Cabo Verde (Number 60)

Stand-up paddleboarding on Cabo Verde

Often, it helps to plan a trip in advance, but sometimes a last-minute booking can be just perfect.

I was inspired to visit the African archipelago of Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) by the performance of that country’s football team at the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. Everyone loves the tale of an underdog who achieves success against the odds, and I am no exception. Ranked 67th in the world, Cabo Verde was the smallest country (by area) to ever qualify for the World Cup finals. Yet this tiny African nation managed to qualify from their group with three credible draws against Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, and the current European champions, Spain. At the time, I was looking for somewhere interesting for my sixtieth country. It seemed ideal.

There was just one problem. For most of the year, Boa Vista Island is well known as a windsurfers’ paradise. And, as every stand-up paddleboarder knows, wind is the enemy of SUP. But not every day is a windy day, even on Boa Vista. In early August, on a daily basis, I checked the weather forecast and flight prices:

—too windy

—still too windy

—forecast looks OK, but the flight prices have gone through the roof!

—more wind

—even more wind!

—the forecast looks ideal for the next few days, and the flight-only price is also looking good. PERFECT! LETS GO!

I booked a flight-only deal with TUI just two days before flying out from Manchester to Sal Rei, perfectly matched with a budget self-catering apartment less than five minutes walk from the sea.

**International Airport Aristides Pereira, Boa Vista.**

Setting off on the first morning from the beach next to the small harbour at Sal Rei, my target was the small uninhabited island Ilhéu de Sal Rei—Sal Rei Islet—just 1 km offshore. Even at 8 o’clock in the morning, the sun was beating down. We were in for a scorcher!

**A curious dog on the beach bade me farewell as I set off for the islet.**

Luckily, the weather forecast was accurate. There was almost no wind as I moved out of the shelter of the harbour and into more exposed water, just a gentle swell coming from the northwest. Reaching the island in no time at all, I found nowhere to set ashore, only small cliffs and a rocky, inaccessible shoreline. But my trip wasn’t in vain, as I stumbled across a gloriously sandy beach right at the bottom tip of Ilhéu de Sal Rei, where I went ashore for an hour before heading back to Boa Vista.