Sal

There is something pleasing about an island named after its principal export. Sal means salt, and the salt is still there inland, lying in pink pans inside an old volcanic crater — although most arrivals only nod at it on the way to the beach. The beach is what they came for: eight kilometres of pale sand on the south coast, the Atlantic on one side, low resort buildings on the other, and a wind that hasn't stopped blowing for any of the visitors yet.

When to go

Sal is warm year-round, which is the point of coming. Daytime temperatures sit in the mid-20s in winter and high-20s in summer, with trade winds keeping it from feeling oppressive. The kitesurfing season runs November to April, which is also the calmest weather for everything else: clear skies, low humidity, comfortable nights. What people don't always mention is the harmattan, a dust haze that drifts in from the Sahara between December and February, occasionally turning the sky white for a few days at a time. The wetter months are August to October, though "wet" is relative on a desert island: even the rainiest month tends to deliver showers rather than real downpours.

What it's actually like

There is a difference between Santa Maria and the rest of Sal. Santa Maria is where the resorts are: beach hotels, dive shops, bars, and a pier where fishermen still gut their catch in the afternoon while tourists watch. Cachupa, the national slow-cooked stew of corn, beans, and whatever meat or fish was to hand, is on every menu and worth eating at least once. The rest of the island is open desert, dusty and almost treeless, with three places worth a detour: the pink salt pans of Pedra de Lume, an old volcanic crater where you can float in waist-deep brine; Buracona, a natural rock pool on the northwest coast known as the Blue Eye when it lights up turquoise at midday; and Espargos, the gritty inland airport town where Cape Verdean life carries on regardless of who has just flown in.

The neighbourhood you want

Stay in Santa Maria, on the south coast. Beach-facing accommodation along the eight-kilometre strip is the obvious draw, but the town's inland streets are walkable in fifteen minutes end to end, so any base within that radius works. The pier end (east) feels like an older fishing village; the west is newer resort. Streets around the central square get noisy after dark; if sleep matters, a block or two back is enough buffer. Espargos and the airport are a twenty-minute taxi ride inland, not where you want to base yourself.

Don't miss

Visit Pedra de Lume late in the afternoon. The pink salt pans sit inside an old volcanic crater on the east coast, reached by a short drive and a ten-minute walk through tunnels cut into the rock. Entry is a few euros. The brine is so dense you float without effort, which sounds like a tourist gimmick until you do it. Time the visit for an hour before sunset for the best light. Bring water and a towel.