Travel Scams
in Cabo Verde

This is not a scam but it is the most important safety risk in Cabo Verde by a large margin. Multiple tourists drown in Cabo Verde every year — a disproportionate number relative to visitor arrivals, because many are not ocean swimmers who understand Atlantic conditions. Rip currents form where wave energy concentrates — at channels between sandbars, near rocky points, at beach ends. They are invisible from shore, can pull at 2–3 metres per second, and exhaust swimmers who fight them. The instinct to swim directly back to shore against a rip is the wrong response; swimming parallel to shore escapes the current before swimming in.

• Swim only at beaches with active lifeguard presence and a flag system in operation. On Sal, the guarded section of Santa Maria beach is the safest option for non-expert swimmers.
• Red flag means do not enter the water regardless of how it looks. Yellow and red flag means swim only in the designated guarded area. Green flag means conditions are safe for competent swimmers.
• If caught in a rip current, do not fight it by swimming directly to shore. Float or swim parallel to shore until out of the current, then swim diagonally to the beach.
• Surfing and windsurfing conditions that make Cabo Verde world-class (Ponta Preta on Sal, Santa Maria bay for windsurfing) are also the conditions that make the ocean dangerous for casual swimmers — these are separate beaches for separate activities.
• Never swim alone at any unguarded beach regardless of apparent conditions.

Sal's Amílcar Cabral Airport and Praia's Nelson Mandela Airport both have drivers who approach new arrivals with inflated fixed fares. On Sal, the correct taxi fare from the airport to Santa Maria village is CVE 1,500–2,000 (approximately €14–18 at the 2026 rate). Drivers routinely quote CVE 3,000–5,000 to tourists who haven't researched this. The airport-to-Santa Maria trip on Sal takes approximately 25 minutes; drivers sometimes claim it is much further or that the aluguer (shared minibus) doesn't run at this hour when it does.

• The aluguer shared minibus from Sal Airport to Santa Maria costs CVE 220–250 per person and runs regularly — take it if travelling light. Drivers will tell you it doesn't exist or isn't running; it does and it is.
• If taking a taxi, agree the price in CVE before getting in. CVE 1,500–2,000 to Santa Maria is the correct range; anything above CVE 2,500 is overcharging.
• Pre-arrange a transfer with your hotel if arriving late at night when aluguers run less frequently — hotels quote honest fixed rates.
• On Santiago, the Praia airport to city centre journey is short (approximately 8km); CVE 600–800 is the correct range for a taxi. The aluguer to Platô (the historic city centre) costs CVE 50–80.

Young men around the Cidade Velha UNESCO site and Praia's Platô district approach tourists offering free guided tours of the area. The tour is typically brief, the information variable in quality, and the "free" description misleads — at the end, the guide demands payment, sometimes aggressively, and implies that not paying will cause a problem. This is not violent but it is unpleasant and designed to use social pressure to extract money. Cidade Velha genuinely merits a guide for context — but a licensed, booked-in-advance guide, not one who approaches you on the street.

• Decline all approaches from guides who offer free tours — say clearly and once that you do not need a guide, then do not engage further.
• Book licensed guides for Cidade Velha and hiking trips through your hotel or a registered tour operator — the Cabo Verde Tourism Board (CVTB) has lists of licensed operators.
• The Cidade Velha site itself — the Pillory of Pelourinho, the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, and the ruins of the cathedral — is entirely navigable independently with a downloaded map or guide book.
• A firm, polite, non-engaged response works better than extended conversation or explanation — once engaged, the pressure continues.

The tourist restaurant strips in Santa Maria on Sal and Sal Rei on Boa Vista have the same dynamics as any mass-market European beach resort: menus sometimes displayed without prices, drink rounds added to bills, higher-than-displayed prices materialising at payment, and bills that include items never ordered. These practices are not universal — many Santa Maria restaurants are honest — but the concentration of package tourists who won't return creates the conditions for them. Local restaurants away from the main tourist drag are usually both cheaper and more honest.

• Only eat at restaurants with prices clearly displayed on a printed menu — if prices are not shown, ask before ordering.
• Check your bill against what you ordered before paying. Query any items you don't recognise before leaving the table.
• Restaurants used predominantly by locals in Santa Maria's side streets charge approximately half the tourist strip price for equivalent food. The grogue (Cabo Verdean sugar cane spirit) and cachupa (the national stew) are best at these establishments anyway.
• Sunlounger and umbrella fees at some Sal beaches: agree the price explicitly before settling in for the day — some operators quote a per-hour rate that multiplies unexpectedly.

Beach vendors on Sal's Santa Maria beach are persistent — selling bracelets, cloth, sunglasses, fruit, and massage services. They are not aggressive or threatening, but the persistence can be wearing across a full beach day. Prices quoted to tourists are significantly above what local buyers pay; the initial quote is the opening position in a negotiation, not the final price. This is entirely benign as tourist annoyances go — the vendors are working people earning a living. The appropriate response is either to engage with genuine interest and negotiate, or to decline once and not re-engage.

• Decline once, clearly and without hostility, then do not re-engage with the same vendor — most will move on.
• If you want to buy, negotiate — the first price quoted is always negotiable, typically by 30–50%.
• Do not feel obligated to buy because a vendor has spent time showing you goods or making conversation — this is a common pressure technique but you owe nothing for attention you didn't solicit.
• Mass-produced craft items sold on Sal's beach are largely imported from mainland Africa — if you want genuinely Cabo Verdean crafts, buy from the Saturday market in Santa Maria or from certified local producers in Mindelo.

Cabo Verde's escudo is pegged to the euro at approximately CVE 110 per euro — a fixed rate that varies only marginally. Exchange offices near tourist areas occasionally use misleading display formats or apply high commissions that are not clearly stated. The escudo peg means the fair rate is always close to CVE 110/€1; any exchange office offering significantly less is taking an excessive spread. Euros are accepted directly at most tourist-facing businesses on Sal and Boa Vista, reducing the need to exchange at all.

• The CVE/EUR rate is approximately CVE 110 per euro — this is essentially fixed. Any exchange office offering significantly below CVE 105 per euro is taking an excessive commission.
• ATMs at Banco Comercial do Atlântico (BCA) and Caixa Económica de Cabo Verde throughout the islands give the best rates with standard international card fees.
• On Sal and Boa Vista, euros are accepted at most restaurants and hotels — you can manage an entire visit on the resort islands without exchanging currency at all.
• On cultural islands (Santo Antão, Fogo, Brava), carry CVE cash — aluguers, local restaurants, and market stalls are cash-only and may not accept euros.