Things to see and experience in Tarrafal
- Justine
- Dec 5, 2024
- 3 min read
Praia Tarrafal offers multiple Instagram worthy spots!
Stop #1
If you take a 10-minute walk from the beach to the left side where the boats are, you are going to find a huge colorful Tarrafal sign like the one you can see in every big city. But this one is even better because it’s facing the beach, so you can take amazing pictures with the ocean as your background.
Stop #2
One thing I didn’t say about the beach, is that it is sitting right next to a huge hill. Mother Nature is just giving you everything you need, in one place! It’s giving beach vibe with this perfect blue ocean, but it’s also giving hiking vibe with this big dark hill in the backdrop. I loved it! Disclaimer, I’m calling it a hill, but it might be a former volcano, I couldn’t get the information online. Let me know in the comment section if you know!
Stop #3
The last place you need to check out is the other Tarrafal sign, but this one is carved in the stone! I like this one better because it has a more boho style, compared to the other one, which you can see in every major city.
In terms of outings, you have different options in Tarrafal: you have fancy places and more casual places. Lucky for you, I tried both so I can share my POV with you.
I you are looking for a classy restaurant to go to, you should definitely go to Malagueta. It’s the Oasis Tarrafal Alfândega hotel restaurant. It's definitely a good place for a date night; they have a terrace with the ocean view, they have an indoor room, and the food is amazing. Because I was on an island, I was determined to eat as much seafood as possible, so of course I got their octopus, and it was amazing! Not chewy, but very well seasoned and well cooked too. I could eat their octopus all day: it came with rice and veggies; it only cost me 24 dollars! I can barely get a cocktail for that price in Toronto! That’s why I love traveling, you get to experience so many different things you don’t have access to in your country, at an affordable price. All in all, I paid 32$ for this delicious dinner.
I also tried their dessert: I took their waffle, but I wasn’t a big fan of it.
To end the night, I went to listen to live music, so I just walked a few blocks down the beach (15 minutes max) and I landed in Cegonha Restaurant. It acts as a bar-restaurant but they also host local artists who come this sing, to entertain patrons. I probably stayed 1.5 hours, and 2 artists sang in that short period of time. They sang popular cape verdean songs. I love that they are not changing the music to cater to tourists! When I went to Jamaica, they did that a lot, especially in Negril, and I hated it. I personally go abroad to discover different cultures and live authentic local experiences; I don’t want to repeat whatever I have in my own country.
As you can imagine, I loved the cap verdean music, I still remember the song the duo was singing “da me um beijo baby…” Loved it.
And the staff at Cegonha was super friendly, one of the servers came to chat and check up on me regularly, but not in an invasive way like they do in North America. I highly recommend this place.
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