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Boa Vista Tour: Sandboarding and Wildlife
4.9
63 Ratings
Morro De Areia Beach And Nature Reserve
Discover Boa Vista’s stunning landscapes, wildlife, and culture on a thrilling 4WD tour. Sandboard dunes, meet turtles, and savor local drinks.
Discover Boa Vista’s stunning landscapes, wildlife, and culture on a thrilling 4WD tour. Sandboard dunes, meet turtles, and savor local drinks.
Duration:
4 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Morro De Areia Beach And Nature Reserve - Morro de Areia consists of the sand dunes located on Praia de Chaves. It is one of the island’s most stunning landscapes. The view of the sand dunes merging into the ocean is truly breathtaking. This is also where sandboarding takes place.
- Praia da Varandinha - Following the sand dunes, the journey…
- Morro De Areia Beach And Nature Reserve - Morro de Areia consists of the sand dunes located on Praia de Chaves. It is one of the island’s most stunning landscapes. The view of the sand dunes merging into the ocean is truly breathtaking. This is also where sandboarding takes place.
- Praia da Varandinha - Following the sand dunes, the journey continues to Turtle Bay and Shark Bay. Here, visitors can observe turtles and sharks in their natural environment. Most turtles spotted are green turtles, with occasional sightings of loggerhead turtles. At Shark Bay, lemon or nurse sharks are commonly seen. This area is also where baby sharks grow until they are ready to venture into deeper waters.
After visiting Turtle Bay and Shark Bay, the tour proceeds to Praia Varandinha. This location is renowned for its ancient caves and is a nesting site for loggerhead turtles during the nesting season.
- Praia Santa Monica - After exploring the caves, the tour continues to Santa Monica Beach. Santa Monica Beach is considered the most beautiful beach in Cape Verde and certainly in Boa Vista, featuring kilometers of untouched and pristine white sandy beach. This beach is part of a nature reserve, ensuring no development occurs here.
- Povoação Velha - Povoação Velha is the first settlement of Boa Vista. The old town is nestled between two mountains, originally built to protect against pirate raids. Today, it remains a quaint and traditional town.
The visit begins at Fabiana’s bar/restaurant, a spot typically frequented by locals. Here, guests can sample local spirits such as grogue and pontche, and enjoy Fabiana’s homemade rissoles.
After the tasting, there is time for souvenir shopping at the tour square, where friendly local vendors offer their goods.
What's Included
- Sandboard is included
- Snacks
- Alcoholic beverages
- Pick up and drop-off at your accommodation
- Sandboard is included
- Snacks
- Alcoholic beverages
- Pick up and drop-off at your accommodation
What's Not Included
- 100% guarantee of seeing turtles and sharks
- 100% guarantee of seeing turtles and sharks
Additional Information
Discover the stunning landscapes of Boa Vista on this half-day tour. Enjoy sandboarding on the Morro de Arreia sand dunes and observe turtles and baby lemon or nurse sharks in their natural environments at Turtle Bay and Shark Bay. Explore the beautiful caves at Praia Varandinha and the pristine white sands of Santa Monica Beach. Conclude the tour with…
Discover the stunning landscapes of Boa Vista on this half-day tour. Enjoy sandboarding on the Morro de Arreia sand dunes and observe turtles and baby lemon or nurse sharks in their natural environments at Turtle Bay and Shark Bay. Explore the beautiful caves at Praia Varandinha and the pristine white sands of Santa Monica Beach. Conclude the tour with tastings of traditional alcoholic beverages like Grogue and Pontche at a local bar in the island’s first settlement.
This tour perfectly combines the island’s breathtaking landscapes, wildlife, and culture, with convenient round-trip hotel transportation included.
- Half-day tour highlighting Boa Vista’s natural beauty and wildlife
- Visit Turtle Bay and Shark Bay to observe turtles and baby lemon/nurse sharks in their natural habitats
- Experience sandboarding on the Morro de Arreia sand dunes
- Sample grogue & pontche in Boa Vista’s first village, Povoçao Velha
- Friendly local guides ensure unforgettable memories
Location
Morro De Areia Beach And Nature Reserve
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(63 Ratings)
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Jemmaw780
Jan 14, 2026
Unforgettable memories - Incredible experience, really recommend booking if you want to explore more of Boa Vista, tour guides Joshua and Gil were so lovely, welcoming and friendly. The alcohol tasting and sand boarding was such a laugh. Highly recommend. Thank-you for unforgettable memories!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Danny
Jan 11, 2026
Gil was an amazing guide can’t rate highly enough - Shark, Turtles, Cave, Sandboarding and Tasting Tour - This tour ended up being one of the best things we did in Boa Vista.
We booked the Shark, Turtles, Cave, Sandboarding and Tasting Tour with Gil Boa Vista and it felt personal, relaxed, and genuinely well run from start to finish. Riding in the back of the pickup truck across the island was a great way to start the day. It immediately set the tone and made it feel like an adventure rather than a typical excursion. Just be prepared for wind and bring something warm.
Seeing turtles in their natural habitat was a real privilege. Conditions were not ideal as it was cloudy and windy at the start, but Gil clearly has deep local knowledge and took us straight to the right areas. We were fortunate to see them properly, which made the experience feel even more special. We also saw sharks, fewer than usual due to the weather, but Gil was upfront about this and still worked hard to make sure we got the most out of it.
One of the strongest parts of the tour was the insight into Cape Verde itself. Gil shared a lot about the islands, their history, and local life, which added context and meaning to everything we saw along the way.
Santa Monica beach was absolutely stunning. Vast, untouched, and incredibly clean. Easily one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever visited. Sandboarding was another highlight and a first for us both. It was great fun and Gil was a fantastic instructor, patient and encouraging without ever rushing anyone.
The grogue tasting at the end was a relaxed and enjoyable way to finish the day. The unflavoured grogue is strong at around 50% ABV, surprisingly smooth, and snacks were provided along with other flavoured options for those who preferred something lighter.
We genuinely have no negatives to mention. It was refreshing to see the local and wild side of Boa Vista rather than just tourist areas. We would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting the island, especially if you want an authentic experience led by someone who clearly cares about what they do.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
O3450eksarahf
Dec 31, 2025
Highly recommend - Really amazing trip! Everything was perfect and our tour guide Joshua was great which made the experience more enjoyable.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Parvaneh_s
Dec 30, 2025
Best tour! Highly recommend! - Our guide was fabulous, very knowledgeable and super friendly! Would definitely recommend! We usually book trips direct with TUI but this was a zillion times better, very personable and you feel very submerged in the local history. Our guide knew everything about everything, we loved it!
Review provided by Viator
Giannav22
Dec 30, 2025
Enjoyable tour - The guides are lovely and friendly and we absolutely loved exploring the island with them.
Our favourite stop was definitely the dunes: breathtaking
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Elric123
Dec 17, 2025
Great trip - Lovely trip great guide - nice trip round island and so lovely spots -shots a bit weak but nice 😊sand surfing was fun - recommend
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M3952ejelliem
Dec 16, 2025
A day ill never forget that you never will too! - WOW! How incredible! Really cannot thank Veronique enough for, such an incredible lady very knowledgeable and lots of fun! She was extremely kind caring and considerate throughout the trip! The views were beyond breathtaking, the sand boarding was very funny, it was so incredible to see the turtles poking there little heads up to say hello at the bay (even out of season), the caves were truly something to marvel and santa monica i cant describe how beautiful it was other than to say it was like one of those automatic laptop screen savers it looked unreal, with the sureal blue of the sea and velvet sand on one side and an almost alien like ladscape on the other with shallow crystal clear pockets of sea water, desert mountains and gorgeous green plants with bright red vines scattered around truly breathtaking. To finish we got to go have a tasting of local liquor at a small village which was beautiful one of the tour members said the sequel to the hills have eyes was even filmed there! Everyone in the group was lovely and me and my mum had such a fabulous time truly one for the memory box I wouldn’t change a thing! The riding around was also a lot of fun -like a roller coaster at times- and so refreshing to be flowing through the wind in the sun! But all of this was truly made so special by Veronique the heart and soul of the whole trip she had everyone laughing talking and making the most of everything it wouldn’t have been the same without her genuine enthusiasm and pure kindness she exudes!
Love from the UK -Ellie (Eleanor)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
James
Dec 3, 2025
A great experience, packed with local knowledge and a fun tour guide. - Very friendly and funny tour staff, excellent drive around off road, visiting turtles and sandboarding. Tried the local alcohol which was very nice. We was out for around 4 hours which is plenty of time to see the sights and I would recomend this trip to anyone saying here.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Escape38445183078
Nov 22, 2025
Top experience with top guidance! - A very nice trip to different locations on the island. Our guide Veronique always gave us a word of explanation about the location and history. Nice and cheerful lady who made a relaxing and interesting trip of it. The driver of the 4x4 also deserves a compliment for his driving style and the necessary care and comfort for his passengers. Was for us the best end of a beautiful holiday. Highly recommended for everyone!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Susanne_bartl
Nov 19, 2025
Anytime again. This organizer is great - We enjoyed this tour so much, Veronique our tour guide, was very competent and convinced with her knowledge, honesty and humor. Processing the reservation and payment was super uncomplicated.
We have done other tours with this organizer. Easy to recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
