Discover Boa Vista

Boa Vista combines vast sandy landscapes and coastal scenery with cultural themes relating to traditional pottery and maritime history. Viana Desert, dunes that stretch into the ocean, and the long Santa Monica Beach give the island a variety of landscape features. Rabil’s crafts and historical exhibition themes in Sal Rei add to these. If you’re planning a hotel stay in Boa Vista, you can balance your travel interests between nature, beaches and culture.

Desert, Beach and Dunes

Viana Desert on Boa Vista is about one kilometre wide and around five kilometres long. Its light-coloured sand is mixed with grains of black soil, creating a striking contrast in the landscape. You can walk freely and without difficulty in the desert; follow local guidance when visiting.

Santa Monica Beach is in the southwest of Boa Vista and is more than eleven kilometres long. In the Morro de Areia nature reserve, sand dunes stretch into the ocean. Boa Vista therefore offers several different sandy landscapes: the mixture of light-coloured sand and black soil grains in the desert, an expansive beach, and dunes that reach the sea.

Other places to visit on Boa Vista include the fishing settlement of Spinguera and the Planície do Campo da Serra plain; Ervatão is also among them. These destinations add further points of interest to the landscapes to help you plan your trip.

Crafts and Maritime History

Boa Vista’s pottery school in Rabil was established in 1960 and preserves traditional clay-forming techniques developed by local craftspeople. This gives Rabil a connection to a specific craft tradition: the focus is on both working with clay and techniques that originated locally.

The Museu dos Naufragos in Sal Rei dedicates its permanent exhibition to several historical themes. It features relics from historic shipwrecks off the coast of Boa Vista, objects from the time of pirate attacks, and items relating to the slave trade to the Americas. The exhibition thus brings together maritime traces with different chapters of history. Compared with the pottery tradition in Rabil, it offers a different cultural focus for exploring Boa Vista.

A Seasonal Boat Tour

A four-hour boat tour in Sal-Rei Bay includes swimming in the bay’s calm waters. The tour is seasonal; check current availability before making plans. The four-hour duration is a useful guide when scheduling time for this activity.

Cape Verde in a Wider Context

The Cape Verde archipelago, a wider travel destination, consists of ten islands, nine of which are inhabited. The eastern islands are considered older, flat and sandy; the western ones, younger, mountainous, rocky and irregular in shape. This contrast gives an impression of the archipelago’s landscape diversity.

Cuisine and music also offer a glimpse of Cape Verde beyond any one island. Cachupa consists of meat or fish, stewed beans and corn, and is served with cooked vegetables, potatoes and boiled bananas. Cape Verdean cuisine also includes fish, seafood and fruit. Morna, funaná, batuque, mazurca and coladeira are among the music and dance traditions associated with Cape Verde.

Discover more areas: Boa Vista, Espingueira, Rabil, Curral Velho.

Discover more destinations: Ribeira Grande, Sao Vicente, Praia, Mosteiros.

Return to the main travel overview: Cape Verde.