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The best things about Santa Maria were the friendly local and the beautiful in crowded beaches. The only things that weren’t great was the 2 hours it took to get through passport control at the airport and that not everything in our hotel was working properly

Very nice town, beautiful, clean. A lot of restaurants and nice bars. Go to restaurants that´s not on the mainstreet and you will find the best food and the best prices, for exampla "Camara Camara", they had the best tuna and other fish. Bom Petisck is good. Bar restaurante Bia has very good grilled meat, great red wine and very nice service. Buddy bar has nice drinks and so do Brazil that's right down on the beach. Visit the town/village Palmeira, it's adorable and go to Salinas, the salt lakes. It's very easy to find taxi.

The Antigo apts are located in a little oasis of beautifully landscaped gardens beside the beach, in my opinion the very best part of Santa Maria. There is a covered market to where fruit and veg can be bought. We only used the cafe attached to the apts & Sal Beach Bar, where food was good. There are more several bars with music but I can't comment as we didn't use them. Not much else in Santa Maria - Sal Island isn't very affluent

What we liked: We loved the weather and sandy beaches. It was hot however with the constant breeze it was just right. The hotel is located literally at the beach which is a really good thing. Marley Bar at the resort is a must visit to chill, drink and eat. Taxis from the resorts to Santa Maria are about 6 euros and my suggestion is to stick with the one and the same taxi driver as we did with our many trips to Santa Maria. Taxi drivers all operate on whatsapp and if you got the ride you liked then stick with it. It pays off when you're go shopping for fish as the driver will walk with you and you won't be "constantly bothered with buying some souvenirs" from other locals. If you're one to get to see the Sal Island go and choose GUS travel. They're very knowledgeable and nothing is a bother when they show you the island. On the less good side: Food in the hotel was hit and miss and in our view the locals should focus on what Cape Verde has best to offer which is fish, fish and fish and ditch the European food. Luckily we did not go all inclusive so we have many more options. Mosquitoes are really annoying and nothing repels them, so take a mosquitoes net with you If are in Santa Maria 1st time, do not get overwhelmed by all the locals trying to sell you something, after all they make a living from selling things to tourists. And lastly travel insurance is a must. The healthcare is accessible for all but hospital miss even basic stuff. If you require special medicines if you get sick, best is if you could take them with you, otherwise you might need to cut short you holiday and get the travel insurance to get you back home early.

The beaches are beautiful but it's impossible to walk the streets without being literally harrassed by owners of shops trying to sell you something. I understand that they're trying to make a living, but insisting that you "just" take a look at their shop, trying to call you back to their shop, literally shouting to you at the streets to "stop" and to "wait" is just unacceptable. While I was walking on the streest, I didn't spend a single minute without being approached and harrassed by someone. They say "Cabo Verde, No Stress" but they pressure and attack you in such a form that you end up not buying anything, even if your intention was to buy something in the beginning. I'm from Turkey where we have a similar "seller approaching you" culture, and I've been to Morocco and Tunisia as well where similar stuff happens, but this was just too much for me. From what I understand, these are generally foreigners who come to Sal to sell stuff, the pure locals of this place are much frendlier and calmer in general. If it weren't for this people, I'd like to have stayed more, or I'd probably even return someday, but just because of this behavoir I'll never return to Santa María. If you want a calmer (and much more beautiful) place, just go Tarrafal on Santiago island.

Too much touristed. Too dry. Visit some of the other islands of Capo Verde. It's easy to take a flight to an other place and have a nice holiday. It's much more green at Sao Vicente and Sao Antao.