Driving on Sal Island in Cape Verde
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We visited Sal Island in Cape Verde in December 2022. Cape Verde is a perfect winter destination with a warm climate, sunshine, and friendly locals. Since Sal Island is small and peaceful, driving yourself is a good choice. Read our driving tips in Sal.
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Cape Verde
Cape Verde, also known as Cabo Verde, is an archipelago and island country in Africa located in the central Atlantic Ocean. Cape Verde consists of ten volcanic islands. Some of these islands are popular winter travel destinations, especially for Europeans. These include the islands of Sal, Boa Vista, Sao Vicente, and Santiago. More popular nearby holiday destinations include the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores. However, Cape Verde is much more southern, making the climate pleasant even in the coldest winter months. Temperatures rise over 25 degrees, and the seawater remains warm, making it suitable for swimming.
Our Trip to Sal
We visited Sal Island in Cape Verde in December 2022. We flew from Helsinki to Amílcar Cabral International Airport in Sal with a short technical stop at Gran Canary Airport. Sunclass Airlines provided us with a great holiday flight experience at a reasonable price. The flight time was almost 10 hours, but the long flight time was not a big issue as we knew a sunny and warm destination awaited us amidst the cold Finnish winter.
Road Network in Sal
There are only four national roads on Sal Island. These roads are paved but not in perfect condition. They are still the best roads on the island.
In addition, there are rural and municipal roads. Only a small percentage of the roads in Cape Verde are paved, so driving outside the main roads is a bumpy ride. You need to drive slowly and always be alert to avoid the biggest holes on the road. Having a 4x4 car (four-wheel drive) is advisable, but you will survive with a regular car, too, as we did. However, there is a constant risk of breaking a tyre, so it is important to confirm the insurance coverage of your hire car.
On the best roads of the island, local drivers, especially taxi drivers, tend to speed because it is impossible to drive fast on rural roads. We advise you to be extra cautious while driving on the island and follow speed limits even though other drivers may overtake you. Getting fined in a foreign country is never a good travel memory.
Majority of the hotels in Sal are located in Santa Maria in the south. There is a good highway from south to north.
Traffic Safety
According to our experiences, driving in Sal feels safe. There is only a little traffic. Traffic lights are almost non-existent. National roads are in good condition, while rural roads are unpaved and rocky, so you can't drive fast.
There are only a few intersections but quite many roundabouts. Driving through the intersections is straightforward because the traffic is peaceful, and visibility is good during the daytime. We didn't drive at night time , but we can imagine how challenging it will be when there are no street lights.
Sal Island is moderately flat, so typical mountain roads are non-existent.
Traffic accident statistics in Cape Verde show that the death rate is 25 / 100 000 inhabitants, which is a high number. We guess that most accidents happen outside Sal Island, where there is more traffic.
Traffic Rules
Driving License
Foreign driving licenses with English text are accepted in Cape Verde for short-duration travellers. Others may need an international and national license. We advise contacting the car hire company if you are unsure of the validity of your driving license.
Basic Rules
In Cape Verde, you drive on the right and pass from the left. You must give way for cars from the right. Cars inside the roundabout have priority.
The basic driving rules are just like in continental Europe. However, local drivers may be pretty relaxed, so we recommend being extra cautious. Because the traffic in Sal Island is generally peaceful, it is easy to get accustomed to the local traffic.
Alcohol Limit
The alcohol limit in Cape Verde is 0.08 g/ml. In practice, you are barely allowed to drink any alcohol before driving.
Speed Limits
In urban areas, the speed limit is 50 km/h. On highways, the limit is 80 km/h. You can't even drive fast on unpaved roads because the roads have so many holes. The speed limit may also be set with a traffic sign.
Cape Verde uses km/h unit.
Traffic Signs
According to our driving experiences in Cape Verde, there are few traffic signs on Sal Island. The few signs that we saw were easy to understand. If you know traffic signs well in your home country, you won't have problems understanding the signs in Cape Verde, even though they may be slightly different.
Our Driving Experiences in Cape Verde
Hiring a Car
Usually, we compare car hire prices on Discover Cars. Because Sal Island is small, Discover Cars found no car hire companies. Luckily, our hotel cooperated with Global Africa Rent Car, so hiring a car was easy.
We recommend checking out CaboVerdeRentalCars, a specialised website for car rentals in Cape Verde. The website provides a convenient way to compare and book rental vehicles.
We decided to hire a Fiat Panda. The price was 46 euros / 24 hours, less than the average car hire price in Cape Verde. The company brought the car to our hotel at an agreed time and picked it back up the next morning.
Surprisingly, the car company accepted only cash payments. Even the deposit has to be paid in cash. The cash requirement created a major problem: Our credit card's car hire insurance was invalid as we could not pay with it. We still decided to take the risk and hired the car without the additional insurance, which was our first time doing so. The excess of the hire car was only 200 euros, which is much less than the typical excess while renting cars abroad.
The car hire company accepts payments in euros and escudos. The excess deposit payment was returned to us also in cash when we returned the car in the same condition as it was.
Navigating
We used Google Maps to navigate Sal. Google knew the roads quite well, but it didn't tell anything about the quality of the roads. Many rural roads were just paths through the desert. If we would have known this earlier, we would have hired a bigger car.
Sometimes, Google Maps proposed impossible turns. The information on Google Maps is not accurate, but good enough.
Parking
Parking is not a problem in Sal. Our hotel had many free parking places. At popular sights, there were always free parking places. Even in towns, finding a place to park the car was simpler.
One essential security matter to remember while leaving your car to the parking area regardless of where the location is: Remember to lock the doors of the vehicle and do not leave any valuables inside.
Refueling
You need to refuel the hire car before returning it. It is essential to understand the fuel policy to fill the right amount.
There are petrol stations near highways. They are manned, so tell the staff how much fuel you want. Be prepared to pay right away in cash.
Remember to tip the staff.
Driving Culture
Traffic on Sal Island is peaceful. Most local drivers follow the rules well, but some are overspeeding. When there are two lanes, local drivers tend to drive in the middle of the road and not stay in their lane; perhaps one reason is to avoid the holes in the road. In roundabouts, you must be extra careful. Taxis especially caught our attention because they often have high speeds while driving through intersections and roundabouts. And always maintain an adequate safe distance from other cars, especially in congested areas.
Where to Drive on Sal Island?
We stayed at Murdeira Village Resort. We hired a car for only one day, enough to see many attractions.
Palmeira Village
Palmeira is an idyllic village of fishermen on the northwest coast of the island. There, you can relax on the street while admiring the colourful Capeverdean houses. Why not buy souvenirs from an outdoor market or enjoy coffee?
The road from Murdeira to Palmeira is in good condition.
Blue Eye Cave
Blue Eye Cave is located on the northwest coast of Sal. There is a large opening to a cave where you can see the Blue Eye when the sun is shining at the right angle. Divers can swim in the sea in calm weather. The waves were so high during our visit that no one could swim. We replaced swimming with lunch at the lovely restaurant at the Blue Eye Cave called Restaurante Cultural Cafe Buracona.
Road from Palmeira to Blue Eye Cave is not paved.
Blue Eye Cave is unsafe for children because it lacks fences.
Salt Mines of Pedra de Lume
The village of Pedra de Lume has famous salt evaporation ponds. The salt mines are situated in the crater of an extinct volcano. It costs 5 euros to swim in the lake naturally filled with seawater. The water is so salty (the second saltiest lake in the world) that you can float without any effort to remain floating. In addition, you can take a mud bath there.
The route from Blue Eye Cave to Salinas de Pedra de Lume includes unpaved and paved roads. There are many free parking places at the entrance of Salt Mines/Salt Lake.
Shark Bay
Shark Bay on the eastern side of Sal Island is a place to see baby sharks. The route goes through rural areas, and its unpaved road has many holes. Extreme careful driving is necessary.
Local guides will help you find the baby sharks at the bay. Don't step into the water without shoes, as many sea urchins can injure you easily. There are locals at the bay renting them if you haven't one.
Common Questions
- What kind of driver's license do I need at Cape Verde?
- Any English-written license should be enough, or an international license with a local one would work, too.
- Is it challenging to drive in Cape Verde?
- According to our driving experiences on Sal Island, it is not difficult.
- Are roads paved in Cape Verde?
- Less than 50 per cent of the roads are paved.
- What kind of car should I hire in Cape Verde?
- We recommend hiring an off-road vehicle, quad, enduro motorcycle or 4X4 car since not all roads are in good condition.
- Is there public transport on Sal Island?
- There is no good public transport network. If you do not want to drive yourself, you can buy tours from GetYourGuide. These tours usually include back-and-forth transport to your hotel.
- Where to hire a car in Cape Verde?
- The most straightforward starting point is to ask for assistance at your hotel's reception.
- Is it expensive to hire a car in Cape Verde?
- The rental fee for hire cars in Sal Island, Cape Verde, ranges from 46€-70€ / 24h depending on the car type.
Bottom Line
Cape Verde's Sal Island is a safe holiday destination. The island's climate is pleasant, and there is a lot of sunshine. Sal does not have a good public transportation network, so attending tours or hiring a car are the only viable choices to explore the island. Fortunately, the locals are known for their friendliness to tourists.
Driving in Sal is moderate simply because the traffic is peaceful. Exploring the island's famous sight-seeings can be seen in 1-2 days with a hire car. Hire cars in Cape Verde are reasonably priced, and the best thing is that they give you freedom. To reach your destinations faster and for a more adventurous and comfortable ride, we recommend hiring a 4x4 car.
Have you driven in Cape Verde? Comment below with your best tip.
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