Santa Maria, Sand beach in Sal, Cape Verde

Santa Maria is a wide sandy shore on the southern coast of Sal Island with warm, clear waters. The beach has a gentle slope into the sea and multiple access points where visitors can enter the water.

The beach runs about 2 km from the centre of Santa Maria eastward to Ponta do Sinó, the island's southernmost point. The town grew around this shore, and the Festival da Praia de Santa Maria has been held on the sand each mid-September, drawing the island's musicians to the same stretch of coast.

Every mid-September the Festival da Praia de Santa Maria brings the island's music to this sand, with the city centre of Santa Maria at its eastern end and Ponta do Sinó, Sal's southernmost point, at the southwestern end of the roughly 2 km stretch.

The beach runs about 2 km from Santa Maria's centre eastward to Ponta do Sinó, the island's southernmost point. The Festival da Praia de Santa Maria takes place here each year in mid-September, when the shore is busiest.

Sea turtles arrive on the beach at night during late summer months to lay their eggs in the sand. This natural event draws people interested in wildlife and happens only during specific times of year.