national guide to where to stay in Cape Verde.
More all-inclusive resorts on Sal
Two more family resorts on the stretch of coast west of Santa Maria, both with kids' clubs. Travelling as a couple? Riu Cabo Verde, Meliá Llana and Robinson Cabo Verde on Sal, and Riu Karamboa on Boa Vista, are adults-only. For families, see Cape Verde with kids.
Meliá Tortuga Beach
A family resort with a kids' club every day. One family with toddlers found little organised for very young children, so it suits school-age kids best.
- Kids' club for ages 5–12, seven days a week
- Two children's pools
- Beachfront, a five-minute drive from Santa Maria
Riu Funana
The family hotel in the RIU complex on Sal, next to the adults-only Riu Cabo Verde.
- RiuLand kids' club
- Children's pool
- 24-hour all-inclusive
Details checked against the hotels' own websites and major booking sites in October 2026. Always check the room, board, photos and conditions on the booking site before you book. Links go to Booking.com and other sites via our partner Stay22; we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. How this works.
All-inclusive and costs: which is cheaper?
There is no reliable rule that one island is cheaper. Package prices depend on dates, hotel and departure airport far more than on the island, so compare the same week and the same board basis on both.
What does differ is how you spend money once you arrive:
- Boa Vista is built around all-inclusive resorts. If you want to eat out, budget for taxis to Sal Rei and back, and for excursions, since many sights need a tour.
- Sal has all-inclusive resorts too, but also guesthouses, apartments and mid-range hotels in town. Staying room-only or half-board and eating out is realistic, because the restaurants are within walking distance.
For budgets, cards and cash, see money and costs in Cape Verde and budget travel.
Getting there and around
Both islands have their own international airport, so neither needs a domestic connection: Amílcar Cabral (SID) on Sal and Aristides Pereira (BVC) on Boa Vista. Flight times from Europe are similar; see how long the flight takes and flights to Cape Verde.
On Sal, the airport sits between Espargos and Santa Maria, and the drive to most hotels is well under half an hour on paved road. Taxis are easy to find, and most sights are a short ride away.
On Boa Vista, transfers to the main resorts are short too, roughly 15 to 30 minutes. Beyond the Sal Rei, Rabil and airport corridor, roads turn into unpaved tracks. Journeys take longer than the distances suggest, and a standard hire car is not suitable for the tracks to the best beaches.
For exploring on your own rather than on excursions, Sal is much easier. See airport transfers, taxis and aluguers, car rental and getting around.
Which island suits you?
Sal or Boa Vista for families
Sal, for most families. Santa Maria's beach shelves gently and everything else is close by, which counts for a lot with small children. Boa Vista works well if you want a full-board resort with a kids' club and plan to stay put. Teenagers may find Boa Vista's evenings quiet. See Cape Verde with kids.
Sal or Boa Vista for couples
For a quiet honeymoon with empty beaches, Boa Vista. For dinners out and sunset drinks by the pier, Sal.
Sal or Boa Vista for kitesurfing and diving
Sal, which has the most kite schools, dive centres and rental shops in Cape Verde. Boa Vista has good wind and emptier water, better suited to experienced riders who know what they want. See kitesurfing and diving.
| You are | Better choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A first-time visitor | Sal | Easiest logistics, most choice, walkable town |
| Travelling with young children | Sal | Calm swimming beach within walking distance |
| On a quiet honeymoon | Boa Vista | Emptier beaches, more secluded resorts |
| Happy in an all-inclusive all week | Boa Vista | The model the island is built around |
| Keen to eat out independently | Sal | More choice, and you can walk to it |
| A kitesurfer or diver | Sal | Best-developed schools and dive centres |
| Coming for turtles | Boa Vista | Major nesting beaches, June to October |
| After empty beaches above all | Boa Vista | Nothing on Sal matches Santa Mónica for scale |
| Travelling solo on a budget | Sal | Guesthouses, walkable town, easy taxis |
Sal or Boa Vista: which is better by month?
The weather is much the same on both islands, so the season tips the balance mainly through wind and wildlife.
| When | What to expect | Edge |
|---|---|---|
| December to February | Winter sun and the strongest trade winds | Sal for kitesurfing and a town on breezy days |
| March to May | Dry and sunny, whale season, wind gradually easing | Boa Vista if whales matter |
| June and July | Turtle nesting begins, lighter wind | Boa Vista for turtles |
| August to October | Peak nesting, hatchlings, warmer and humid, chance of brief showers | Boa Vista for turtles |
| November | Wind returning, last hatchlings, warm sea | Even |
For more detail, see the best time to visit Cape Verde.
Can you combine Sal and Boa Vista?
Yes. The islands are neighbours and connected by short domestic flights, though routes and frequencies change with airline schedules. Ferry connections between them exist on longer cross-archipelago routes, but they are less frequent and usually less convenient than flying; see ferries in Cape Verde.
Few people need to. The islands are similar enough that a split week mostly adds a second transfer. Most travellers get more from pairing one of them with a mountain or culture island, such as São Vicente and Santo Antão for hiking and music, or Fogo for the volcano. See island hopping, one week in Cape Verde and two weeks in Cape Verde.
The verdict
Sal for a first trip, Boa Vista for a second.
Sal is the more forgiving island: less planning, more choice, and a town to fall back on when the wind picks up. On a one-week holiday that flexibility counts.
Boa Vista rewards a different kind of trip. If your ideal week is a resort, a long empty beach and two or three excursions, it does that better than Sal, with fewer people around. In turtle season it is the clear choice.
Neither island has green mountains or dramatic inland scenery. If that is what you are picturing, look at Santo Antão or Fogo instead, and see which island to choose for all nine compared.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sal or Boa Vista better?
Sal is better for a first visit, for independent travel and for watersports: Santa Maria has restaurants, bars and a calm swimming beach within walking distance. Boa Vista is better for empty beaches, dunes and turtle season, but it is more resort-based and most sights need an organised trip.
Which island has better beaches, Sal or Boa Vista?
Boa Vista has more sand and far emptier beaches, including Santa Mónica, which runs for kilometres. Sal has fewer beaches but one reliably calm swimming beach at Santa Maria. For daily swimming choose Sal; for scale and solitude choose Boa Vista.
Is it safe to swim on Boa Vista?
In the right places, yes. Most swimming happens at Praia de Cabral and Estoril near Sal Rei, and on the sheltered stretches of Praia de Chaves in front of the resorts. Much of the rest of the coast faces open Atlantic swell with currents, so follow flags and local advice.
Is Boa Vista quieter than Sal?
Yes, noticeably. Boa Vista has fewer visitors, fewer hotels and much less development outside the resorts. Whether that is a plus depends on whether you want somewhere to walk to in the evening.
Which is better for families, Sal or Boa Vista?
Sal, for most families. Santa Maria's beach is shallow and sheltered, and restaurants and shops are within walking distance. Boa Vista suits families who want to stay in a full-board resort with a kids' club.
Is Sal or Boa Vista better for toddlers?
Sal is usually easier. Praia de Santa Maria is shallow and sheltered, and shops and restaurants are close by. On Boa Vista, choose a resort on a sheltered stretch of beach and check the pools and shade before booking, as much of the coast has waves and currents.
Which island has better kids' clubs?
That depends on the resort rather than the island. Both have large family resorts with kids' clubs, so check the age range, opening hours and whether the club runs during your travel dates before you book.
Is Boa Vista too quiet for teenagers?
The evenings can be, because there is little to walk to from most resorts. Days are easier to fill: quad and buggy tours, kitesurfing lessons at Praia de Chaves and desert trips keep active teenagers busy. Check minimum ages for quads before booking. Sal gives teenagers more to do on their own.
Which is better for couples and honeymoons?
Boa Vista for a quiet trip with empty beaches; Sal if you want dinners out, sunset drinks and a livelier atmosphere within walking distance.
Which is better for all-inclusive, Sal or Boa Vista?
Boa Vista is built around all-inclusive resorts and suits travellers who plan to stay on site most of the week. Sal has all-inclusive resorts too, but its walkable town makes room-only or half-board a realistic alternative.
Is Sal or Boa Vista cheaper?
Neither is reliably cheaper. Package prices depend mostly on dates, hotel and departure airport. On Boa Vista, budget for taxis if you want to eat outside your resort, and for excursions, since many sights need a tour.
Which island is better in winter?
Both are warm, dry and sunny in winter, and both are windy, with the trade winds strongest from roughly December to March. Sal has the edge for kitesurfing and for having a town to retreat into on breezy days.
Can you visit both Sal and Boa Vista in one trip?
Yes. The islands are neighbours and connected by short domestic flights, though schedules change. They are similar enough, however, that most travellers get more from pairing one of them with a mountain or culture island such as São Vicente, Santo Antão or Fogo.
Which island is better for turtles?
Boa Vista. It has some of the most important loggerhead nesting beaches in the Atlantic, with nesting from roughly June to October and hatchlings from around August into November. Sal has nesting too, on a smaller scale.
Are Sal and Boa Vista windy?
Yes, both. They are flat, exposed islands in the path of the trade winds, which are strongest from roughly December to March: good for kitesurfing, less so for still beach days.