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Sal is the Cape Verde island of salt, sea and sun. Most visitors know it for its beaches, but the island also hides a salt pan inside a volcano crater, a rock pool that glows when the sun is high and a bay where lemon sharks come close to shore.
Sal is an island of Cape Verde and forms a municipality of its own, in the Barlavento group of the archipelago. Its name is the Portuguese word for salt, and the salt pans explain why. Espargos is the city on the island, and Santa Maria, on the coast, is where many of the trips begin.
Pedra de Lume is a village on Sal, and the salt ponds that bear its name lie inside the crater of an extinct volcano. Salt has been taken from them for generations. You can still see the white heaps beside the pools and the old wooden structures once used to move the salt. The water is so salty that you float in it, and the site offers a swim in the crater, so bring swimwear.
Buracona is a natural pool on the coast of Sal. Next to it is the Blue Eye, an opening in the rock through which the sun reaches the sea water. Around midday, when the sun is high, the water lights up in a deep blue.
Shark Bay is where the island tours go to see lemon sharks in the shallows, safely from the shore. The routes also take in the bay of Murdeira, the fishing port of Palmeira, the murals of Espargos and the hill of Monte Leão, which you can also reach on foot along the west coast.
Most people see the island on a full day. The small group guided day links the natural pools, Shark Bay with its lemon sharks, Buracona, Pedra de Lume, Murdeira, Palmeira and Espargos. A full day with lunch and fees included is rated moderate and adds Monte Leão and the village of Terra Boa. If you prefer your own pace, the private full day with a local guide is rated easy, with the salt flats, Shark Bay, Buracona and a lunch stop in Palmeira.
For something quieter, a guided sunset hike walks from Santa Maria along the west coast to Monte Leão, past Ponta Preta and Calheta. It is rated moderate.
Every trip that passes through here is also listed on the Sal destination page.
Yes, in the crater itself. The water is dense, so floating takes no effort, and all three full day tours stop at the salt pans.
Around midday. That is when the sunlight reaches the water through the opening in the rock.
Yes. Shark Bay, where lemon sharks swim in the shallows, is a stop on two of the full day tours: the small group one and the private one.
Yes, at sunset, from Santa Maria to Monte Leão. It is rated moderate.
Sources: Wikidata (CC0).
