Cape Verde travel health
Required is not recommended: the first is what the border asks about, the second is what a clinic would suggest. Both, for Cape Verde, then the number to dial and what care costs a visitor. Applies to every guide in Cape Verde: Cape Verde.
Required to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Recommended
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies for a long or rural stay
Emergency number
130 for an ambulance, 132 for police
Care for visitors
Limited
Thin outside the two main islands. Praia and Mindelo have hospitals; Sal and Boa Vista have private clinics used to resort visitors and to charging them accordingly. Anything serious is flown to Praia or to Portugal, so evacuation cover is the clause that matters. There is no recompression chamber on the islands.
Dengue has flared in the past and mosquitoes are present on the wetter islands. Tap water is desalinated and better avoided for drinking. The Atlantic swell is the real hazard: beaches with no flags, no lifeguards and a serious undertow.
The general rules — clinic timing, water, mosquitoes, insurance — are in travel health tips.
