About Sal

If you dream of lazy days lying on powdered white beaches, adrenalin-fuelled frenzy in flawless, turquoise waters, soaking up the atmosphere in bustling bars and restaurants with a taste of the exotic, or simply exploring all the charms and delights that a place has to offer, then Sal is the perfect remedy to the modern, hectic world.

With its international airport making Sal the gateway to the Cape Verde, the island is arguably the most developed and cosmopolitan, as well as being the flattest, in the archipelago.

Vila dos Esparagos is Sal’s administrative and main urban centre, home to 8,000 inhabitants and also the location for the Amilcar Cabral International Airport. However, given that the entire island is just 30km long and 12km wide, all resorts, towns and points of interest are easily and quickly accessible.

With 350 days of sunshine a year, most tourists flood to Sal in search of some serious sun worshipping and the main resort for this is Santa Maria, on the island’s south coast. A pretty town of faded pink, pale blue, yellow and terracotta single-storey houses, Santa Maria is crammed full with bars, gift shops and stores, while, by night, the entire town comes out to play. Freshly caught tuna steaks, swordfish and lobster cooked to the local recipe which combines Portuguese and African flavours are popular in the restaurants, while there’s always some live Cape Verdian music to be seen in the numerous bars and clubs.

But the real action takes place on the vast beaches during the day, when many visitors take to the ocean to enjoy diving or swimming in the crystal clear waters that contain countless species of colourful tropical fish, turtles and dolphins. Many head to Sal for the watersports as the island is considered to be amongst the top five locations in the world to windsurf, with kitesurfing and deep-sea fishing also extremely popular.

Enthusiasts of land-based sports are also well catered for with games rooms, golf, volleyball, basketball and tennis all available in Santa Maria. Much the same can be said of Murdeira, a small tourist resort surrounded by golden beaches which is increasing in both size and reputation for being an idyllic holiday destination with much on offer.

Elsewhere on the island, Pedra de Lume – where saline marshes lie within the vast ‘caldeira’ of an extinct volcano – is the most picturesque point on the island. Its saliency level is equal to that of the Dead Sea and floating weightlessly in the salty lagoon is an experience not to be missed. It’s this crater, where salt was discovered and became the island’s main export, that gives Sal its name (‘sal’ is Portuguese for salt).

There are a number of other small fishing towns and villages that are well worth discovering, such as Palmeira, Terra Boa, Feijoal and Reguinho Fiúra, each of which has its own unique charisma and beauty. Being small and almost flat, much can be explored on foot or bicycle or, better still, hire a jeep and set off to investigate the furthest corners of Sal, to reveal lobster farms, natural tidal swimming pools and old lighthouses. Alternatively, the island can be discovered from the sea, with a number of boat trips giving tours around the coastline, typically with stops Pedra de Lume and Palmeira.

Like all of Cape Verde, Sal enjoys a wide range of festivals and celebrations; visitors are encouraged to join in and, from the various saints’ days to the Santa Maria Festival of Music, they provide a wonderful insight into the Cape Verde’s distinctive culture.