Cape Verdean fishing town wedged between Santo Antão's green mountains and the Atlantic.
Ponta do Sol is the northernmost town on Santo Antão and one of the most atmospheric spots in Cape Verde. It sits wedged between steep green mountains and the Atlantic, at the mouth of a dramatic river valley. The setting is extraordinary — dark volcanic cliffs, terraced hillsides, and a small cluster of pastel-coloured colonial buildings along the waterfront.
The town is small and quiet. The main Praça Central comes alive in the evening when residents gather for drinks and conversation. Fishing is the main livelihood, and the pace is unhurried. The decommissioned Agostinho Neto airport runway, shut after a string of close calls in 2000, now functions as a cliff-edge seaside promenade.
Prainha, a sheltered natural pool formed by rocks just outside town, is the best swimming spot — the basalt boulders create a calm basin protected from the open sea. Praia da Lisboa, a larger beach further along the coast, is reachable by boat or on foot along a narrow cliffside path. The walk west to the clifftop village of Fontainhas is the most photographed corner of Cape Verde.
Ponta do Sol is the starting point for some of Santo Antão's best hikes. The trail down the Ribeira Grande valley — through terraced sugarcane fields and small villages clinging to the mountainside — is one of the finest walks in the Cape Verde islands.
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Eating Out
Eating out in Ponta do Sol is unfussy and almost always good. Cape Verdean cooking leans on what the islands have: fresh fish, tuna, octopus, yam, sweet potato, plenty of beans. The national dish is cachupa, a slow-cooked stew of corn, beans, and whatever meat or fish is around.
Cantinho de Amizade is the favourite for fish and seafood — small, family-run, with a daily menu chalked up depending on what came off the boats. Café Ponta do Sol does dependable cachupa and grilled tuna. For something more polished, Blue Bell, run by a French-Cape Verdean couple just back from the airport runway, serves grilled fish and a small wine list in a courtyard with a view over the ocean. None of these are expensive.
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Getting There
Since the airport closed in 2000, the only way onto Santo Antão is by ferry from São Vicente. The Ferry Cabo Verde Express crosses from Mindelo to Porto Novo in about an hour, several times a day. Buy tickets at the Mindelo terminal — they sell out on weekends in high season.
From Porto Novo, the road over the spine of the island via Cova de Paúl is one of the great drives in West Africa — twisting up to 1,170 m and dropping into the green valleys of the north. Shared aluguers (minibuses) leave from outside the ferry terminal whenever they fill up. The trip to Ponta do Sol takes about 90 minutes via Ribeira Grande.
