Santa Maria beach apartment, Sal

Santa Maria sits at the southern tip of Sal, the flattest and driest of the Cape Verde islands, and it exists almost entirely because of one thing: an eight-kilometre beach of white sand that runs off into a turquoise Atlantic and keeps going. This two-bedroom apartment is in a small three-storey block three streets back from the sand, close enough to hear the surf and walk barefoot to the water in under five minutes.

The apartment covers about 70 square metres — two bedrooms, a bathroom, an open kitchen and living room, and a balcony deep enough to eat on. It is finished simply and well: white plaster, ceramic tiled floors, timber shutters on every window and ceiling fans throughout, which in Sal's constant trade winds do the work air conditioning does elsewhere. The building has a small shared pool and courtyard, a caretaker, and a rooftop drying area. Water is desalinated and metered; power is on the island grid with the building keeping a small inverter backup.

Cape Verde is one of the most straightforward places in Africa for a foreign buyer. Non-residents may purchase freehold property in their own name with no restrictions, the process runs through a notary in a few weeks, and property taxes are low. The country is politically stable, uses the escudo pegged to the euro, and has direct flights to Lisbon, London, Paris, Amsterdam and Boston, which is why so many European owners keep places here for winter sun and rent them out the rest of the year.

Santa Maria itself is a proper small town rather than a resort compound. The main street runs from the church down to the old wooden pier, lined with cafes, grocery shops, kite schools, dive centres and bars playing morna and funaná into the night. The fish market on the pier sells whatever came in that morning, and pelicans wait for the offcuts. There is a health centre in town, a hospital in Espargos twenty minutes north, and the international airport is a fifteen-minute taxi ride.

The beach is the whole point. Trade winds blow steadily from November to June, making Sal one of the world's premier kitesurfing and windsurfing destinations — Ponta Preta hosts world tour events. The water is warm enough to swim in year round and clear enough for shore diving. Humpback whales calve offshore between March and May, loggerhead turtles nest on the eastern beaches in summer, and boat trips run out for tuna and wahoo most mornings. Days here are reliably 25 to 30 degrees, and it barely rains.