Mindelo wraps around Porto Grande, a deep, sheltered bay on the north-west coast of São Vicente, and almost everyone on the island lives here. It grew as a coaling port for British steamships, and the colonial waterfront still shows it. Mornings are liveliest at the fish market, beside a small copy of Lisbon's Belém Tower. After dark, the bars along Rua de Lisboa fill with morna and funaná, the music Cesária Évora carried from here to the world, and Carnival, around February, is the biggest party of the year.
Walks, lagoons and wind
Monte Verde, the island's highest point at 744 metres, rises about 6 kilometres east of town, and the hike to the top looks across the channel to Santo Antão when the cloud lifts. On the east coast, Baía das Gatas has a shallow lagoon behind a rock barrier, calm enough for children and easy snorkelling. São Pedro, beside the airport on the south-west coast, is a long beach where the trade wind funnels through a gap in the hills and blows hard offshore. It draws experienced windsurfers and kitesurfers, who ride there with a safety boat. Swimmers should take care, because the current can be strong.
Booking on adventuro
The ferry to the walking valleys of Santo Antão leaves from Mindelo, so many people spend a night here either side of the crossing. Use the Book here tab to see live dates for walks and wind sessions around Mindelo.
