FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

1) What currency/credit card should we bring?
The best currency to bring with you is the euro (not US Dollars or Pounds). You can use euro on the island or exchange it for escudo’s at the airport or local bank. The rate is 1euro to 110escudos. Visa and Master card are the most well used cards on the island. Only the bank will accept American Express. The cost of changing traveller’s cheques is very expensive here.

2) What is the average size kite used on the island?
Summer: June to October: 14M to 16M
Winter: November to May: 9M to 12M. If you are little on the heavy/muscle side then maybe 10M and 13M

Average Wind Surf Sails?
Summer: June to October: 6.5-8.5
Winter: November to May: 4.7-6.1

2A) Why should I come to Sal for kite surfing and wind surfing?

Because there is not other place like it! Sal is brilliant as it has 4 completely different kite spots all within 15min of each other. Each spot offers something different to both the kite surfer and wind surfer. For those wanting even more of a challange the west coast offers some of the best waves in the world. By taxi, the ride is anywhere between 15min and 25min. As an added benefit, sal remains a little known jewel in the surfing world, so there is loads of space on the water for you to experiment without crashing into another surfer (this i find to be a big positive!).

3) Do I need a wet suite?
In the summer months June to November the water is warm enough that no wet suite is required when surfing/windsurfing/kitesurfing.  In the winter months, we recommend a 3 mm shortie or long wet suite depending on your blood circulation. Wetsuits are normally not included in RENTALS.

4) Should I reserve course/board/rentals before hand?
We recommend that you reserve a course or rental prior to arriving to guarantee you a spot as well as material. You can do this by emailing us at info(at)surfcaboverde.com

5) Can I book and pay on line?
You can book for a course or rental via e-mail and pay in full prior to arriving. Payment can be made into a Surf Zone account in the UK or Germany. Once payment is made we send you a voucher to bring with you to the school

6) What do I need to know if I am bringing my own equipment?
Bring all your own gear: wet suite, harness, helmet, leash, etc. School DO NOT rent out helmets, wet suites, harnesses and leashes (these items are only included in lessons) It is also difficult to buy these things, so bring some spares for your bar and line (chicken loop etc.), board etc. Schools only have spares for their own school equipment.

7)What do I need to Know if I am renting Kite Material from you? Rentals do not include harness, wet suite, helmets, swim vests or leashes. If you are a KITER the rental is Kite, Bar and Board ONLY. On the new kite boards you cannot put a leash on them. Nothing, including kite gear and oranges are grown on this desert island.

-If you will need a harness, helmet etc, email us and we will see what is avaliable during this period.

-You are completely responsible for your material, so please try and not rip it to shreds, as it will cost you a bit of money and it will make me sad.

-If you want to take the material away with you and return it at the end of the rental period, we ask that you leave a passport or a national identity card, to ensure that the material is returned. We leave all of these in our safe at the Morabeza hotel. In the past we have had clients take our material home! Insane I know.

- In order to rent you have to be able to go out and come back the same place on a board ( not with a board), relaunch your kite in deep water, know how to launch and land your kite, and know how to get through a shore break on days that here is a shore break. This is for safety reasons, so you do not injury yourself, kill a tourist on the beach, or destroy the material. If you rent material and cannot do the above, we will take the material back from you and still charge you for the rental.

-Please if you cannot rent, take lessons. From a business point of view, rentals are more profitable for us. However from a safety point of view lessons are better. Also kite surfing is fun, when you can do it properly and do not have to spend a week struggling. Our goal with lessons is always to get a client to the point where they can rent, kite safely and have a load of fun. Trust me when you are happy, can kite safely and look after the material we are ecstatic!.

-Yes we rent kite only and board only. Our older boards have a place for a leash, our newer boards do not.

*Look at kite rentals page for more information.

8)Where will I Kite Surf?

-All the Kite surfing in Sal is excellent and done in deep water.

There are 3 main kite areas

a) Kite Beach: Kite beach is the most popular spot for established kite surfers. It is on the east coast approximately 10-15min from Santa Maria. The wind is mostly side on shore and less gusty. There is no accommodation there and is only accessible by car. You can catch taxi's there and arrange for the taxi to pick you up at a later time. The total cost of the round trip is 15euro. Try to not take any valuables there, just the bare necessities (water and sun screen). You can walk along the beach here with your kite in the air. The water is more wavey here and there is a reef a little further out for waves.

b) The Bay of Santa Maria is great for long runs on flat water to kind off flat water. The wind sometimes is a little more gusty here and you cannot walk along the beach with the kite in the air here. The wind is more side off at the start or the bay and more side on near the end.

C) The Bay outside the Riu hotel. This is good for more advanced kitesurfers, as the wind is more off shore here and tends to be stronger.

**Look at map page for more information on kite surfing spots.

9)What do I need to know if I am doing Kite lessons with you?

a) Lessons include all the equipment. Just bring sun screen and swim wear. If you have your own wet suite bring it with you.

b) All our lessons are in the Bay of Santa Maria. If conditions are not ideal here we take you to kite beach. If you are a group and want to go specifically to kite beach, then you can take the instructor and equipment with you to kite beach. In this instance the client pays the cost of the taxi. If we decide to take clients to kite beach, because of unsuitable conditions in Santa Maria and we have a sufficient number of clients then we pay for the cost of taxis

c) Our goal is to get you, the client, to the point where you can kite surf independently, safely and rent material as it makes for less wear and tear on the instructors body. 

d) If you can learn to kite surf here, you can kite surf anywhere in the world! Many people come to sal having learnt to kite only in shallow flat water, and then struggle here. Our clients that learn to kite here then go to kite in other countries and have no trouble at all.

*** Look at the kite surfing lessons page for a guide on what and how many lessons you would need.

10) If I am renting Windsurf material from you, what should I know?

If you are a Windsurfer rental is the rig only, however we often have extra waist harnesses in the school for use. Wet suites are not included, so if you have a wetsuit please bring it with you.

You must be able to go out and come back to the same place (area in front of the school), in order to rent windsurf material. There is optional insurance on the material, which can be purchased when you arrive.

It covers:

1) 1 complete rig while you are windsurfing in the Bay. It does not cover wave riding, if you take the material to other locations, and shore break. There is always a team that will take your material in through the shore break and out through the shore break.  

You are welcome to take the Santa Maria school windsurf material to any other location, expect Punta Preta. Sorry. But history tells us that material taken to Punta Preta will go in one piece and come back in several.

We do not rent board or sail only. Rentals are only complete rigs.

If you want to keep a rig with you for the period of the rental, please do. We just ask that you leave your passport or national ID card with us in our safe. When possible we will give you an extra sail to take with you. Many windsurfers like to take their equipment to kite beach to windsurf. Good place, even though the kite surfers are a little possessive about the area. **Look at Map page for more information on windsurfing spots and Windsurf rentals page for more info on prices and equipment.

11)What if I want to take windsurf lessons?

Lessons include all the equipment. Just bring Sun Screen and swim wear. If you are beginner we recommend the 3 hour course. Normally after this period people are at a point where they can rent and practise on their own (when conditions are good for beginners). We like to get all our surfers to a point of independence. Makes for less wear and tear on the instructors body.

We do have instructors that can also give more advanced windsurf lessons (jibes, water start, foot straps etc.) 

12)What if I am a Good Old Fashioned Surfer?

Then you are dying breed, a trend we are sad to see. What can I say; Sal has some of the most impressive waves in the world if you are a more advanced surfer.

However, all our waves on the island are swell dependent. Only when an ocean swell comes in (in conjunction with a number of other factors), do we get waves.  The most popular wave spot is beside the main pier in Santa Maria. Then there is Punta Preta (waves can get up to 6meters high here)which is a 5min taxi ride from Santa Maria. All other wave spots, you would have to hire a car or a taxi (avg cost 30 to 40euros round trip)**Look at map page for more information on spots.

May to Oct there are more waves in Santa Maria. Rest of the year waves more on the west coast. If you are renting bring a shortie with you as rental is only board and leash. Our leashes a long, so if you want a shorter one, I would bring one with you. Also we will wax your board, but unfortunately we do not have extra wax for take away. Nothing including wax and lettuce are grown or made on the island.

You are welcome to keep the board with you for the time of the rental. However, we ask that you leave a passport or a national identity card with us in our safe, so we know the material comes back. We have had clients take our material home. Why! I do not know.

If you are wanting to learn to surf there is 50/50 chance that there will be waves good enough to learn when you are here. This is a better island for learning to windsurf and kitesurf.

13) What is the average cost of a meal/drink on the island?
The average cost of a meal is between 10 to 20euros per person. A beer is 1.50 euro, and can of juice 1euro. There are loads of great restaurants and little bars in Santa Maria. It is a great little village. Try not to hide in your hotel, venture out, Santa Maria is fun and safe.

14) How do we get to the station from the airport and how expensive is it?
The average cost of a taxi is 10 euros. Santa Maria and the Riu hotel are appox 15/20min from the airport.

-The Santa Maria school is located right beside the main pier in Santa Maria. We are in the beach club of the Morabeza hotel. Main hotels near this location:

Expensive but very good: Morabeza Hotel (On the Beach) (great for families, single, dating, not dating, young, middle young, older etc. People)

Less Expensive and okay/good for the price and location ( On Beach): Belorizonte Hotel

Less Expensive and okay/good for price (it is on beach and located 8-10 min walk from school Djadsal hotel and Crioula Hotel)

Less less Expensive and good for price and location (not on beach): Pontao hotel, Sobrado, Nha Terra and Porto do Vento

-The Riu school and hotel, is located a little out of Santa Maria. The walk to our school in Santa Maria is approx 35min by beach, 20min by road and 5min (3euros in a taxi). Other hotel near this location if you want to windsurf and kitesurf here: Hotal Saburu is a great hotel and located opposite the Riu.

15) Can you recommend accommodation for us?
For a full list of hotels listed above and others please go to: www.caboverde.com, click on Ilha do Sal and then accommodation. This web site also provides the web sites for all the hotels

16) Should I bring anything special? Sunscreen-as expensive and hard to find, flip flops, childrens beach toys, lycra for kids, and a hat.  For those of you who are a little on the pale side, you may also want shoes for kiting and windsurfing, as I have seen many people burn their feet, strange. Mosquito repellent, as sometimes we get them.

17) Do you give instruction to children?

For wind surfing and surfing we can teach children from 6-7yr and up. In the past we have had some kids get to a point where they can rent and practise on days with light wind and flat water.

The conditions in Sal for learning to Kite Surf are difficult for children. The water is deep and sometimes there are waves and a shore break. After many years of doing this, we have found that younger children find these conditions difficult. For safety reasons and to ensure that all our clients have access to lesson slots we have had to institute the following policy. 

For kite surfing, children have to be 15+ and should be able to learn in a group. During our peak periods (Christmas, Easter, school holidays etc), we do not offer private lessons. Therefore if your child requires private lessons (as we cannot put them in a group), then we may not be able to offer them lessons. We apologise for this. If your kids are under 15 and can kite surf and only require refresher or advancement courses then we can arrange lessons. During non peak periods, the decision to do lessons for children under 15 is made on site.   

If you have a child that is under 15 and you think they can learn in a group, or if one of you are going to do the lessons with him/her, then email me and we will see what we can arrange.

17) Surf Zone. Surf Zone is made up of a very diverse team and a dog (though really, the contribution of the dog is still up for debate). We all live on the island year around and therefore know the town, the people and the conditions. We try and keep a relaxed, family like atmosphere around the school; it is after all your holiday and our life. Pretty much the school is a good 80% of our waking lives, so we try and make it as fun and easy going as possible. For this reason our groups are small and we limit the amount of rentals we do, so quality is always a priority over quantity. So if you are looking for something more impersonal, where no one may ever remember your name, and more regimental, then we may not be the right place for you.