Cape Verde Holidays 2026: Cheap Deals from the UK

Cape Verde holidays on a budget are about as close as you get to a long-haul beach trip at a short-haul price, and it’s roughly six hours from the UK. The islands sit off West Africa, with year-round sun, warm sea and barely any jet lag. A week’s all-inclusive on Sal or Boa Vista in low season starts around £600pp, which undercuts plenty of winter-sun alternatives.

UK citizens get a free visa on arrival, but you must complete the EASE pre-registration online at least five days before you fly. From 1 July 2026 the airport security tax (around €31) doubles at the border if you skip it, and airlines now check for the confirmation before boarding. Check current entry rules on the GOV.UK Cape Verde travel advice page before you book.

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How much does a Cape Verde holiday cost?

The all-inclusive package is the standard way to visit, and it’s also usually the cheapest. That’s the shortcut version of Cape Verde holidays on a budget: pay once and stop totting up extras. TUI and easyJet holidays bundle charter seats with full-board beds for less than you can build the same trip independently. Browse current package holidays for live pricing. Once there, your spend depends mainly on excursions and drinks. The EASE airport tax (around €31pp) must be paid in advance online. From 1 July 2026 it doubles if you pay at the border.

When is the cheapest time to visit Cape Verde?

Cape Verde has sun all year, so the price swings come from UK demand, not the weather. The two main package islands are Sal and Boa Vista. Sal is livelier and more developed, built around the resort town of Santa Maria. Boa Vista is quieter, with vast dune-backed beaches and fewer restaurants outside the hotels. Both have direct charter flights and broadly similar prices.

Sal’s Kite Beach is one of the world’s top kitesurfing spots, with steady trade winds from December to March. If you aren’t a kite surfer, the same wind makes those months noticeably less comfortable on the beach.

May, June and September give you hot, dry weather, warm sea and the lowest prices of the year. The window most UK visitors don’t know about.

May, June and September are still the cheapest months to fly, but they aren’t always the best time to go. Time a trip around a whale season or a festival instead, and the calendar decision changes completely. That’s unusual for a beach destination, and worth knowing before you book. For more on seasonal timing generally, see our guide to where’s hot each month.

Which island should you actually pick?

A Binter or BestFly hop between islands costs £30–80 return, and it’s one of the best upgrades you can make to a standard package week. Sal and Boa Vista get every direct charter flight from the UK, so almost everyone starts there.

Santiago has the country’s actual history, Fogo has a volcano you can walk into, and São Vicente has the best live music on any island. None of the big four package operators mention any of this, because their flights only go to two of the ten islands.

For a first trip, don’t overthink Sal versus Boa Vista. The price and quality gap is small: Sal is livelier and better connected, Boa Vista is quieter and more resort-dependent. What actually changes the holiday is whether you budget one day for an inter-island trip, because staying inside the resort loop means missing most of what makes Cape Verde different from a generic winter-sun island.

Cheap flights to Cape Verde from the UK

TUI is the main operator, with direct charter flights to both Sal and Boa Vista from Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Glasgow. easyJet holidays also flies to Sal from Gatwick and Manchester. There are no low-cost direct scheduled flights, which means a package holiday usually beats booking flights and a hotel separately. The flight is about six hours each way.

For Christmas and February half-term, book four to six months ahead. TUI’s direct charter seats are limited and fill fast. For May, June or September, you can often find availability closer to the date.

Browse our cheap flight deals for the latest low fares, and our guide to the cheapest day to book flights for timing tips.

UK routes to Cape Verde

• Gatwick to Sal and Boa Vista (TUI)
• Manchester to Sal and Boa Vista (TUI)
• Birmingham, Bristol and Glasgow to Sal (TUI)
• Gatwick and Manchester to Sal (easyJet holidays)

The EASE arrival card and security fee (around €31pp) must be completed online at least five days before departure. From 1 July 2026, the fee doubles at the border for travellers who haven’t pre-registered, and airlines check for confirmation before boarding.

Where to stay in Cape Verde on a budget

Most beds are in the all-inclusive resorts of Sal and Boa Vista, but there are cheaper options. Santa Maria on Sal is compact and walkable, so a central guesthouse or aparthotel keeps transport costs near zero and puts the beach, restaurants and watersports within easy reach. Compare current options through the hotel deals search. If you are building an inter-island trip in, Boa Vista and Santiago both have solid options worth booking directly rather than assuming your Sal hotel is the only choice.

Boa Vista is more resort-dependent than Sal. Outside the all-inclusives, there are few restaurants or shops, which makes self-catering harder and all-inclusive better value.

On Sal, Santa Maria’s compact layout means a central self-catering apartment gives you real flexibility. Local esplanadas and a market keep food cheap.

Cape Verde’s best beaches

Sal and Boa Vista between them have dozens of named beaches, and the resort strip only shows you one or two of them.

Santa Maria gets the crowds, the watersports and every day-tripper on Sal, and it earns the attention. A short taxi ride finds better beaches that almost nobody on a package holiday sees.

Tarrafal on Santiago is a sheltered fishing bay where the boats still land on the sand each morning. It’s a full island-hop away, but it’s the beach locals actually rate.

1. Santa Maria (Sal): watersports, restaurants, walkable from most hotels. Busy, but busy for a reason.
2. Santa Monica (Boa Vista): 12km of near-empty sand and some of the best swimming in the archipelago. Best reached by 4×4 tour or hire car.

Santa Monica on Boa Vista runs for 12km without a single high-rise in sight, and the swimming here is some of the best in the archipelago. A hire car or 4×4 tour is the easiest way to reach it.

Shark Bay, on Sal’s east coast, is a shallow lagoon where nurse sharks drift close enough to see from the shore. No boat needed, just a short taxi from Santa Maria.

3. Tarrafal (Santiago): a sheltered fishing bay with cheap beachfront cachupa. Worth combining with a Cidade Velha day trip.
4. Shark Bay, Baía dos Tubarões (Sal): a shallow lagoon where you can see nurse sharks from the shore, no boat needed. A short taxi from Santa Maria.
5. Praia de Chaves (Boa Vista): long, wide and quiet, next to the island’s all-inclusive resorts.

Eating and drinking cheaply in Cape Verde

The price gap between tourist and local restaurants is wider here than in most European destinations. On Santa Maria’s beachfront, a main course runs £10–18. Walk five minutes inland and the same meal costs roughly half. The national dish is cachupa, a slow-cooked stew of maize, beans and fish or meat, at £4–7 in a local restaurant. Grilled fish landed that morning is rarely more than £10 a plate a street or two back from the seafront.

The local spirit is grogue, a sugar-cane rum at £1–2 a measure, and a Strela beer is £1.50–2 in a local shop against £3–4 in a tourist bar. If you plan to drink regularly, all-inclusive pays off quickly.

The esplanadas a block or two back from the seafront are where Cape Verdeans actually eat, busiest at lunch. The food is often better than the tourist strip and costs about half the price.

Local and cheap. The esplanadas a street or two back from Santa Maria seafront serve cachupa and grilled fish for £4–8. These are lively at lunch and usually have the freshest fish on the island.

Beachfront favourite. PalmBeach Tropical sits on Santa Maria beach with wood-fired pizza, a charcoal grill and a Cape Verde tasting menu around €25. Relaxed dining without a fine-dining bill.

Worth the spend. Chez Pastis is the island’s best-known fine-dining spot, tucked in a Santa Maria alley. Smoked fish carpaccio, a short wine list and a reservation you need to make ahead. Cash only.

Culture, language and local customs

Portuguese is the official language, but it’s not what you’ll hear on the street. Kriolu, Cape Verdean Creole, is the everyday language, and a few words buy more goodwill here than almost anywhere else on a package holiday map.

Sockets take the two-round-pin European plug (type C or F), not the UK three-pin. Bring an adapter, since Cape Verde isn’t one of the rare destinations where UK plugs work unmodified.

1. Olá / Oi (“oh-lah” / “oy”): hello. Oi is the more casual, everyday version.
2. Obrigadu (men say this) / Obrigada (women say this) (“oh-bree-gah-doo/dah”): thank you.
3. Kantu ki ta kusta? (“kan-too kee tah koosh-tah”): how much is it?
4. Sabi (“sah-bee”): nice, good, tasty. Used constantly about food.
5. Morabeza (“mo-rah-bay-zah”): warmth and hospitality, the value Cape Verdeans are proudest of, and the closest thing the islands have to a national motto.

Dress modestly away from the beach, particularly inland on Santiago. A tip of 10% in restaurants is appreciated, not expected. If you are invited into someone’s home, taking your shoes off at the door is the norm.

Festivals worth timing your trip around

Two of the best things to see in Cape Verde cost nothing to attend, and neither shows up in a single package holiday brochure.

Baía das Gatas on São Vicente is a free, three-day, full-moon beach festival that has run every August since 1984. Locals call it “the Woodstock of Africa”, and the 2026 edition is confirmed for 6–9 August.

Whale and turtle watching

A guided turtle nesting walk on Sal or Boa Vista costs around £15–20pp, considerably less than the £40–50 catamaran trip most visitors book instead, and it’s one of the more memorable ways to spend an evening on the islands.

Free and cheap things to do in Cape Verde

Sal and Boa Vista are flat, sun-bleached beach islands. The draw is sand and water rather than big-ticket sights, and most of the best things to do cost very little.

A catamaran day trip off Sal is the most popular excursion on the island, with snorkelling stops and lunch on board for around £40–50pp. Easy to book from Santa Maria.

For a wilder day out, the Viana Desert on Boa Vista, a pocket Sahara of wind-blown dunes, is best seen on a 4×4 island tour from around £35pp.

1. Santa Maria pier (Sal): watch the boats land the morning’s catch. Free, and the best photo opportunity on the island.
2. Pedra de Lume salt crater (Sal): float in a salt lake inside an old volcano, a short drive from Santa Maria. Around £5 to enter.
3. Buracona, the blue eye (Sal): a natural rock pool that glows blue in the midday sun. Easiest by tour or hire car. Free to view from the coast path.

Pedra de Lume is a working salt pan inside an extinct volcano, and floating in its dense, mineral-rich water is oddly effortless. It’s a short taxi from Santa Maria and costs around £5 to enter.

Buracona glows an almost electric blue at midday, when the sun hits the water inside its rock pool just right. It’s free to view from the coast path, though a tour makes it easier to time.

4. Kitesurfing (Sal): Kite Beach is one of the world’s top spots, with lessons and kit hire in Santa Maria. An introductory lesson starts around £45.
5. Viana Desert (Boa Vista): a 4×4 island tour takes in the dunes, a shipwreck and wild beaches. Around £35pp.
6. Turtle nesting (Boa Vista): loggerheads nest on the beaches from June to October. Guided night walks only, around £20pp.
7. Mindelo (São Vicente): the cultural capital, with a morna music scene and a colonial harbour. A 30-minute Binter hop for £30–60 one way.
8. Cidade Velha (Santiago): Africa’s oldest colonial town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009. Founded in 1462, its church is the oldest colonial church in the world. Free to wander, a day trip from Praia.
9. MS Cabo Santa Maria shipwreck (Boa Vista): a Spanish cargo ship that ran aground on Atalanta beach in 1968 and has been rusting into the sand ever since. Free to view, included on most 4×4 island tours.

Cidade Velha was Cape Verde’s first colonial capital, and its ruined cathedral and hilltop fort still look out over the same stretch of Atlantic that Portuguese ships once crossed. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and free to wander.

The MS Cabo Santa Maria, rusting on Atalanta beach since 1968, makes a strange double bill with the fort on the same day trip. Most 4×4 island tours take in both.

Nightlife without the resort mark-up

A Strela beer costs £1.50–2 in a Santa Maria back-street bar and £3–4 at the resort pool bar for the same bottle. The mark-up buys you proximity, nothing else.

Mindelo is where Cape Verde’s nightlife actually happens. Free-to-enter bars host live morna and coladeira most nights of the week, a different world from a hotel disco.

1. Resort pool bars (Sal / Boa Vista): convenient, and priced for a captive audience.
2. Santa Maria back-street bars (Sal): the same drinks for half the price, a five-minute walk from the seafront.
3. Mindelo live morna venues (São Vicente): free entry most nights, and the real nightlife on the islands.
4. Baía das Gatas festival (São Vicente): free, three nights running, and only in August.

Getting around Cape Verde cheaply

On Sal, Santa Maria is compact enough that most guests barely need transport during their stay. The beach, restaurants and the market are all within walking distance of central accommodation. When you do venture further out, the options are simple and cheap.

Sample 7-day budget for Cape Verde

The figures below are per person for a week, assuming two people travelling together from a UK airport. The all-inclusive column is based on a low-season TUI or easyJet holidays package including charter flights. The room-only column is based on a Sal guesthouse with meals eaten locally. This is what Cape Verde holidays on a budget actually look like once every real cost is added in.

Cape Verde sits in good company for winter sun on a budget. If you want to compare, our Gambia budget holiday guide covers a similar West African price point, and our Morocco guide is the cheapest short-haul alternative if you would rather skip the six-hour flight.

Frequently asked questions

When is the best time to visit Cape Verde?

May, June and September offer the best mix of hot, dry weather and low prices. The islands have sun all year, so these months simply dodge the UK school-holiday premium. October and November are also good value and still very warm.

Which island is best for a first trip to Cape Verde?

Sal is the easiest choice for a first visit. It has the most direct flights, the widest range of hotels and restaurants, and the resort town of Santa Maria is walkable and lively. Boa Vista is better if you want quieter, emptier beaches and don’t mind relying on your hotel for most things.

How much spending money do you need for a week in Cape Verde?

On an all-inclusive package, £150–250 covers excursions, the odd meal out, local transport and the EASE tax for a week. Room-only, budget around £350–500pp depending on how much you eat out and whether you hire a car.

Do UK citizens need a visa for Cape Verde?

No, UK citizens don’t need a visa for stays of up to 30 days. You must complete the EASE online pre-registration at least five days before you travel and pay the airport security tax of around €31. From 1 July 2026, travellers who skip this pay double at the border, and airlines check for the confirmation before boarding.

Is Cape Verde a good long-haul budget holiday from the UK?

Yes, Cape Verde holidays on a budget are one of the better-value ways to get a long-haul-feeling beach week without a long-haul flight. An all-inclusive on Sal starts around £600pp in low season, the flight’s about six hours, there’s no visa fee, and the time difference is just one hour. The trade-off is that Sal and Boa Vista are flat desert islands with limited sightseeing beyond the beach.

Is all-inclusive worth it in Cape Verde?

Generally yes. The resorts are self-contained, alcohol adds up quickly, and the package price is usually lower than building the same trip independently. It matters most on Boa Vista, where restaurants outside the resorts are sparse.

What currency do they use in Cape Verde?

The Cape Verdean escudo (CVE), pegged to the euro. Euros are widely accepted in tourist areas on Sal and Boa Vista. Carry a small amount of cash for aluguers, markets and smaller cafes. A Wise or Starling card avoids airport exchange fees.

What is Cape Verde like in December?

Warm and sunny, around 24–26’C, but the trade winds pick up from around this time and can be strong enough to make beach days uncomfortable. December is peak season with the highest prices of the year. The weather is reliable but the value isn’t as good as May, June or September.

Do you have to pay a tourist tax in Cape Verde?

Yes. Hotels charge €2.50 per person, per night, capped at 10 nights, so a maximum of €25pp. Under-16s don’t pay it. It’s usually collected at check-in or check-out, separate from your room rate.

When can you see whales in Cape Verde?

Humpback whales pass through from December to May, with March and April the best months for sightings. Boa Vista has recorded more sightings than Sal, though nothing is guaranteed on any single trip.

When do turtles nest in Cape Verde?

Loggerhead turtles nest on Sal and Boa Vista from July to October, with August usually the best month to see nesting or hatching. Guided night walks run through Project Biodiversity and similar operators.

Which island has the best nightlife in Cape Verde?

Mindelo on São Vicente, known for live morna and coladeira music and August’s Baía das Gatas festival. Sal’s Santa Maria has more resort bars and a livelier tourist scene if that’s what you want instead.

Jane Robinson

Jane Robinson is Senior Editor at Flight Tribe. She has a Master’s in English and Journalism, and writes about flight deals, holiday offers and practical ways UK travellers can spend less without wasting time on weak promotions. Jane has spent time living and working across Asia and New Zealand, which gave her a lasting interest in how people travel, eat, move around and spend their free time in different places.

At Flight Tribe, her work focuses on verified prices, realistic travel dates, booking terms and whether a deal is actually worth attention.

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