- Where
- Atlantic Ocean, about 18 km west of Fogo
Sotavento Islands, Cabo Verde - Coordinates
- 14.85° N
24.71° W - Area
- 62.5 km²
highest point Monte Fontainhas, 976 m - People
- About 5,700 (2015)
- Main town
- Nova Sintra
- Getting there
- Ferry from Fogo, about an hour
or from Praia by way of Fogo - Best visited
- December to May
The boat rolled us across to a steep island wearing a cap of cloud, and a minibus wound us up a cobbled road through terraces of maize and flowers. From the top, across the strait, a far bigger mountain stood alone in the sea. That evening someone in the square played a slow song on a guitar, and the whole square stayed silent until it ended.
The short answer
Brava is an island of Cabo Verde, in the Sotavento (leeward) group in the Atlantic, Wikipedia records: at 62.5 square kilometres the smallest inhabited island of the archipelago, “but at the same time the greenest”, with about 5,700 people in 2015. Almost the whole island is a single stratovolcano, about 18 kilometres west of the active volcano on Fogo, rising to 976 metres at Monte Fontainhas. Its capital, Nova Sintra, was founded inland around 1700 to escape pirate raids; its nineteenth-century townscape of single-storey houses with gardens has been on UNESCO’s Tentative List since 2016.
Why it's worth knowing
The whalers’ island. From the late eighteenth century American whaling ships put in at Brava’s harbours, Fajã de Água and Furna, for water and supplies and signed on its men as crew, and many of them settled around New Bedford, Massachusetts, Wikipedia records. A study for the National Park Service’s New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park reports historians’ view that Brava supplied the most Cape Verdean whalemen in later decades, notes that whalers came to call all Cape Verdeans “Bravas”, and, quoting the historian Marilyn Halter, that “virtually all of the pioneering emigrants to the United States came from the island of Brava”. Severino D. Pierce, born on Brava in 1817, was the first Cape Verdean to command an American whaling vessel, the same study records.
A volcano that stirs. Brava has no confirmed historical eruption, but its young craters and lava domes and its repeated earthquake swarms show that it remains active, Wikipedia records, citing the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program. In August 2016 about 300 people were evacuated as a precaution during a swarm; in October and November 2023 hundreds of earthquakes, up to magnitude 4.8, led Cabo Verde’s Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics (INMG) to raise its alert level from 2 to 3; and a magnitude 4.1 quake was recorded on 29 April 2026, the Cape Verdean press reported. Its young erupted carbonatite lavas are rare worldwide and unique among the Cape Verde islands, by the same account.
The field notes
The poet of the morna
Eugénio Tavares, Brava’s best-known son, wrote mornas, the slow, melancholy songs of Cabo Verde, in Cape Verdean Creole; his statue stands in the main square of Nova Sintra, Wikipedia records. In the mountain village of Cova Rodela a dragon tree grows in the main street, and the pilgrimage church of Nossa Senhora do Monte stands at the island’s centre, reached on foot from Fajã de Água.
Fajã de Água and the Matilde
Fajã de Água, a village on the north-west coast, was Brava’s main harbour until Furna replaced it in 1843, and the whaling ships landed there; a natural swimming pool lies about a kilometre to the south. On 21 August 1943 the sailing ship Matilde left the bay for America and was lost in the Atlantic with 51 people; nearly every family in the village lost someone, and a monument to the emigrants was put up opposite the church in 1993, Wikipedia records.
The valley of Fajã de Água falling to the Atlantic.
Photograph: Ingo Wölbern · Public domain · cropped
Furna, the island's port, from the road above.
Photograph: Ingo Wölbern · Public domain · cropped
Nova Sintra, the island's hill town, among green fields above the sea.
Photograph: Ingo Wölbern · Public domain · cropped
- Keep the boat days loose at either end, since the sea between the islands sets the timetable without asking anyone.
- Ride up in a shared minibus, and wait cheerfully until it is full enough to leave.
- At the monument by the bay, stop and read it through before you do anything else there.
- Try matching one list item to each hairpin bend. The bends won.
- Use the rock pool by the little bay on calm days, and leave it alone on rough ones.
Fajã de Água. The small bay on Brava’s north-west coast, under steep green slopes, that was the island’s main harbour until 1843 and where the American whaling ships put in for water and crew, by Wikipedia’s account; a natural rock pool lies a short walk south. It is seen from the road that drops down to it and from the waterfront, where the emigrants’ monument stands.
Tally, in the marginThe little bay held the whole ridge upside down in its water, perfectly still, while the mountains above fidgeted with their cloud. I have seldom seen a reflection outdo its original, and said as much to the bay.
Getting there
How to get there. By sea only. The Esperadinha airport, opened in 1992, was closed in 2004 because of persistent strong winds, Wikipedia records. Fly to Praia, on Santiago, the usual international gateway, then take CV Interilhas’ ferry to Furna by way of Fogo, about five hours in all, or fly to São Filipe on Fogo and cross from there in about an hour, travellers’ reports put it. In April 2025 a grounding of the ferry Liberdadi suspended Sotavento sailings for a time, Lusa reported, and the government has promised a boat dedicated to the Brava–Fogo crossing in 2026. On the island, shared minibuses (aluguer) leave when they are full; there are no taxis.
When to go. December to May, the cooler dry season; the warmer wet season runs from June to November, Wikipedia records. Crossings can be delayed or cancelled, as the 2025 suspension showed, so leave a spare day at each end.
What to arrange ahead. The ferry both ways, a bed in Nova Sintra or Fajã de Água, and a local guide for the longer walks across the island. Before travelling, check INMG’s current alert level for Brava.
Safety. The State Department rates Cabo Verde Level 1, exercise normal precautions (advisory dated 18 December 2025 in its feed, read 5 October 2026). Its one Level 2 area is Praia, the capital, on the island of Santiago, where it reports an increased risk of crime; Praia is about 130 kilometres east of Brava by the editor’s measurement, though travellers pass through it on the way. Brava’s own hazards are its volcano, monitored by INMG, whose current alert level we could not read from here; steep roads and paths; and the sea crossing.
Mark this place
Common questions
Where is Brava in Cabo Verde?
Brava is the smallest inhabited island of Cabo Verde, in the Sotavento group of the Atlantic, about 18 kilometres west of Fogo. It covers 62.5 square kilometres, rises to 976 metres at Monte Fontainhas, and its capital is Nova Sintra.
How do you get to Brava?
By ferry only, since Brava’s Esperadinha airport was closed in 2004 because of strong winds. CV Interilhas ferries run to Furna from São Filipe on Fogo, about an hour, and from Praia by way of Fogo, about five hours in all.
Why is Brava linked to New Bedford?
American whaling ships signed on Brava’s men as crew from the late eighteenth century, and many settled around New Bedford, Massachusetts. A National Park Service study quotes the historian Marilyn Halter that virtually all the pioneering Cape Verdean emigrants to the United States came from Brava.
Is Brava an active volcano?
Brava has no confirmed historical eruption but is considered potentially active: about 300 people were evacuated during a swarm in 2016, and in late 2023 Cabo Verde’s INMG raised its alert level from 2 to 3 after earthquakes up to magnitude 4.8.
Who was Eugénio Tavares?
Eugénio Tavares was a poet and musician from Brava who wrote mornas, the slow, melancholy songs of Cabo Verde, in Cape Verdean Creole. His statue stands in the main square of Nova Sintra, Brava’s capital.
Why is Brava called the green island?
Wikipedia describes Brava as the smallest inhabited island of Cabo Verde but at the same time the greenest. Its interior has a milder, semi-arid climate than the coast, about 13 per cent of the island is forested, and its valleys are terraced for crops.
What was the Matilde?
The Matilde was a sailing ship that left Fajã de Água on Brava for America on 21 August 1943 and was lost in the Atlantic with 51 people. A monument to the emigrants, put up in 1993, stands opposite the village church.
Is Brava safe to visit?
The State Department rates Cabo Verde Level 1, with Praia, on Santiago, its one Level 2 area for crime (advisory of 18 December 2025). Brava’s own hazard is its volcano: check INMG’s current alert level before travelling.