7 Sao Vicente Tours That Repay the Early Start

1.From Mindelo: São Vicente’s Enchanting Sea Turtle Snorkeling

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 153 reviews · 1h 30m · from $70Our pick

Travel from Mindelo to São Pedro for a guided sea turtle snorkel lasting about 90 minutes. Bu Bista Tours provides transfers, equipment, safety guidance, and multilingual instructors. Guides such as Soraya and Eddie help swimmers feel secure, while the short boat ride leads to a turtle habitat.

“Baclée. Le bus avait plus de 30 minutes de retard par rapport à l'horaire donnée. Le temps dans l'eau n'a pas duré les 45 minutes annoncées. Peu de tortues car ils n'avaient plus assez à leur donner à manger.. et le prix est bien trop élevé.”

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2.São Vicente: Snorkel with Sea Turtles Adventure

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 111 reviews · 1 hour · from $70

You’ll leave your São Vicente hotel or port for São Pedro, where a guide such as Elder helps you fit your gear, explains snorkeling, and takes you by boat to a turtle bay. Plan for about an hour in the water, with colorful marine life, life jackets, and guaranteed turtle sightings. English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish support is available.

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3.Full Day Island Tour, São Vicente, Mindelo, Highlights

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 109 reviews · 6 hours · from $82

Spend six hours exploring São Vicente with a multilingual guide such as Sonia, Danny, Paulo, Rui, or Carlos. Walk through Mindelo, visit its markets, climb Monte Verde, stop in Salamansa and Baía das Gatas, and eat lunch in Calhau. Bring swimwear, water, sunscreen, and cash for lunch and optional museum visits.

“Excelent tour with Paulo. We had a great day, received a lot of information about Cape Verde, visited interesting places, travelled safe and comfortably. A must do tour in order to better understand life in Cape Verde. Paulo and his company are excellent professionals, very well informed, caring and fun. Multumim Paulo!”

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4.From São Vicente: Santo Antão Day Trip with Local Guide

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 101 reviews · from $147

Travel from Mindelo to Santo Antão by ferry, then cross Cova de Paúl, follow the Corda Road, stop at Delgadinho and Ponta de Sol, and finish in Vale de Paúl. Guides such as Maira, Riva, and Lea have led informative outings in English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish. Lunch is extra.

“Pasamos un día excelente gracias a nuestra guía Maira y el conductor. Fueron muy agradables, nos explicaron todo con mucha dedicación y detalle, fue un auténtico placer. Totalmente recomendable!”

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5.São Vicente Island: Full-Day Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 97 reviews · 6 hours · from $88

Start in Mindelo with colonial streets, markets, a church, and Fortin views, then travel through Calhau Valley to Salamansa, Baía das Gatas, Sahara-swept dunes, and Monte Verde Natural Park. Your guide may be Elder, Fredy, Romero, or another multilingual member of Bu Country Tours. Lunch is optional and not included.

“We hebben enorm genoten van onze eiland tour. Onze gids Fredy bracht ons met veel enthousiasme naar allerlei plekken en vertelde hier van alles en nog wat over. Wij hebben een leuke trip gehad en zeker een aanrader!”

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6.Beaches, Villages and Monte Verde (excludes city)

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 87 reviews · 5 hours · from $82Top rated

Leave Mindelo with a multilingual guide and driver for São Vicente’s fishing villages, Calhau farms, Baía das Gatas, Praia Grande, and Monte Verde. You’ll have time to swim, eat a local lunch, and drink Cape Verdean tea or coffee at 774-meter Monte Verde. Guides such as Sonia and Lino add helpful context about island life.

“I'm usually cautious of tours because I get tired after a certain time and can't do ones that go on and on and on forever lol. So this tour seemed perfect at 5.5 hours with pick up at 09:00 and drop off at 14:30, so not too early and time left in the afternoon for myself. We visited most places on the island, it's not that big and I enjoyed our little cafezinho up on the top of Monte Verde with lovely views. We had a really terrific lunch - great food. There were four of us in the group which makes it more manageable for me and the other…”

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7.Santo Antão Highlights: Day Trip by Car with Ferry from SV

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 84 reviews · 11 hours · from $135

Travel from Mindelo to Santo Antão with an early ferry, then tour the island by van with a local guide such as Madu or Danni. You’ll see Cova de Paúl, Pico da Cruz, Delgadinho, Ribeira Grande, Ponta do Sol, Paúl, and coastal villages. Lunch costs extra, and the roads include high mountain passes and cliffside views.

“everything was perfect, beauriful green island, oefect guide manu!”

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