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Boa Vista & Sal - Cape Verde

boa vista

 

Islands of Sal & Boa Vista - Windy watersports heaven 

 

2011-2012 Cape Verde Voyage Dates & Prices

 

 Sal - Shipwrecks, salt & miles of sandy beaches 

Sal is the main island in Cape Verde that Westerners visit due to the international airport and package flights from Europe. It was tipped to be the next hot destination for sun starved Europeans and Sal enjoyed a holiday home property boom just before the recession. The pace of change is now slower and the Cape Verdeans have had more time to think about how they want their tourism economy to evolve. The outer islands that Oosterschelde explores under sail are hardly touched by tourism so far.

 It has amazing white beaches and turquiose seas and the cross shore winds on the beach at Santa Maria is fast becoming a world mecca for kite surfers. The wooden jetty is used every day for local fishermen to unload their fresh fish - usually big game fish like wahoo or tuna, or some unusual crustaceans.

All you need is a pair of swimming googles to enjoy the swimming and spot small fish. Walking the three mile beach and watching the kite surfing lessons and local experts skimming along and leaping into the air is easier than having a go.

Our Schooner Oosterschelde normally starts her voyages in the fishing port of Palmeria which is closer to the airport, but she tends to finish by anchoring off Santa Maria beach. Both are easly reached by taxi from the airport.

Tall Ship Sailing Holiday & a few extra days on the beach ?

It is cheap to stay a few days on Sal either end of your voyage. There are lots of apartments and small hotels, but the town is a bit like an unfinished building site, as you move back from the waterfront.  There are plenty of resturants from basic fast food, to fresh fish, and a few high quality resturants if you seek them out. Local Cape Verdeans still live in this tourist town and sell produce and crafts at local markets. The children play on the beach, doing acrobatic flips off the pier and the local men like to show off on the exercise pull up bars.

Boa Vista - Desert Sand Dunes

Drop anchor a long way offshore at Sal Rei on Boa Vista. Hidden reefs, a strange magnetic field that play havoc with a ships compass and over 40 shipwrecks explain why. Boa Vista is the island with the epic dinghy journey to reach the shore, but it is such a unique island it is worth the trouble. An organised excursion is usually possible ashore with four wheel drive vehicles. Sinuous sand dunes and endless white beaches meet turquoise seas on the coast and shipwrecks make macabre but wild photographs. Inland drifting dunes of Saharan sand form bands of shimmering white across a red rock landscape creating a bizarre desert in the middle of the ocean. Date Palms add to the desolate scene. In the North, slaves were used to extract salt from the salt pans, but now the main industry is tourism.
 
 

Local Guide on Board

A major asset to the voyage is a local Cape Verde guide.

In 2011 the ship was joined by Ario who enjoyed pulling ropes with the guests as well as enthusiastically telling us about island life. At every anchorage he had put together either a great full day jeep safari or several independent options. He found us wild rock pools to swim in, opportunities to eat a typical meal in a Cape Verdean home, staggeringly beautiful mountain walks from crater rim to terraced fields of coffee and bananas...coastal drives through villages un touched by tourism and live music venues.

 

All itineraries are subject to weather, swell, and the usual unusual factors that create change !

Direct Flights from the UK

Thomson fly cheap weekly charter flights from London Gatwick or Manchester direct to Sal, but you may need to find holiday accommodation in Santa Maria for a few days either side of your voyage (plenty of cheap B&B or hotels you can book on the internet). Alternatively TAP airline flys scheduled flights to Sal daily.  A Cape Verde visa for UK citizens can be bought on arrival but check current regulations.

 

Download PDF -Debbie's photo diary of her Christmas 2011 Cape Verde Voyage

 
 
 
 

 

 

 Call us on 01872 580022 or drop us an e mail on skippers@classic-sailing.co.uk if you are particularly interested in the 2011-2012 Cape Verde Voyages

 windsurfing on boa vista

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