Getting between the islands

Inter-island flights are how you move with luggage. Ferries are how Santo Antão lives. Aluguer minibuses are how everyone else gets to the next town. Underestimating any of the three is how a long weekend becomes a long week.

International gates

Praia’s Nelson Mandela airport and Sal’s Amílcar Cabral are the two real international doors. Boa Vista has European winter charters. São Vicente takes some connections. Everything else is a hop. Build the long-haul around Sal or Praia, then the domestic leg. Do not assume a same-day connection through a fogged-in Fogo.

Between the islands

TACV / Cabo Verde Airlines, Bestfly and connections via Binter move people and bags. Book them as seriously as the Lisbon flight. Fog on Fogo, wind on Sal, and a single aircraft off-line cancel more often than a European shuttle. Travel on the morning flight if you have a long-haul that night.

Ferries: the São Vicente–Santo Antão run is a workhorse, the reason Mindelo and Porto Novo feel like one labour market. Brava and Fogo ferries depend on swell; they are cancelled for your own bones. Santa Luzia is not a ferry destination for visitors in the usual sense.

On land

Aluguer minibuses leave when they are full, play the radio loudly, and cost little. They are safe enough in daylight on the main routes. Taxis have airport rates; agree the price before the boot closes. A rental car on Sal and Boa Vista is straightforward. On Santo Antão you want a 4×4, daylight, and no hurry on the cobbles.

Praia traffic is a capital’s traffic. Mindelo is walkable. Santa Maria is a scooter town until you try to reach the airport with three suitcases.

How to travel like you live here

• Book the domestic flight when you book the long-haul, not “later on WhatsApp”.
• Keep a spare night in Praia or Sal if you must catch Europe the next day.
• Carry water and cash on the ferry. The kiosk is not a plan.
• Do not drive the mountain roads of Santo Antão or Fogo at night the first week.

The archipelago is ten islands. Your life will happen on one or two, with hops that need a ticket, a stamp, and a view of the weather. That is not an inconvenience. It is the geography you moved for.

Island notes for moving around

Santo Antão without the ferry timetable is a postcard. Fogo without a morning flight buffer is a missed long-haul. Brava without swell patience is a week in São Filipe. Sal to Praia is easy until the wind is not.

Keep a go-bag: passport, charger, a layer, water. The person who lives here does not improvise the Praia connection from a beach bar at 16:00.

Lecture checklist

• Long-haul and domestic booked together.
• Spare night before Europe.
• Ferry tickets as seriously as flights.
• 4×4 and daylight on Santo Antão and Fogo.
• Agreed taxi price before the boot closes.

Learn one island deeply. Visit the others with a ticket, not a hope.