Cape Verde Holiday Reviews

Santa Maria has some beautiful sights to sea. I advise anyone to do the jeep trips and do some sight seeing.

Did not like Santa Maria at all. This was primarily because of the stall owners. They patrol the town looking for tourists and then drag them to their stalls in their market and you are exposed to very high prices and hard selling techniques. In the end we had to be rude and told them we had no interest and their stuff was not very good. We did go into a couple of the established shops and the prices were reasonable and there was no pressure. The beaches are excellent but the town is poor. On the way back we took a taxi and upon opening the door the window shattered. The taxi driver took us back to the hotel then started bugging me to help him pay for the window. I had to tell him to forget it. The taxis are not in good condition and there was obviously an internal fault with the door. I did however not feel threatened and had Santa Maria been any better I would have gone again but it wasn't and we didn't.

The resort is very small. People are very friendly, wanting to practice their English and for you to buy from them. They do accept No, but it takes some time. They are persistent but in a non-offence way. I personally enjoyed the bartering but I only did it once. Knowing you had to go through this every time stopped me from going into the resort too many times. It is a small fishing place but has a number of restaurants, bars and a few shops and a lot of African traders. There is a lot of development going on. The beaches are fairly empty and you can enjoy the peace and quiet. The sea is beautiful, but there can be strong waves and quite a bit of wind. We went at the end of july and from August the rainy season starts. Not a lot of rain, but a lot of clouds so we did have a number of overcast days. It was still very warm though and also stayed warm in the evenings.

Not really much to do at all, there were a couple of trips and the catamaran was good, but that was about all we did, as our son was too young for the speed boat trip, something we really wanted to do, but were not allowed to. Not really much to do in the town, so overal, best to take lots of books / games to amuse yourself with durung the day / evenings.

nothing to do or see apart from locals fishing. Very few bars and restaurants. beach very good. Surf shack bar/restaurant very expensive for what you get.

I don't really know what to say, It was all amazing and i would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a holiday, its jus amazing and i think people should be able to come to island and have a look for it themselfs, see how beautiful it is.

The island itself is wonderful with white sand beaches and turquoise sea. The hotel cannot really be faulted, my only complaint would be that its not safe to venture out the resort and that the hotel shops are way too expsenvise. Other than that we really enjoyed our experience.

Boa Vista is fairly new to package holidays and as such tourism is in its infancy. The hotel was all inclusive, there was not much outside of the hotel in terms of nightlife/restaurants.

There isn't much to do beyond the hotel complex as the area is still being developed but the beach is stunning, the pool has a swim up bar with a selection of delicious aloholic and non alcoholic cocktails. Throughout the day there were a range of activities laid on by the really lovely Riu staff, there really was something for everyone, even us and we hate organised fun! Turtle walk on the beach was disappointing as we didnt see anything - very expensive if you don't see anything and an agonising walk on the beach stumbling in the dark over rocks. Sure we would feel differently if we had been luckier. Food was delicious and loads of restaurants to try with different styles of cuisine. A really great holiday, watch out for the wind whipping up the sand on the beach, but it will keep you lovely and cool, the sea is very powerful, enter with caution as the waves will floor you!

The location was beautiful and there were loads of things to do. The prices were reasonable and the food in the restaurants was very delicious. I cannot wait for our return trip there.

very good resort - everyone catered for everyone well. Well laid out and spacious to accomodate hundreds of people.

the resort is a new quiet resort which is just taking off no shops around but give it a couple of years and youwill see a big diference still worth visiting

Nothing to do on Cape Verde although stunning beaches. The bars in Santa Maria charge London Prices its £4.00 for a beer although in amazing settings worth the money if you are willing to pay for it.

Going into Santa Maria town is something you proberly should do, however be prepared for some hassle to go see every man and his dogs shop, if you enjoy this and bartering down prices excellent, if not, a lot of polite no thank you's will be coming. A trip around the island is well worth it, you will get a little grubby, the island is very dry and dusty as you are driven around, well worth seeing the sharks. We booked with Elvis on the beach at the Riu Hotel. The place is still developing so dont expect the trappings of modern citys, do expect a poor town trying to develop.

Be prepared for some pestering from the locals to go see their shop! a polite no has to be repeated, however they are just trying to make a living. Santa Maria is still developing so dont expect all the modern trappings, the town is well worth a visit.