Anyone been to Cape Verde?

[octopusrus]

Looking at the Toureag for Easter, we have two DS age 3 and 8.

It looks quite isolated but we rarely go exploring anyway and tend to stay at the hotel to eat etc so this may not be an issue.

Would love to hear any views on either Cape Verde or the hotel if anyone happens to have been?

DH and I have. We went to the Karmaboa.

We loved it but there is absolutely nothing there. The sea is very, very rough and more often than not red flag days so it's not advisable to swim. Little children would be knocked off their feet, anyhow.

There's not a lot to explore on the island. DH went out on a quad bike tour (I'm disabled so couldn't go), they do jeep safari type things too. The town is just a few "shops", but not shops as we know them. They are more like people selling their wares out of their garages. They are very, very poor so they do hassle you. I wasn't prepared for just how poor they were and it upset me a lot.

We went for a relaxing, do nothing holiday and that's what you get in Cape Verde. We'll definitely go back.

It's grim unless you like trekking. They are trying to develop it but are really not there yet.

Thanks Fairy & Eleanor - we are looking for a short holiday when we don't leave the hotel so considering we're not looking for much to do outside, maybe it will work.

Main considerations are weather, warm-ish pool for one DS in particular, good food and if possible a room with a dividing door so we can get them to sleep easily.

Touareg looks good online but there are of course the odd awful reviews which put you off all the other good ones!

Fairy we also liked the look of that one, any views on things like food/pools/rooms etc?

We really liked it octopus. The food was great, there was a lot of choice and it was always hot. There's a huge pool that had a bit that was heated, we went in March/early April so I'm not sure if it's like that all year.

They've got a kids pool that's set away from the main pool and there was a little play area next to it. I believe there's a kids club too.

The rooms are clean and functional. The bathroom is a funny setup but it didn't bother us. The toilet is behind a door, but the shower isn't, it's just in the corner, set back a bit with a curtain. There was a TV in the room, but it only got BBC world news.

Wi Fi is really patchy but we didn't mind, lots of people sit in reception at night on their phones which is a bit sad. The shows and entertainment were quite good.

If you do go take Factor 50 sun cream and use it all the time. The reps tell you you will burn through the clouds, but people don't listen. We saw a lot of very, very burnt people.

Thanks very much Fairy, v helpful.

Yes yes yes! We went to Sal and stayed in a beautiful hotel with its own access to the beach, their sun loungers etc. I'm disabled so don't venture far and it was perfect. We took a half day boat trip that was stunning and there are the usual trips you can do if you want. The sea is perfectly warm, the food was average and the wine flowed! We are going back this Easter.

Check out the turtles and if you want to visit at a time when you can see turtles laying their eggs on the beach, or baby turtles hatching and running out to sea. Magnificent sight and as nature intended.

Take me with you!!

Also does anyone know whether you need vaccinations? Some sites say yes, some no!

Are there a lot of mossies?

Sorry Bob I missed your reply, thank you for the info. Which hotel did you stay at?

I haven't been but in laws went last year and they highly rated it and said we should take DCs (4 and 6 at the time). They didn't have any injections or anything.

If you stay in the hotel it's fine, but as a previous poster said the sea is really rough, kids love jumping in and out of it, but basically i went in about a foot and got chucked out on my backside, which was rather embarrassing. Past that if you're looking to stay and use the facilities the hotel offers then yes it's good.

My mum and dad (63 and 65) go there every year, twice a year. They stay in Tortuga Bay. As long as you are happy to stay in the resort it's a pretty relaxing holiday. What they like best about it is that as it is an up and coming tourist area you get really spoiled. As a returning customer they get upgraded but this year they got upgraded from a standard room with sea view to a 3 bed villa with private pool.

This is where they stay

www.tortugabeachresort.com/cape-verde

We've booked again to stay here. Sorry I don't know how to make the link shorter.

www.thomascook.com/packages/H0128301?connectorCode=1&contentId=5a9d28b6be6d43b4883f98fb9b2caceb1e36c864aa6056c8&startDate=2017-01-14&endDate=2017-01-14&depAirport=MAN&duration=7&boardType=1&brand=TCU1&room=ROOM01,2,6&seasonCode=W16&freeChildFlag=No&context=thomascook.com&selectedDate=2017-01-14&geoPath=Cape%20Verde%2FSanta%20Maria&roomPackageId=TCHHOL_A@5443250&tab=%2Fholidays%2Fcape-verde%2Fall-inclusive%2F&bsrp=start%3D0%26end%3D9%26occupation%3D2%252C6%26context%3Dthomascook.com%26connectorCode%3D1%26routingInfo%3Dsolr%26routingInfo%3Dmulticom%26language%3Den%26resortCode%3Dcape-verde%26goingTo%3DCape%2520Verde%26depAirport%3D0%26origin%3DAny%2520Airport%26departureDate%3D20161014%252C20171031%26flexible%3Dtrue%26when%3DTue%2520Oct%252031%25202017%252000%253A00%253A00%2520GMT%252B0000%26duration%3D7%26sort%3Drecommendation_asc%26boardType%3D1%26brand%3D1%26brand%3D8%26commercialDestination%3DCape_Verde%26type%3DcommercialDestination%26value%3DCape_Verde%26sbDepAirport%3D0%26isFlexible%3Dtrue

There's this group on Facebook
melia & sol dunas hotel cape verde