From ‎Vera Quinlan‎ 
Yesterday at 9:46 AM ·
Update on Praia, cape verdes from maritime police 'you guys shouldn't come here, its dangerous, exit from mindello'. We on yacht Danú have been anchored in Praia since Friday, we did best to see immigration sat morning but he couldn't be found (Our mistake for arriving near weekend). We wanted to leave Praia (we have kids onboard) and anchor 6 miles away at Cidade velha for weekend (safer) and return Monday ...a French yacht was robbed here (praia) 5 days ago. We were prevented from leaving by MP. Hope to depart this morning. Our Advice is to keep clear of Praia and exit from Sal/Mindelo if possible. Despite Praia we have a fantastic time in the Cape Verdes and have had many wonderful experiences.

Vice Commodore, OCC 

I am planning to sail from canaries to Mindelo in May, 2023. Does anyone have more information to validate this warning?

Hi Gregg,

we were in Mindelo at the end of 2022 beginning of 2023, yes the advice is still very current.
Praia is a NO GO for yachties! Every year there’s reports of robbery and violence towards sailboats, including while we were in Mindelo there was reports of a French boat that had trouble in Praia.
The rest of Cape Verde’s is fine but obviously you do need to some diligence like locking up your dinghy and ideally lift it from the water and remove outboard, etc

Cheers

+x

 

sv.the.dream - 26 Apr 2023

Hi Gregg,

we were in Mindelo at the end of 2022 beginning of 2023, yes the advice is still very current.
Praia is a NO GO for yachties! Every year there’s reports of robbery and violence towards sailboats, including while we were in Mindelo there was reports of a French boat that had trouble in Praia.
The rest of Cape Verde’s is fine but obviously you do need to some diligence like locking up your dinghy and ideally lift it from the water and remove outboard, etc

Cheers

Many thanks for taking the time to respond….all systems go. 

Just as an aside, that post was from 2019….do you reckon things have improved since then re Mindelo? Many thanks. 

+x

 

sv.the.dream - 26 Apr 2023

Hi Gregg,

we were in Mindelo at the end of 2022 beginning of 2023, yes the advice is still very current.
Praia is a NO GO for yachties! Every year there’s reports of robbery and violence towards sailboats, including while we were in Mindelo there was reports of a French boat that had trouble in Praia.
The rest of Cape Verde’s is fine but obviously you do need to some diligence like locking up your dinghy and ideally lift it from the water and remove outboard, etc

Cheers

.

We and many of our friends had no problems in Mindelo (except some small theft on a dinghy that was tied somewhere else than the Mindelo marina restaurant dock). As I said word of the town including authorities is to give Praia a miss. Every where else seems fine but precautions are always needed.

Keep in mind you only get 30 days visa on arrival and that trade winds are present in the archipelago pretty much year round so it is best to enter in Sal (the island more to east) and depart via Mindelo (not the last island to west because that one doesn’t have immigration services), then if you want a quick stop on the southern most islands you should be ok.

Safe travels

I believe that 30 days visa is only for those arriving by air--it's much longer for those arriving by yacht.

I cleared in at Sal late last year, and the police didn't mention anything about a time limit.   About two months later, in Mindelo, the Policia Fiscal (I think--some kind of taxation related police) told me I had overstayed and I had to go to the Immigration office to ask for an extension. I then went to the Immigration office and they said I didn't need an extension.  No one said anything about the length of my stay when I cleared out from Mindelo, 74 days after entering the country.

No, it’s 30 days for everyone.
I have Portuguese passport and thought being a ex Portuguese colony I would have some benefit but no the officer confirmed 30 days only.
We too were surprised, but yes Mindelo officers seem very relaxed with this.
We had two friends overstaying for 2 months, they had no problems checking out despite that.
Needless to say that although the attitude seems very relaxed about it, does not mean you get in trouble.