Boa Vista Island

Boa Vista translates from Portuguese as ‘good view’ and it is clear why the name was given to the island when you see the long stretches of beautiful white sandy beaches and turquoise coloured seas. Boa vista has more kilometers of white sandy beaches than any other island in Cape Verde. Praia Cabral, Praia Chaves, Santa Monica and Curral Velho are some of the fabulous sandy beaches on the island.

These beaches, along with the new international airport, have helped attract new tourism from Europe to Boa Vista. Large hotel chains are being constructed and Boa Vista is currently gaining in popularity as a tourist destination. One of the newly finished hotels is the Riu Karamboa hotel –which has 750 rooms. Located on the beautiful beach of Praia Chaves, this hotel is larger than the other Riu hotels already located in Cape Verde The Riu hotel has since started construction on its second hotel in Boa Vista. This one will consist of 2000 hotel rooms and will be the largest hotel in Cape Verde. It is located in the south of Boa Vista in a region called Lacacao. There are some new resorts being planned alongside the Riu hotel in an area called Santa Monica (nest to Lacacao).

Santa Monica has some 8 km of pristine white sands and has been earmarked by the Government of Cape Verde for real estate development. Some resorts are already in the planning stages of development and one of the first to be released is Santa Monica Beach Resort and Spa which will consist of a brand name hotel as well as a modern luxury frontline resort.

The Iberostar hotel chain has also constructed a hotel on Boa Vista (Praia Chanves). This luxury six star hotel again is sited on a wonderful white sandy beach and is offering luxury service and accommodation to visitors. The Iberostar hotel has announced that they will construct another four hotels in Boa vista.

Boa Vista is an interesting island. It is the only one in Cape Verde that has a desert at its centre. This is a result of the desertification of the island many centuries ago which left Boa vista barren. One of the few industries that developed in Boa Vista is salt production and small scale agriculture. While these continue on a very small scale, they represent but a minute part of Boa Vista’s economy. Today, tourism has become the driving factor of Boa Vista’s economy and it will shape the future of the island. Possibly one of beachfront all-inclusive hotels and real estate resorts.

Boa Vista is a flat island measuring some 600 km2. One of the facts of Boa Vista is that despite being the third largest island in Cape Verde, it is also one of the least populated – only 5,000 inhabitants. In terms of landscape, Boa Vista is barren, wind-scorched with the odd smattering of greenery dotted around. It has only a couple of small mountains – the highest being Monte Estancia at 380m high. These are predominately local residents, however new inhabitants have migrated to Boa Vista to work in the new hotels.

The mass of the population lives in Sal Rei, the Capital. This is a small fishing village located close to Estoril beach, which is growing in residents and housing. Fishing remains an integral part of local life in Sal Rei and there is a little jetty for small boats to dock. Sal Rei is a quaint little village which has a large square as its focal point. Recently the square has received a facelift and is now a very pretty part of the village. Visitors can find all types of shops in Sal Rei. Cafes, banks, bars, restaurants and gift shops, can all be found in the village.

North of Sal Rei is Cabral beach. This area has developed over the alst few years with a number of real estate developments being built there. Vila Cabral, Creola Sands, Sabi Sands, Por do Sol are just some of the projects being built here. However there is a nice hotel called the marine club located at the end of Cabral beach which has excellent views. Close to the Marine club are the salt fields of Bao Vista. These can still be seen from the road, but will surely disappear in time to come as real estate developers move into the area.

Property investors have taken a keen interest in Boa vista. While the island is still very undeveloped and has poor infrastructure, the future for Boa Vista looks good as the Government prepares to assist the road and electricity supplies for the new hotels.. It has enough land to develop and there are a number of resorts waiting to be constructed there such as Baguincho. There is also another project called Palm View Resort which is anticipated to be a seven star resort. However there continues to be much doubt as to whether this one will ever start construction. More real estate resorts will be released in Boa Vista in the future and it makes an appetising wait to see what the developers will build. One hopes that the municipality and SDTIBM (the new land governance for Boa Vista and Maio) they do not permit low quality resorts to be built in Boa Vista.

An interesting part of Boa Vista is the south of the island. Currently inaccessible to all transport other than 4 x 4 jeeps and other heavy vehicles, the southern region boasts Boa Vista’s best beaches. Santa Monica has a 5km stretch of spectacular unspoilt white sandy beach. Excursion trips run on a daily basis taking tourists to the area, but this area of beach front will not stay undeveloped for long. The lands have already been divided to real estate plots with ambitions to sell them to hotel groups and real estate developers.

The weather in Boa Vista is very much like Sal and Maio. Warm all year round with very little rain. It has a short windy season between January and April.

The future looks good for Boa Vista from a touristic standpoint. It has already received more trade and business due to tourism and this looks set to continue as the large hotel chains line up for locations on the island.

For people looking to buy a property in Boa Vista, the new resorts in Santa Monica offer a great opportunity on a wonderful island. To see more on these, click on our new developments page on the website.