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Boa Vista is the Cape Verde island of dunes, shipwrecks and long empty beaches. Away from the resort strip it is a landscape of sand and sea, with small villages, a desert of its own and beaches where loggerhead turtles come ashore. The easiest way to see it is in a 4x4.
Boa Vista is an island of Cape Verde and forms a municipality of its own, in the Barlavento group of the archipelago. Sal Rei is the city on the island, and it is where the trips below start. The rest of Boa Vista is open country of low hills, dry valleys, white dunes and a long coastline.
The Viana Desert is a protected stretch of golden dunes inland. The trade winds carry sand across from the Sahara, and the dunes shift slowly with the wind, so their shapes are never quite the same. Visitors walk barefoot over the sand, with the volcanic hills of the island on the horizon.
On Atalanta beach lies the wreck of the Cabo Santa Maria, a Spanish cargo ship that ran aground decades ago and has been rusting on the sand ever since. It is one of the best known sights on Boa Vista, and the trips often pair it with the desert. On the south-west coast, Santa Mónica is one of the longest white sand beaches in Cape Verde, and the tours stop there for a swim.
Boa Vista is one of the most important nesting sites of the loggerhead turtle in the world, and the nesting season runs from June to October. Inland, Rabil is a town known for its clay and weaving workshops, and the deserted village of Curral Velho shows how drought shaped island life. Some routes also reach the Varandinha sea cave, carved out by the waves, and cross the Morro de Areia nature reserve.
For a full day, the wild beaches and Viana Desert tour passes the Fonte Vicente oasis and Curral Velho, then reaches the dunes and João Barrosa beach, which can only be reached by 4x4, with a traditional lunch in Fundo das Figueiras. The day trip with sand dunes, shipwreck and sea turtles is rated easy. It takes in Turtle Bay and Shark Bay, the desert, Morro de Areia, Santa Mónica and the wreck, with lunch in Sal Rei and hotel pickup.
Two half days cover the highlights. The half-day 4x4 tour visits a clay workshop in Rabil, crosses the dunes on foot, stops at the wreck and ends at a chapel with views over the Atlantic. The 4x4 tour to Santa Mónica adds a swim, the Varandinha cave, a handicraft workshop and Povoação Velha, the old capital, and no previous experience is needed.
Every trip that passes through here is also listed on the Boa Vista destination page.
Yes. The half-day 4x4 tour is built around those two stops, with a craft workshop and a chapel on the way.
Turtles nest on the beaches between June and October. The easy day trip includes Turtle Bay, where they are spotted along the coast.
No. The Santa Mónica tour asks for none, and the full day with the wreck is rated easy.
Trips start from Sal Rei, and both full day tours include hotel pickup.
Sources: Wikidata (CC0).
