Things to do in Santiago Island
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Santiago Island
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season and the best overall window, with reliable sun, swimmable seas and the festa spine of the year.
Still green from the rains with clear air and crowds not yet arrived, the connoisseur's pick.
Peak season, when harmattan dust can haze summit views and highland nights are genuinely cool.
Grogue distilling season in the Ribeira Grande and Orgaos valleys, the time for the trapiche excursion.
Best hiking window for Serra Malagueta and Pico da Antonia, with dry trails and clearer summits.
Tabanka season in the Santa Catarina and Sao Miguel interior, with village processions and dates set locally.
Rainy season, with downpours and muddy trails but the greenest hills in September and October.
What's on
- Festa de Santo Amaro Abade 15 January
Tarrafal's patron saint festival, with processions, music, food stalls and batuque at the centre.
- Tabanka June into July, dates set locally
A season of village tabankas in the Santa Catarina and Sao Miguel interior, each centred on its saint.
- Festa de Santiago Maior 25 July
The east coast festa for St James in Pedra Badejo and Santa Cruz, the best week to base on that coast.
- Festa de Sao Miguel Arcangel 29 September
Calheta de Sao Miguel's patronal festa, a fishing town celebration at the start of the green season.
Best things to do in Santiago Island
Fortaleza Real de Sao Filipe
The hilltop fortress above UNESCO listed Cidade Velha, where the island circuit should start for the view and the story.
Rua da Banana
A cobbled lane of stone and thatched houses in Cidade Velha, among the oldest European built streets in Africa.
Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosario
The 1495 church at the top of Banana Street, the most atmospheric fifteen minutes in Cidade Velha.
Museu da Resistencia
The museum in the former Tarrafal camp at Chao Bom, the island's most important and sobering historic stop.
Mercado de Assomada
Santiago's great interior market on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the agricultural heart of the island circuit.
Museu da Tabanka
The small museum in Cha de Tanque that explains tabanka, Santiago's procession, drumming and flag festival tradition.
Jardim Botanico Nacional Grandvaux Barbosa
The only botanical garden in Cabo Verde, at Sao Jorge, holding endemic plants on the interior road to Assomada.
Where to stay in Santiago Island
Praia
capital base and the island's only top end, cross referenced to praia.md
Prainha and the Plateau hold the flagship, mid range and budget hotels and all capital eating, detailed in praia.md.
Tarrafal
beach nights and the northern circuit
The island's best beach town, with its one boutique hotel, pensoes and fish restaurants, parked by sunset.
Cidade Velha
one atmospheric night inside the UNESCO town
Early light on Banana Street and the fortress before day tours, traded against early closing and no nightlife.
Rui Vaz and Assomada, central highlands
hikers and market day timing
A mountain quinta at the Pico da Antonia trailhead and town pensoes in Assomada for Wednesday and Saturday market.
Pedra Badejo, east coast
plantation country and fishing villages
The east coast's one hotel of scale, for Calheta, Santa Cruz and the coastal return road without nightly Praia returns.
Think twice about
- Sucupira market fringe and port fringe, Praia
Do not base there; read the safety tips for Praia before you go.
- Calheta de Sao Miguel as a whole trip base
A rewarding circuit stop with very thin lodging and eating; visit it from Tarrafal or Pedra Badejo instead.
- Mountain roads after dark, island wide
Unlit, winding roads shared with animals and unlit vehicles; plan every circuit day to be parked by sunset.
Best restaurants in Santiago Island
King Fisher Village Restaurant
The splurge table outside the capital, seafood and Mediterranean cooking on a terrace above Tarrafal bay.
Restaurante Batuku
A restaurant on Rua da Banana in Cidade Velha for grilled octopus, tuna and a slow lunch after the fortress.
Sol e Luna Restaurante
A seafront seafood restaurant in Tarrafal, the default town dinner for grilled fish at honest prices.
Pensao Asa Branca Restaurant
The pensao dining room in Assomada, the reliable sit down market day lunch of cachupa and grilled fish.
Restaurante Mar di Baxu
A beach restaurant by Mar di Baxu in Tarrafal for grilled fish and cold drinks at local prices.
Restaurante Rei do Peixe
A small seafood restaurant in Tarrafal town where the menu is the morning's landing, grilled simply.
Assomada Market Food Stalls
Cooked stalls in Assomada market on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the cheapest credible lunch on the circuit.
Pedra Badejo Fish Restaurants and Coconut Stalls
Harbour fish grills and roadside coconut stalls in Pedra Badejo, the east coast cheap eat as a pattern.
Outdoor things to do in Santiago Island
Parque Natural da Serra Malagueta
Santiago's greenest high ground, a moderate guided hike among endemic plants and birds with cooler air.
Pico da Antonia
Santiago's highest summit at 1,392 metres, a serious guided climb from Rui Vaz for island wide views.
Praia do Tarrafal
Santiago's most beautiful beach, a calm palm backed bay in a fishing village that rewards a stay, not just a day trip.
Ribeira Grande de Santiago Valley
The green valley behind Cidade Velha, walked for banana and sugarcane country and grogue distilleries in season.
East Coast Road, Pedra Badejo and Calheta de Sao Miguel
The rugged east coast circuit leg through fishing villages, Calheta and Pedra Badejo plantation country.
Praia de Sao Francisco
A broad, quiet bay east of Praia, the locals' calmer alternative for a half day by the sea on the circuit.
Pe de Poilao
A giant kapok tree near Boa Entrada, said locally to be over 500 years old, a shaded stop on the Tarrafal road.
Private Island Circuit
A private car and guide looping Cidade Velha, Assomada, Serra Malagueta, Tarrafal and the east coast in one day.
Best hotels in Santiago Island
King Fisher Village
The eco boutique hotel at Ponta de Atum in Tarrafal, the best address outside Praia, with pool and sea views.
Baia Verde Resort
The mid range beach option in Tarrafal, a step down from King Fisher with the beach on foot.
Sol e Luna
Simple rooms by a well liked seafront restaurant in Tarrafal, the classic budget pattern of sleeping where you eat.
Pousada Nacional Sao Pedro
A small bed and breakfast inside UNESCO listed Cidade Velha, for the town in early light before day tours arrive.
Quinta da Montanha
A mountain quinta at Rui Vaz with valley views and a restaurant, the base for an early Pico da Antonia start.
Pensao Asa Branca
The practical highland town pensao in Assomada, with restaurant and bar, timed for Wednesday or Saturday market.
Residencial Cosmos
The budget town base in Assomada, simple central rooms for the market and the aluguer station.
Hotel Falucho Paradise Beach
The east coast's one hotel of scale at Pedra Badejo, a base for plantation country and fishing villages.
Is Santiago Island expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CVE 5,500 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CVE 11,000 a person |
| Splurge | CVE 26,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Parque Natural da Serra Malagueta: a few days ahead
- Pico da Antonia: a few days ahead
- Ribeira Grande de Santiago Valley: a few days ahead
- Private Island Circuit: a few days ahead
- King Fisher Village: weeks ahead
- Baia Verde Resort: a few days ahead
- Pousada Nacional Sao Pedro: a few days ahead
- Quinta da Montanha: a few days ahead
- Book King Fisher Village in Tarrafal first, especially November to June and around the January festa.
- Book a private driver or rated island day ahead in high season, and Quinta da Montanha for a summit start.
- Buy inter island flights early in festival weeks, when they sell out.
Is Santiago Island safe?
- Do not drive mountain roads at night; be parked by sunset and walk only lit central streets in small towns.
- Emergency numbers are police 132, medical 130 and fire 131; the main hospital is in Praia.
- Swim where locals swim and obey beach flags, because strong currents and undertows are common on Santiago coasts.
Santiago Island travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Sprinting the whole island in one day tour, which turns Tarrafal into a photo stop against the clock.
- Expecting a resort island: there is no all inclusive strip, beach club scene or golf course on Santiago.
- Swimming the east coast on a photograph's evidence, when currents are strong and many beaches have no lifeguard.
- Driving back over the mountains after a Tarrafal sunset instead of staying for it.
Getting around Santiago Island: public transport and more
- Loop the island: Praia, Cidade Velha, Assomada, Serra Malagueta, Tarrafal, then back down the east coast.
- Aluguers leave when full from Sucupira and town stations, at a few hundred escudos a leg, cheap and slow.
- A car with driver booked through a hotel beats self drive for market day timing and mountain roads.
- Build a buffer night in Praia before any international flight; inter island connections have no same day rescue.
Who Santiago Island suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Santiago Island your trip
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