Maio is located between Boa Vista and Santiago. It’s the easternmost of Cape Verde’s Sotavento islands. This flat island is just 31 kms long and 25 kms wide. There are approximately 5,450 people living here.

It’s a peaceful, almost forgotten, paradise with vast deserted white sandy beaches. This is the place to go if you truly want to get away from it all.

Conditions here are fairly basic but that’s all part of Maio’s charm. You can relax sitting in a very “simple” restaurant tasting some of the delicious fresh seafood, listening to the sounds of live Capeveardean music played by the locals.

Although, tourism has not yet taken off here, Maio has great potential, both as an investment area and as a place to buy a second home.

It doesn’t have the active tourism that you’d find on Sal or Santiago but more and more people are looking for property opportunities here, as well as on Boa Vista. Astute investors will no doubt get in before foreign investors push the property prices up.

Vila Do Maio (also known as Porto Inglês) is the capital of the island and runs alongside one of the longest beaches on the archipelago. It’s a sleepy town with a huge baroque church, pastel painted houses, and streets lined with coconut palms. Strolling through this balmy haven of tranquillity, the only sounds you’re likely to hear are the occasional donkey hee-hawing.

Also worth a visit is the small town of Morro, located approximately 3 miles from Vila do Maio. It only has one main street, but is surrounded pretty coconut palms and makes for a very relaxing stroll.

Although volcanic in origin, you can see little remaining evidence of this today. This is mainly due to the influence of wind erosion.

Maio is known for its spectacular desert-like landscapes, small oases, sand dunes and many untouched natural beaches. Almost all of the island’s coastline has idyllic postcard beaches where you can swim and sunbath in complete isolation, all year round.

The only visitors you might encounter are some friendly sea turtles that come here to lay their eggs.

Maio’s sand dunes offer some excellent walking opportunities.

Maio was named by Europeans who first sighted it on the 1st of May 1460. Since then, it has prospered around salt collecting and a little agriculture, but none of the industries are now profitable.

Getting to Maio
Maio’s airport is near to the main town of Vila Do Maio. To get here you have to fly from Sal through Praia airport. There are no direct flight…yet.

All round, Maio is an incredibly peaceful location with excellent climate and spectacular beaches. It’s an ideal place for a peaceful family holiday or location to invest in a second property.
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