Cape Verde — where to go and when
1 destination covered
Almost no rain, almost no season and a wind that rarely stops — Sal has all three, and together they explain how an island of volcanic rubble and dunes, flat and treeless, became the most dependable winter sun within reach of Europe. Everything happens at the southern tip, where a long beach and a wooden fishing jetty anchor the resort; the airport and the island's administrative town occupy the middle, and the rest is desert crossed by a single road. The sea is ocean rather than lagoon, with swell, colour and current, and the trade wind that makes the southern bay a fixture for kitesurfing also keeps the heat honest. Cape Verde as a whole is an archipelago of very unalike islands, mountainous and green further west; Sal is the flat dry one that flights reach first, and treating it as the whole country is the usual mistake. Living costs land roughly halfway between French and North African levels. Sun on demand, a short flight away — but not a landscape that carries a fortnight by itself.
When to go
Ten months out of twelve clear our filter, which is close to unique among the destinations on this site. The year barely moves: September and October are the warmest at 30.4 °C, February the coolest at 25.1 °C by day and 19.7 °C at night. Rain stays marginal, 18 rainy days and 110.3 mm across the whole year, most of it falling in August and September. What varies instead is the wind, strongest through the European winter, which is exactly why the sailing crowd books then and why those weeks feel fresher than the temperatures suggest.
The places we cover, side by side
| Place | Favourable months | Warmest month, avg. high (°C) | Coldest month, avg. high (°C) | Rainy days a year (≥ 1 mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sal | January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, November, December | 30.4 | 25.1 | 18 |
Figures measured at the weather station nearest each place, then averaged over the warmest and the coldest months of the year — not over a fixed calendar season. Each destination page carries its own month-by-month table, its station and its sample size.
Getting around
The island is small and one road does most of the work. Shared minibuses run between the resort, the town and the airport, leaving when they fill rather than on a timetable, and taxis work by zone with the fare fixed before you get in. Renting a car is only worth it for the salt crater and the western coast; everything else is walkable or a short hop. The airport is 6 km from the middle of the island, the nearest neighbouring island 76 km away.
Budget
Country price level compared with France : −53 %
Price index for restaurants and hotels, France = 1000, from European purchasing power parities. It is a country average: it says nothing about one hotel in particular.
Destinations in Cape Verde
Frequently asked questions
Can Sal be used as a base for the other islands?
Partly. Inter-island flights are short and the neighbouring island lies 76 km off, so a day or two elsewhere is realistic if booked in advance. But the mountainous islands deserve nights rather than hours, and ferry crossings depend on the same swell that makes the sailing good. If the green interior is what you came for, fly into it directly and use Sal only for the connection.
Is the sea safe for ordinary swimming?
In the main bay, generally yes, and it is busy enough that conditions are watched. Elsewhere the Atlantic behaves like the Atlantic: undertow, sudden depth and very few people within shouting distance. Ask before entering the water on any beach outside the resort, and treat the wind that makes the kitesurfing good as the same wind that pushes a swimmer offshore.
Updated on 21 September 2026