Choose by the kind of week you want. Sal is the easy island, with the widest choice of places to stay, eat and book a day out, and salt pans you can float in. Boa Vista is the quieter island of dunes and protected beaches, best seen by 4x4.
On Sal, the official averages of Cabo Verde's meteorological institute give daytime highs of about 24–27 °C (75–81 °F) from November to March, with one rainy day a month at most. In other words, a winter week on Sal is warm and dry.
Despite the name, the town of Sal Rei lies on a different island. Sal Rei is on Boa Vista: east of the town lies the Boa Esperança Natural Reserve, a broad belt of dunes and shifting sand that includes Atalanta beach.
Sal is the most visited island, with the most services, restaurants and excursions, and its tourist centre is the town of Santa Maria, the country's largest resort.
The Pedra de Lume salt pans on Sal sit beside the caldera of an old volcano and take in seawater through an underground channel; the salt they produce gave the island its name. The salt pans are a protected landscape and are on Cabo Verde's tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage. On Sal you can float in the very salty water of the Pedra de Lume salt pans and see young lemon sharks in the shallows off the east coast.
For a day around the island there is the Full-Day Tour in Sal Island with Lunch and Fees Included or the Full-Day Private Tour in Sal Island with Local Guide. The Sal Island Full-Day Guided Tour with Natural Pools & Sharks adds the natural pools and the sharks, and the Guided Sunset Hike to Mount Lion in Sal Island is a shorter outing at the end of the day.
Our older guide to Sal has more about the island.
Boa Vista is best explored by 4x4: local operators in Sal Rei drive out to the dunes, and a day among the dunes of the Viana Desert makes a memorable outing.
In the far south-west of Boa Vista, the Morro de Areia Natural Reserve runs from Praia de Chaves to the coast of Santa Mónica. Boa Vista's Northern Natural Park is the largest protected area on the island, and the natural values it protects include turtle nesting areas.
The Boa Vista Full-Day Tour: Wild Beaches & Viana Desert and the Boa Vista Island: Half-Day 4x4 Tour to Viana Desert & Shipwreck cross the Viana desert, while the Boa Vista Island 4x4 Guided Tour to Santa Monica Beach and the Boa Vista Half-Day Quad Tour to Santa Monica Beach head for Santa Mónica.
Our older article on Boa Vista covers the island's beaches in more detail.
Loggerhead turtles nest on Boa Vista's beaches in the hot months, from about mid-June to September, and the nests hatch from August to November. A week from December to March falls outside both, so plan turtle watching for a summer trip instead.
Travellers from the UK, for example, must complete the pre-registration and pay the airport security fee (TSA) on the official online platform at least 5 days before arrival; from 1 July 2026, anyone who arrives without it pays double the fee at the border, and children aged one and under are exempt. Rules depend on nationality, so check the official EASE portal (ease.gov.cv) when you book.
Both work for a first winter week. Pick Sal for the most services and day trips, or Boa Vista for walks on dunes and quiet protected beaches.
On the island of Boa Vista. The name confuses many visitors, but Sal Rei is not on the island of Sal.
Not from December to March. On Boa Vista the turtles nest in summer, and the last nests hatch in November.
British travellers do: the pre-registration and the airport security fee are done online on the EASE portal, ease.gov.cv, before the flight. For other passports, the portal lists the rules.
