Activities and Water Sports

Islands such as Sal and Boavista have a range of water sports activity centre's. There are more water sports centre's operating along the main tourist areas such as Santa Maria on the island of Sal and Estoril Beach on the island of Boavista. Sal Island and Boavista Island will have about 80% (estimated and excludes sports fishing) of the current water sports activity centre's throughout Cape Verde, mainly because they are the main tourist destinations in Cape Verde. Most will have a full range of equipment for different levels of skill and ability and sizes, or you may want to be bring your own equipment. There are preferred places to dive, kite or windsurf on the islands, check them out on Trip Advisor and contact operators for more information.

There are other centre's that will be situated in different locations and on other islands such as Sao Vicente and Santiago. There may be fewer activities on the smaller islands. A number of water sports centre's operate out of hotels and resorts on the different islands but there may also be other centre's operating independently from hotels.

If you are looking for information on water sports or other activities on some of the other islands and if you can't find what you are looking for on this website or searching online, it would be best for you to contact your hotel or accommodation where you will be staying, as they would be in the best situation to advise on whether tours or activities are in operation and where on the island. Your contact at the accommodation may also be able to provide you with additional information if they have it available. If you are booking accommodation directly we would suggest that you email the accommodation in your own language but also translate it to Portuguese. In addition to this visit Trip Advisor, they may be able to provide information on other operators offering activities independently to those in hotels or resorts on an island. We will also provide some useful links to other resources on this website.

For those looking at having a great experience please also consider the languages spoken by staff members at any water sports centre and whether they cater more for speakers of one language than others e.g. if it is a Chinese Dive Centre they may cater in the main for tourist from China and the staff may not spend a lot of time talking or explaining things to you in your native tongue when out on a dive, or you may want to ask about making other arrangements or if there is a more suitable group, or look for another dive school. However, this could be the same anywhere else in the world offering a service or different activities. Best to always check out reviews on forums and websites as well as Trip Advisor.

There are those that still require flight only travel and then make their own separate arrangements for accommodation and activities on the islands, instead of booking package deals. At some resorts or hotels they will have their own dive or activity centres on site or on the beach to which they will direct clients. They may also have their own excursions but you may prefer to source out other service providers to suit your needs or budget.

Those seeking a fishing experience can do so from most islands, they can be organised in advance through tour operators or private companies. On Sal island there are a number of experienced fishing companies such as Captain Carlos for Deep Sea Fishing, trolling etc and Jacopo for Shore Fishing.

There are other activities on some of the islands such as hiking or bird watching on Brava, Santo Antao or other islands, but you may need to research these further. The main islands that are popular with tourists will have alternatives to water sport activities.

Whatever your preference, we hope you will enjoy your visit to the islands.