Things to Do in Cabo Verde in December
December weather, activities, events & insider tips
December Weather in Cabo Verde
Is December Right for You?
Advantages
- The Harmattan winds haven't arrived yet, so the Saharan dust that turns January skies hazy is still weeks away - you'll get the clearest views of Fogo's volcanic cone and the sharpest sunsets of the entire dry season
- December marks the start of the dry season proper, which means the interior hiking trails on Santo Antão - the Ribeira Grande to Ponta do Sol coastal path, the Cova crater descent - are finally passable after October's washouts, though you'll still want boots with grip for the loose scree
- Beach conditions on Sal and Boa Vista hit their sweet spot: water temperatures hold at 25°C (77°F), the Atlantic swells that churn November seas have settled, and the wind that makes these islands a kitesurfing mecca has dialed back from relentless to merely enthusiastic
- Christmas and New Year's bring something unexpected - the local Festa de Tabanca processions on Santiago, where women in pano cloth and gold filigree headdresses dance through the streets of Assomada and Tarrafal to the beat of ferrinhos (iron bells), a syncretic tradition blending Catholic saints' days with African masking that most tourists never witness because they're beach-bound on Sal
Considerations
- December is technically high season, which means the all-inclusive resorts on Santa Maria and Sal have locked in their rates through March - you're paying peak prices without the peak weather of January-February, and the local pousadas on quieter islands like São Nicolau and Brava book out surprisingly fast with returning diaspora families
- The ten 'rainy days' in the statistics are misleading - December storms tend to be localized, intense, and arrive with almost no warning, particularly on the northern islands where the mountains wring moisture from passing clouds; I've seen hikers caught on Santo Antão's Corda ridge in zero-visibility downpours that weren't on any forecast
- The humidity at 70% doesn't sound dramatic until you're walking uphill in Cidade Velha's cobblestones at midday - the heat index pushes into uncomfortable territory, and the combination of salt air and moisture means any electronics not in sealed bags will start corroding within a week
Best Activities in December
Fogo Volcano Crater Trekking
December is arguably the window for Fogo - the rainy season that makes the caldera floor a mud pit has ended, but the brutal midday heat of January-February hasn't arrived yet. The 1,982 m (6,500 ft) ascent to Pico do Fogo starts cold at dawn (bring a fleece you won't need by 10 AM) and the coffee plantations inside the crater - Cha das Caldeiras - are harvesting their third and final pick of the year, which means the small roasteries are actually processing beans rather than just selling imported stock. The lava flows from the 2014 eruption are still raw enough to cut your boots, and the smell of sulfur hangs in the caldera's bowl in a way that January's stronger winds disperse.
Santo Antão Ribeira Hiking
The island's network of ribeiras - steep volcanic valleys that funnel water from the mountains to the sea - are finally accessible in December after the October rains that turn trails into streams. The classic route from Cova crater down through Paul to Pombas passes through banana plantations where the smell of overripe fruit and wet earth follows you for kilometers, and the pre-harvest coffee bushes are heavy with red cherries. December light at 15° north latitude is softer than the overhead hammer of summer, which makes the valley's color striations - the red of iron-rich soil, the impossible green of sugarcane, the blue-black of volcanic rock - actually photographable rather than blown-out.
Santa Maria Beach Kitesurfing (Early Morning)
The wind that defines Sal's eastern coast has moderated from November's gusts to December's steady 15-20 knots - perfect for learners, still satisfying for intermediate riders. The key is timing: by 11 AM the onshore wind builds chop that makes launching exhausting, but the 6:30 AM sessions are glassy, empty, and followed by breakfast at the beachfront cafés before the all-inclusive guests emerge. The water temperature at 25°C (77°F) means a shorty wetsuit is optional, though the Harmattan dust that will plague January skies is absent in December, so your downwind runs toward Murdeira Bay aren't into a brown haze.
Santiago Island Cultural Circuit (Assomada to Tarrafal)
December's Tabanca festivals are the reason to leave the beach. The route from Assomada - where the Saturday market spills from the Mercado Municipal into surrounding streets with the smell of dried fish and goat cheese - up through the Serra Malagueta to Tarrafal traces the island's slave-trade history and its living culture. The Tarrafal prison camp, now a museum, is cooler in December's variable weather than the suffocating heat of April, and the beaches at Tarrafal proper (not to be confused with the northern village of the same name on Santo Antão) are empty of international tourists because they're not packaged as resort destinations. The grogue distilleries in Ribeira da Barca are pressing sugarcane in December, and the first-run spirit - 40% alcohol, tasting of smoke and fermented cane - is available nowhere else.
Boa Vista Sea Turtle Night Patrols
December is late in the loggerhead nesting season - the peak is August-October - but the last females are still hauling ashore on the beaches south of Sal Rei, and the hatchling emergence period overlaps with December's new moons. The experience is different from peak season: fewer turtles, but also fewer researchers and no crowds, and the night walks on Praia de Chaves or Curral Velho are under skies that the absence of light pollution turns into something you forget exists. The sand temperature has dropped enough that female turtles aren't heat-stressed, so nesting behaviors are more natural and less rushed.
Cidade Velha Historical Walking
The UNESCO site 15 km (9.3 miles) from Praia is technically visitable year-round, but December's variable cloud cover makes the exposed ruins - the pillory where enslaved people were sold, the Sé Cathedral's skeletal remains, the banana plantation that was once the town's economic engine - bearable for more than an hour. The wet season's overgrowth has been cut back, so the paths between sites are clear, and the small museum has working fans. More importantly, December is when the local community association stages occasional evening events in the 16th-century church ruins - not advertised, not scheduled for tourists, but happening if you ask at the visitor center and your Portuguese is functional.
December Events & Festivals
Festa de Tabanca (Assomada and Tarrafal)
The Tabanca festivals are Santiago Island's most distinctive cultural expression - processions of Mascaras in elaborate costumes dancing to ferrinho bells, rooted in Portuguese carnival traditions but transformed through West African masking practices. December's events cluster around Christmas and Santos Populares, with Assomada's being the largest and most accessible. The experience isn't spectator sport: you're expected to move with the procession, accept shots of grogue offered from household doorways, and understand that the 'chaos' is choreographed. The women's gold filigree headdresses - coroa de ouro - weigh up to 5 kg (11 lbs) and represent family wealth accumulated over generations.
Festival de Gamboa (Santiago)
If it happens in 2026 - and the festival's scheduling has been erratic post-pandemic - this is the largest music event in Cabo Verde, drawing diaspora crowds and international acts to Praia's Gamboa neighborhood. The sound is funaná and morna, the genres Cesária Évora exported, but live and loud in streets that smell of grilled catchupa and diesel generators. December timing isn't guaranteed: some years it's May. Check the Praia municipal website in October before booking around it.