Things to Do in Cape Verde (2026)

Cape Verde · CV

Pedra de Fora

Pedra de Fora is a striking rock formation set into the volcanic heart of Paul Valley on Santo Antão, Cape Verde. Its name translates roughly as 'the stone that stands apart,' and in a landscape carved by eruptions, terraced by centuries of farming, and softened by banana groves and sugar cane, a bold, isolated rock commands your eye the way a single note cuts through a chorus. What makes this spot special is not just the stone itself but its setting. Paul Valley looks like someone sliced a tropical village into lunar rock and then planted bananas in the wounds. Black volcanic ridges leap from the slopes, patched with improbably green terraces. Morning air carries mineral grit, wood-smoke from outdoor kitchens, and the sweet ferment of just-pressed cane juice. Pedra de Fora sits in this collision of fire and fertility — a geological punctuation mark in one of the most dramatically alive landscapes in the Atlantic.

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River

Cape Verde · CV

Ribeira da Cidade

Ribeira da Cidade is the local name for the seasonal watercourse that runs through old Cidade Velha on Santiago island — the final stretch of the Ribeira Grande de Santiago, one of Cape Verde's few valley streams and the very feature that gave the first European colonial town in the tropics its original name, Ribeira Grande. Rising high in the central mountains near Monte Tchota and gathering through groves of baobab, mango and former sugar land, it reaches the coast at the bay beneath the Royal Fortress of São Filipe. Following it from the old quarter to the Atlantic takes you straight through the living heart of a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Beach

Cape Verde · CV

Tarrafal Beach

Tarrafal Beach is Santiago island's answer to a Caribbean cove: a wide, palm-fringed crescent of soft sand tucked into a sheltered bay at the northern tip of Cape Verde's main island. On a coast where the Atlantic usually breaks in long ocean swells, this bay stays calm and clear enough for proper swimming, which is exactly why locals and travellers rate it the finest beach on Santiago and one of the best in the country. Coconut palms line the sand, fishing boats are hauled up at one end, and the steep bulk of Monte Graciosa rises behind the headland to give the whole scene a green volcanic backdrop. It rewards a slow visit. You can swim and snorkel the rocky edges where reef fish gather, hire a local fisherman's boat for a sunset lap of the bay, hike up Monte Graciosa for a 360-degree panorama, and then drive into the cool cloud forest of Serra Malagueta. Just outside town sits the island's most moving historical site, the former Tarrafal concentration camp, now a museum that reframes the easy beach day against a harder story of colonial rule and independence.

Tourist attraction

Cape Verde · CV

Shark Bay

Shark Bay — also known locally as Feijoal Bay — is a stretch of shallow, crystal-clear water on the northeast coast of Sal Island, Cape Verde, where juvenile lemon sharks glide calmly between the legs of wading visitors. It is one of the few places on Earth where you can stand knee-deep in the Atlantic and watch these sand-colored predators move through their natural nursery habitat, only metres away. The bay's exceptionally shallow, sandy seabed extends far from shore, rarely deeper than waist height. This protected environment makes it a critical breeding and nursery site where young lemon sharks spend their first years safe from open-ocean predators. For travellers, it means an intimate wildlife encounter that feels almost otherworldly — sharks circling your ankles in warm, sun-dappled water with white sand beneath your feet.

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A little more
of Cape Verde.

Pedra de Fora

Ribeira da Cidade

Tarrafal Beach

Shark Bay

Finding your next place…

A little more
of Cape Verde.

Pedra de Fora

Ribeira da Cidade

Tarrafal Beach

Shark Bay