Things to do in Santo Antão
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Santo Antão
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry hiking season and the best overall window, with dry trails and clear views.
Greenest early months after the rains, with lush valleys and clean light.
Peak walking season, when trades blow strongest and the ferry crossing can be choppy.
The quiet connoisseur window, warm and dry with valleys still green.
São João in Porto Novo fills rooms and ferries, so book months ahead.
Rainy season and the worst window, with slippery or damaged trails but the greenest hills in September and October.
What's on
- São João Baptista 23 to 25 June
Porto Novo's pilgrimage festival with drumming, the kola san jon dance and a pilgrimage walk from Ribeira das Patas.
- Carnival February or March
Street celebrations in Porto Novo and Ribeira Grande, with the headline northern carnival across the water in Mindelo.
- New Year 31 December to 1 January
A quiet walking island new year of full guesthouses in season and empty trails on 1 January.
Best things to do in Santo Antão
Ribeira Grande
The northern valley town and transport hub, worth a morning walk for its market, church and painted streets.
Ponta do Sol
The northernmost town in Cape Verde, a small fishing harbour and seafront that ends a walking day well.
Fontainhas
A row of painted houses on a ridge above the sea, reached on the coastal path or the cobbled cliff road.
Vila das Pombas
Paul's valley town at the valley mouth, with the town hall, small market and alugueres up the valley.
Porto Novo
The ferry arrival town and São João festival centre, worth the hour your ferry buffer gives you anyway.
Vale do Paul
The greenest valley in Cape Verde, walked slowly between hamlets, terraces and a grogue distillery.
Sinagoga
A coastal road village named for a historic synagogue, a short stop that opens an Atlantic trading story.
Where to stay in Santo Antão
Ponta do Sol
first stays, couples, widest dinner choice
The northernmost town with the island's widest choice of beds and restaurants and the coastal path at the door.
Paul valley
walkers and longer stays
Valley guesthouses on a breakfast and shared dinner rhythm, with the Cova descent ending at your door.
Ribeira Grande
working town base, valley splitting
A real town with fewer visitor beds, a thinner dinner choice and the guesthouse table as the plan.
Porto Novo
ferry buffer nights, São João, west side trips
The functional port town with the island's largest hotels, an hour from the green north by road.
Cha de Igreja and Tarrafal de Monte Trigo
multi day walking overnights
Simple trail guesthouses where you eat what the house cooks, with Tarrafal's black sand bay for a longer remote stay.
Think twice about
- Porto Novo as a northern walking base
Not unsafe, just an hour of mountain or coastal road added to every northern walking day. Sleep in Ponta do Sol or Paul instead.
- Monte Trigo as a base
No road in or out, few beds and no fallback if the fishing boat does not run. Visit on the Tarrafal walk, sleep in Tarrafal.
Best restaurants in Santo Antão
Casa Maracuja
The Paul valley rooftop restaurant for cachupa, seafood rice and passion fruit drinks, so book in season.
Caleta
The Ponta do Sol seafood table with Atlantic views, the default first night dinner for a town base.
Gato Preto
A small Ponta do Sol restaurant cooking local dishes with care, which also organises tailor made treks.
Divin'Art
A French influenced table on the Ribeira Grande side, the change of pace in a grilled fish week.
Black Mamba
An Italian and local restaurant in Paul at true cheap prices, the casual lunch of a valley day.
Outdoor things to do in Santo Antão
Cova de Paul
The farmed volcanic crater above Paul, start of the essential descent into the greenest valley in Cape Verde.
Cruzinha
End of the classic coastal path from Ponta do Sol, via Fontainhas, Corvo and a black sand turtle beach.
Monte Trigo
A roadless fishing village reached on foot from Tarrafal, with a fishing boat back if the sea allows.
Alto Mira
A high green farming valley in the dry west, walked with Ribeira das Patas on a driver and guide day.
Topo de Coroa
The island summit at 1,979 metres, a guided dawn hike with island wide views on a clear day.
Xoxo
Village at the foot of a long steep descent from Agua das Caldeiras into the Ribeira da Torre valley.
Best hotels in Santo Antão
Tiduca Hotel
The most complete hotel in Ponta do Sol, with restaurant, bar and terrace by the harbour end of town.
Coracao Ponta do Sol
A small boutique style hotel in Ponta do Sol with a top floor view over the town and the sea.
Aldeia Manga Eco Lodge
An eco lodge in the Paul valley where communal breakfasts and dinners are part of the stay for walkers.
Casa Cavoquinho
A guesthouse at the head of the Paul valley where the Cova descent ends, with garden, terrace and bar.
Kasa d'Vizin
A small valley guesthouse in Eito with balconies, within walking distance of Vila das Pombas restaurants.
Residencial Penedo
A small family hotel in Ribeira Grande with valley views, the town's simple and friendly walker base.
Hotel Santantao Art Resort
Porto Novo's large hotel by the port town, a comfortable ferry base for early sailings and São João.
Mamiwata Eco Village
An eco village overnight at the end of the coastal path day, where walkers eat at the house table.
Is Santo Antão expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CVE 5,500 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CVE 9,500 a person |
| Splurge | CVE 17,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Cova de Paul: a few days ahead
- Cruzinha: a few days ahead
- Monte Trigo: a few days ahead
- Alto Mira: a few days ahead
- Topo de Coroa: a few days ahead
- Xoxo: a few days ahead
- Tiduca Hotel: a few days ahead
- Coracao Ponta do Sol: a few days ahead
- Book ferry tickets and Paul and Ponta do Sol rooms weeks ahead in the November to June walking season.
- Book guides for Cova to Paul, the coastal path, Topo de Coroa and Monte Trigo days ahead.
- Arrange the Monte Trigo fishing boat return before you walk, never on arrival.
- Reserve Casa Maracuja for dinner in season.
Is Santo Antão safe?
- Emergency numbers are police 132, medical 130 and fire 131.
- The serious risks are trails, sea and sun: real walking shoes, two litres of water, and a guide for the remote west.
- Medical care on the island is basic and the nearest large hospital is in Mindelo, so carry evacuation insurance.
Santo Antão travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The day trip skim that sees viewpoints only and misses the walking that is the island's substance.
- Treating Tarrafal de Monte Trigo as a beach resort base, when its offer is a guesthouse, a black sand bay and silence.
- Drinking grogue like beer at a Paul distillery before an afternoon descent.
- Starting the coastal path or the Cova descent late, in heat, without enough water.
Getting around Santo Antão: public transport and more
- There is no airport: the Mindelo to Porto Novo ferry, about one hour and roughly twice daily, is the only way in or out.
- Never plan Santo Antão against a same day flight home, because the channel crossing can be cancelled for rough seas.
- The old mountain road via Cova and the newer coastal road via Vila das Pombas are the two routes north from Porto Novo.
- Alugueres leave when full and thin out after mid afternoon, so book trailhead pickups through your guesthouse the night before.
- Cash in escudos is the operating system outside the larger hotels, and offline maps are essential on trails.
Who Santo Antão suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Santo Antão your trip
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