Sal's Natural Wonders
Sal’s natural wonders lie in its desert, salt flats, lava formations, and quiet coastal basins — subtle landscapes shaped by wind, ocean, and volcanic history.
The Mirage of Terra Boa: Sal’s Beautiful Desert Illusion
In Terra Boa, you may feel small amid the emptiness. Take a moment to feel the surrounding. It’s just you, the wind, and a mirage that shimmers like a promise.
Salinas Pedra de Lume: All You Need to Know about Salt Mines
Nestled within the crater of a dormant volcano on Sal Island, Cape Verde, the Salinas de Pedra de Lume weave a story of nature, ingenuity and transformation.
Salt Flats of Santa Maria: Beautiful Mosaic in Sand
In the south of Sal Island, beyond Santa Maria’s golden beaches and resort hotels, lies a different kind of treasure – a broad, sunbaked expanse of inland salt flats. These salinas stretch out just north of Santa Maria town, their pale crust shimmering under the Saharan breeze. They are often overlooked in favour of Sal’s more famous crater salt lake at Pedra de Lume, but Santa Maria’s salt pans have a story all their own. It was here that the town of Santa Maria was born in 1830, founded expressly to harvest the “white gold” of salt. Today, the salt flats are quiet and mostly dry, visited occasionally by wading birds and curious tourists. However, they remain a poignant landscape – a protected site of ecological interest and a living monument to the island’s history. This article explores how these inland salt flats once fueled Santa Maria’s early growth, what has become of them since the salt trade ebbed, and how the local community regards the salinas in the present day.
Island With a Character
Sal Island’s natural wonders are not dramatic in scale but striking in form, often revealing themselves slowly through the island’s minimal landscape. The most famous is Buracona, a coastal lava basin where the “Blue Eye” appears —a bright, circular reflection formed when sunlight hits the sea cave below at the right angle. Equally notable are the salt flats of Pedra de Lume, situated within an old volcanic crater, where visitors can float in dense, mineral-rich water similar to that of the Dead Sea. Murdeira Bay offers reef-protected waters and calm swimming, backed by views of Monte Leão, a lion-shaped mountain that dominates the southern horizon.
Inland, rock pools, shallow desert valleys, and stretches of cracked earth add a textural contrast to the sea-facing cliffs and white dunes. Though vegetation is sparse, the geological and coastal features make Sal an open-air archive of wind, salt, and volcanic time.
Shark Bay: Shallow Coastline Full of Baby Lemon Sharks
A short drive east from Santa Maria leads to Shark Bay, a shallow, rocky coastline where juvenile lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) gather — it’s one of Sal’s most fascinating natural curiosities. Tranquil, otherworldly, yet alive with movement, it’s a reminder that Cape Verde’s marine life often thrives just beyond the tourist trails.
Buracona: The Amazing Bay and its Blue Eye Cave
Buracona is a small bay where the dark azure water of the Atlantic crashes on the rocky coast creating spectacular splashes of white, frothy waves. There are a few beautiful caves and a natural pool where you can swim. The gazebo on the cliff has a small natural history museum on the ground floor and a stunning view of the ocean upstairs.
Monte Leão: The Great Lion Mountain of Sal Island
Rising starkly from the flat desert plains of Sal Island, Monte Leão, also known as Rabo de Junco, asserts a quiet dominance over the surrounding coast. Towering approximately 165 m above sea level at the northern rim of Baía de Murdeira, this distinctive “Lion Mountain” functions both as a geological sentinel and as a cherished destination — a point where geology, ecology, and human aspiration converge.
Murdeira Bay: Beautiful Reef and Rock Pools
Murdeira Bay, situated on the southwest coast of Sal, is a nature reserve known for its rich underwater sea life and a small coral reef.
Shell Cemetery Beach: The Great Hidden Gem of Santa Maria
Known as Shell Cemetery Beach, this stretch of coast offers a landscape at once alien and visceral, where seashells reshape our sense of place and time.