Cabo Verde Ferries: Routes, Ports & Operators

The only ferry to Santo Antão, Cabo Verde’s hiking island: CV Interilhas’ Chiquinho BL crosses the channel from Mindelo’s Porto Grande to Porto Novo twice a day, carrying walkers bound for the Paul and Ribeira Grande valleys and cars on its ro-ro deck.

The short Sotavento line from the capital Praia to the quiet island of Maio and its harbour at Porto Inglês — the only sea link for Maio’s beaches and salt pans, sailed by CV Interilhas catamarans a few times a week.

CV Interilhas’ catamaran from Praia to Fogo, the island of Pico do Fogo — Cabo Verde’s only active volcano and highest mountain — landing at Vale de Cavaleiros near São Filipe before continuing to Brava.

The hop across the channel from Fogo to Brava, Cabo Verde’s smallest inhabited island, whose only sea access is the little harbour at Furna — the leg of the Praia–Fogo–Brava line that makes a day trip to Brava possible.

The first leg of CV Interilhas’ Linha Redonda, the “round line” that links the Barlavento and Sotavento islands: the Dona Tututa sails from Mindelo to Tarrafal on São Nicolau, the mountainous island Cesária Évora sang of as the island of nostalgia.

The long eastbound leg of the Linha Redonda, crossing from São Nicolau’s port of Tarrafal to Palmeira on Sal — the ferry alternative to flying between the green western islands and Sal’s resort coast.

The overnight hop between Cabo Verde’s two resort islands, from Palmeira on Sal to Sal Rei on Boa Vista, sailed by the Dona Tututa twice a week as part of the Linha Redonda.

The Linha Redonda’s link between the capital Praia and Boa Vista, the dune-and-beach island north-east of Santiago: a seven-hour ro-ro passage on the Dona Tututa that also carries cars.