Is Cape Verde Safe to Visit in 2026?

Cape Verde compared to your home country

Cape Verde's composite Warnely risk score is 25/100 (Moderate Risk). Here is how that compares to common home countries for English-speaking travellers. Append ?home=GB (or US, AU, CA, DE) to the URL to pin your home.

Lower scores are safer. Each home country's score is its own composite on the same 0-100 scale. See methodology.

Risk Breakdown

This is the static baseline rating across six dimensions. The Warnely dashboard adds a live 30-day signal alongside.

Quick Facts

Visa & Entry

Visa-free 30 days for US/UK/EU/Canada/Australia/NZ since 2019. €34 TSA tax paid online before travel.

Verify on IATA Travel Centre →

Summary: Visa on arrival or e-visa.

Passport: Valid 6+ months.

Customs: Standard.

Prohibited: Drones require permit.

Practical Tips

• Atlantic archipelago of 10 islands – each distinctive
• Sal and Boa Vista = beaches/kitesurfing; Santiago = history/Praia; São Vicente = Mindelo culture; Santo Antão = hiking
• Morna music (Cesária Évora, UNESCO intangible heritage) lives on
• Portuguese and Cabo Verdean Creole
• Safer than most West Africa; tourism is major

Common Scams & Practical Risks

• Beach vendors: Aggressive vendors on some beaches. Politely decline.
• Taxi overcharging: Agree on fare before the ride.

Solo & Women’s Safety

Solo Travellers

Resort islands safe for solo travelers. Island culture is welcoming.

Women’s Safety Generally Safe

Generally safe on tourist islands. Standard beach precautions.

LGBTQ+ Travellers

Decriminalised 2004; constitutional non-discrimination 2010. Praia and São Vicente have tiny scenes; relatively progressive for the region.

Verify current law on Equaldex →

Drug Laws

Possession criminal; less harsh than mainland. Strict but tourist-tolerant in resort areas.

Verify on UK FCDO →

Emergency Numbers

If you decide to travel to Cape Verde

A practical checklist that applies to any trip. Each item links to the part of this guide where the specifics live.

1. 1
   Check the live advisory Read the UK FCDO and US State Department pages within a week of departure. Advisories change. View current FCDO advisory →
2. 2
   Register your trip US citizens: enrol with STEP. UK citizens: register your itinerary with the nearest British embassy. Both enable consular contact in an emergency.
3. 3
   Save the local emergency numbers Police: 132. Ambulance: 130. Pin them in your phone's emergency-contacts screen so they're reachable from a locked phone.
4. 4
   Insurance with medical evacuation Travel insurance with a medical-evacuation limit of £10m or more. Cheap policies usually exclude or cap medevac, the single most expensive thing that goes wrong abroad. See the medevac entry in the glossary for what to check.
5. 5
   Confirm vaccinations and prescriptions Visit a travel clinic 4-6 weeks before departure for any routine vaccinations and country-specific recommendations. Check any prescription medication against the destination's import rules.
6. 6
   Set up a check-in routine before you go Agree a daily or every-other-day check-in time with a contact at home, plus a fallback channel if your primary one fails (WhatsApp goes down in countries that block it). The family communication plan covers the specifics.

Find every foreign embassy and consulate in Cape Verde in the Warnely embassy directory →

Medical evacuation cost (pre-insurance)

Cape Verde sits in Band C on Warnely's medevac cost dataset. The figures below are typical pre-insurance ranges in USD, calibrated against published bands from Global Rescue, MedJet, Allianz, and insurance-industry whitepapers.

Long-haul fixed-wing repatriation typical, often multiple legs and specialised crew. Travel insurance with a meaningful medevac limit is not optional for trips to this band.

For the full methodology, the four-band table, and the downloadable CSV, see /methodology/medevac. Sanity-check your travel insurance limit against the high end of this band before booking.

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