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Cape Verde: kitesurf on Sal, hikes on Santo Antão
Photo: Kite Beach Water Sports Center, kitebeachcaboverde.com
Sample trip

Cape Verde: kitesurf on Sal, hikes on Santo Antão

Nine days for a couple in January: a kitesurf course in the steady winter trade wind on Sal, then the green crater valleys and cliff paths of Santo Antão.

9 days, 8 nightsFor a coupleGuesthouses and a valley innKitesurf and mountain hiking
SalSalMindeloMindeloPaul valleyPaul valleyPonta do SolPonta do Sol
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January is the heart of the windy season in Cape Verde: steady trade winds, warm water and almost no rain. This trip uses both sides of it. First four days on Sal, learning to kite at Kite Beach, where the reef keeps the water shallow and the wind blows clean. Then a short hop to Santo Antão, the greenest and steepest island of the archipelago, for walks down a volcanic crater into the Paul valley and along a cliff path to the most beautiful village in the islands.

Arrive on Sal

Day1

Getting there

Fly into Sal (SID). A taxi to Santa Maria takes about 20 minutes; the trade wind meets you at the aircraft door.

Where you're staying

Branco Suites, a small whitewashed guesthouse of rooms and holiday apartments a few streets back from the beach in Santa Maria, close enough to walk to the sea and far enough from the main street to sleep.

  • Four nights; rooms open onto shaded patios and a roof terrace
  • Rated 9.6 on Booking.com from about 400 reviews
The entrance patio
A double room
The roof terrace
A shaded patio
An apartment living room

Photos: booking.com (property photos)

Evening

A first grilled tuna on the Santa Maria waterfront and an early night: the kite school picks you up at nine.

First day at Kite Beach

Day2

The day

Your course starts at Kite Beach Water Sports Center, the school founded at Kite Beach by the kitesurfing world champion Mitu Monteiro and Djo Silva. Inside the reef the water is shallow at low tide, which is why we send beginners here and not to the deeper bay in Santa Maria.

  • Three 2-hour sessions over three days, two of you with one instructor: 215 euros a person, equipment included (2026 price list)
  • They collect you from the hotel; if there is no wind, the lesson is refunded
  • Sessions start at 9:00, 11:30 or 14:30; the trade wind is usually strongest after midday
A beginner lesson on Kite Beach
Kites over Sal
The centre on Kite Beach
The school on the beach
Riding inside the reef

Photos: kitebeachcaboverde.com

Windy season

From November to May the trade wind blows over Sal almost every day, which is why world-tour kite events come to Ponta Preta.

Lunch

Fish of the day at the beach club on Kite Beach between sessions, with the kites going past.

Kite, then the salt crater

Day3

The day

Second kite session in the morning, then the Pedra de Lume salt pans in an old volcanic crater, where the brine is so dense you float.

Up on the board

Day4

The day

Last session of the course, then sunset at Ponta Preta, the wave spot where the pros ride.

Over to Santo Antão

Day5

Getting there

A 50-minute flight to São Vicente, the ferry from Mindelo to Porto Novo (about an hour), then a driver over the old mountain road to the Paul valley.

Where you're staying

Casa Cavoquinho, four rooms with balconies high in the Paul valley, for three nights.

Flagship day

Down into the Paul valley

Day6

Day 6 · Thu 21 Jan

The day

Your driver leaves you at dawn on the rim of the Cova crater, a volcanic bowl farmed with maize and beans at 1,100 metres. You walk to the ridge, the whole Paul valley opens below you, and the path drops in steep stone steps for two hours through clouds, terraces and banana groves.

  • About 5 km and 700 m of descent to the house, two to three hours; start at 7:00, before the cloud closes in on the ridge
  • A local guide is about 40 to 50 euros for the day (estimate); worth it for the side paths and the stories
  • Poles help on the knee-breaking stone steps
Fields on the floor of the Cova crater
The Paul valley from above
The valley down to Vila das Pombas
Terraces in the Paul valley

Photos: Wikimedia Commons (As3.1415rin, CC BY-SA 3.0; Christian Pirkl, CC BY-SA 4.0; Herbert wie, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Why so green

Santo Antão is the only Cape Verde island tall enough to catch the clouds; the north-facing valleys are green, while the south side stays bare rock.

Lunch

Halfway down, Casa Cavoquinho is where you are staying, so the walk ends at your own terrace with lunch from the house kitchen and a view straight down the valley to the sea.

  • Rated 9.4 on Booking.com from 400 reviews
  • From about 75 to 85 US dollars a night with breakfast (estimate, check live price)
The house on the valley side
The house among the trees
The garden
A room
A balcony over the valley

Photos: booking.com (property photos)

Afternoon

Walk down to a grogue distillery in the valley, where cane is still crushed in a traditional trapiche and turned into grogue.

The coastal trail

Day7

The day

From Cruzinha along the cliff path to Fontainhas and Ponta do Sol, about 15 km and the island's most famous walk.

Xôxô, then Mindelo

Day8

The day

A gentle morning walk up the Ribeira da Torre, then the afternoon ferry to Mindelo and a night of live morna music.

Where you're staying

Kira's Boutique Hotel, a calm townhouse with a roof terrace in the centre of Mindelo.

Home

Day9

Getting home

Fly home from São Vicente, via Lisbon.

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