Boa Vista Shark and Turtle Tours
Boa Vista excursions for sharks and turtles: 4x4 tours to Turtle Bay, Shark Bay, the dunes and Santa Monica, and licensed night walks for nesting turtles.
Boa Vista, the island south of Sal, has two kinds of wildlife trip. By day, 4x4 tours from the hotels near Sal Rei and Praia de Chaves drive down the west coast to Turtle Bay, where turtles feed in the shallows, and to a Shark Bay of its own, where young lemon sharks are looked for when the tide and the sea allow, with sandboarding on the Morro de Areia dunes and Santa Monica beach on the way. By night, from July to October, licensed guides take small groups to watch loggerhead turtles nest. Gil Taxi & Tours Boa Vista’s four-hour 4x4 morning costs from £49 a person (checked October 2026).
Boa Vista or Sal for sharks?
For wading among lemon sharks, Sal. Its Shark Bay is a researched nursery where a dozen or more young sharks gather in every month of the year; see lemon sharks in Cape Verde. On Boa Vista the shark stop is one part of a longer 4x4 morning, and how many you see depends on the sea that day. What Boa Vista adds is turtles: the 4x4 tours watch them feeding in a bay on the west coast, and each summer its beaches take thousands of loggerhead nests.
The 4x4 mornings
| Trip | Time | Stops | Listing price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharks, turtles, caves and sandboarding (Gil Taxi & Tours Boa Vista) | 4 hours | Morro de Areia dunes, Turtle Bay, Shark Bay, Varandinha caves, Santa Monica, grogue and pontche in a village bar | From £49 |
| Turtle Bay, Shark Bay and Santa Monica (Boavista Go - Tours & Expeditions) | 4 hours | Morro de Areia, Turtle Bay, Shark Bay, Santa Monica, tastings in Povoação Velha | From £54 |
| Dunes, Turtle Bay, caves and Santa Monica (Creolo Tour Boavista) | 4 hours | Morro de Areia, Turtle Bay from a rock, Varandinha caves, Santa Monica | From £38 in current promotion (usually £50) |
Listing prices: GetYourGuide checked October 2026. Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.
All three pick up at the hotels and come back about four hours later. At Turtle Bay you watch from the rocks as turtles come up to breathe: green turtles, which feed there and nest elsewhere, and loggerheads. At Shark Bay the young lemon sharks come into the shallows when the tide and the sea are right.
Check dates for the Boa Vista 4x4 morning
The nesting season
Loggerhead turtles, Caretta caretta, come ashore on Boa Vista’s beaches at night to dig their nests and lay. The Turtle Foundation, which guards nesting beaches on the island, gives the season as:
| Months | What happens |
|---|---|
| Mid-June | The first nesting turtles |
| Mid-July to mid-September | The peak of nesting |
| From August | The first hatchlings |
| Late September to November | Most nests hatch |
The numbers swing from year to year: the Foundation counted more than 9,500 nests on the beaches it monitors in 2025, against 19,188 in 2024.
The rules for turtle watching
Turtles are a protected species in Cape Verde. Under the turtle law of 2018:
- An organised turtle watch needs prior authorisation from the environment authority, which sets the place, the time and the group size. Watching without it carries a fine of 30,000 to 500,000 escudos for a person, more at night.
- Disturbing nesting turtles, harming nests and driving on nesting beaches are banned, and no light brighter than 1 lux may shine within 500 m of a nesting beach.
- Killing, catching or selling turtles is a crime, punishable by six months to three years in prison.
On Boa Vista, the Turtle Foundation reported in September 2024 that 13 tour operators were registered to apply for day licences from the environment ministry’s local office, with groups limited to eight. On Sal, watching nesting turtles is limited to 1 July to 31 October. On the beach: stay behind the turtle, no white light, no flash, no touching, keep quiet, and never step on a nest.
Turtle walks
| Trip | Island | Listing price |
|---|---|---|
| Turtle walk in a group of up to eight (Cabokaitours) | Boa Vista, July to October; hatchlings from November | From £76 |
| Turtle walk with a marine biologist (Sal Eco Tours) | Sal | From £33 |
| Turtle nesting walk (sodadetour) | Sal | From £25 |
Listing prices: Viator checked October 2026; GetYourGuide checked October 2026.
Pick your trip
Boa Vista Sharks, Turtles, Caves and Sandboarding by 4x4
Four hours by 4x4: sandboarding, Turtle Bay, Shark Bay, the Varandinha caves, Santa Monica and a village tasting.
Check dates →Boa Vista Turtle Bay, Shark Bay and Santa Monica by 4x4
Four hours: the dunes, Turtle Bay, Shark Bay, Santa Monica's 12 km of sand and tastings in the island's first village.
See the 4x4 trip →Boa Vista Turtle Nesting Walk in a Small Group
Cabokaitours' five-hour walk in a group of up to eight, July to October, with hotel pickup and entry to the turtle reserves.
See the turtle walk →Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked October 2026; Viator checked October 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.
Who should pick something else
- You are on Sal: the researched shark nursery is a short drive from your hotel; see the homepage and the island tours compared.
- You only want the sharks: Sal’s lemon shark nursery.
More Trips with Open Dates
More Sal and Boa Vista Trips with Open Dates
Shark Bay, island tours, boats and turtle walks with live availability. Times and cancellation terms are on each listing.
Turtles, Sharks and Dunes by 4x4
Gil Taxi & Tours Boa Vista's four-hour morning: sandboarding on Morro de Areia, Turtle Bay, Shark Bay, the Varandinha caves and Santa Monica.
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