Lemon Shark Experience from Sal

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. After pick-up from your hotel, you'll drive to Shark Bay over on the east coast of Sal where your lemon shark experience will begin. You'll wade out into the water with a marine biologist, who will guide you step by step and teach you all about this incredible species. Spot their yellow-tinted skin – ideal for camouflage in the sandy shores – and watch them as they go about their business, twisting and turning, and looking for fish just a few feet away. You'll see their fins cutting through the surface of the water and get to know these sharks closer than you could imagine.

   3 hAdmission included

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 68 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Showing reviews written in English.

• 3Great to see the wildlife but not great to see the rubbish!

  Personally, I did not enjoy this trip not because I did not want to see the lemon sharks but because of the amount of rubbish plastic and rope there was on the beach and surrounding areas, on one side of the island, we are being encouraged to give money to save the turtles and on this side of the island, the beach is has rubbish dumped everywhere, I paid about £25 for this trip. It was a pick up on a coach to what would seemingly be a free beach with a guide who granted had some knowledge of the sharks. For context this is a breeding ground for lemon sharks. The mothers come quite close to shore to give birth and the baby lemon sharks swim to the shallows where they will stay for approximately seven years to prevent them being eaten, it is their natural instinct not to swim away from this area so you can always see sharks between half a metre and a metre and a half long, you are encouraged to hire a pair of plastic crocs from the local guy on the beach for €3, so you can wade into the water for 30 mins whilst the sharks swim around you, if you have time after you can stop and get a drink from the makeshift bar, also there are local sellers who would like you to buy from them an assortment of handmade goods and beach shells. The people in this area are definitely making money out of the locals, some more than others and I can only assume that TUI clear a profit on these trips, what I would like is to see some of that money being put back in into cleaning up these beaches, with more and more tourists will come more and more rubbish, and I don’t think just the tourists are to blame. I think the locals just leave it behind because on the island of Sal, it still has no recycling centres, this holiday destination still needs a lot of investment and infrastructure built in, but to leave it just on the beach is heartbreaking, landfill could be a temporary solution, it’s a huge volcanic rock and there is plenty of space to landfill.

  MichelllechampersSeptember 2026via Tripadvisor

• 4Nice trip

  Pick up on time,with a 30 odd min trip to site.As we done the buggies a couple of days before we knew what to expect,but this time going into the sea. Be warned.We were there at what i presumed was an incoming high tide.This resulted in both of us getting totally soaked by the waves... at approx 1 foot of water..so wear swim stuff and cover your phone/camera with some protection.The sea floor is rocks so make sure you have decent footwear,crocs,old trainers etc or hire them at the shop.Even walking on this we needed to hold hands constantly ir the waves would have and did have us on our backsides.Saw quite a few sharks,so not a waste of a trip.

  Karl1664September 2026via Tripadvisor

• 5Lovely experience

  This was a lovely experience. If you aren’t wearing appropriate footwear there are sea shoes available to rent for €3 per pair. We spent 15 mins in the water with the gorgeous creatures. Was so lovely. Although you only wade out to just above knee depth , the waves do splash up to your waist, so worth just wearing your swimming gear.

  wanderlust1579August 2026via Tripadvisor

• 5The best island tour guide in sal island

  The best tour guide in Santa Maria. No stress Cabo verde

  Flyer09618329538August 2026via Tripadvisor

• 5Amazing experience

  It’s amazing and you get rather wet, if you can wear water shoes although you can hire shoes there but water shoes are better than crocs

  wpc1984August 2026via Viator

• 5Lemon shark experience

  Great experience, would recommend when you come to Cape Verde. A must do. A very knowledgeable guide who knows her stuff

  Jeff_HAugust 2026via Viator

Know before you go

How it compares in Santa Maria

• Its from-price is 52% below the median of the 92 experiences we list in Santa Maria.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 21 of 92.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Santa Maria

Santa Maria, on the southern tip of Sal in Cape Verde, is a beach town of pale sand, steady Atlantic wind and a fishing pier.

Santa Maria occupies the southern tip of Sal, a flat, dry island in the Cape Verde archipelago off the coast of West Africa. Sal means salt in Portuguese, a nod to the salt pans once worked here for export. The sandy streets of Santa Maria, lined with pastel houses, lead down to a long beach and a pier where local fishermen sell their catch.

See all 92 experiences in Santa Maria