Sal is the island within Cape Verde, closest to the African continent - less than 400 miles away from the coast of Senegal. Sal is about 30km from North to South, with the width not exceeding more than 12km, giving an overall surface area of 216 square kilometres. The whole surface area of the island is a similar size to the Isle of Wight.

The International Airport within Sal is the main international airport to the whole of Cape Verde. The Cotton Bay resort is about 12 miles away from the airport, allowing easy access to the development.

Sal was discovered in 1640 and due to the constant erosion throughout the history of the island, it became to be known as Llana. The name Sal first appeared when a crater within an extinct volcano became a lagoon, and after the rainy periods, salt was produced.

Initially, the island of Sal was used solely for grazing animals by inhabitants of Boa Vista. When salt was discovered, the island became more important to the population of the Cape Verde islands. Salt became the main export of Sal, right until the mid 1900s.

In the early part of the 20th century, in the age of flight, became a realisation that refueling was necessary between Europe and South America. The International Airport was built on the island in 1939 to fulfil this need. This had an effect of the inhabitants of the other islands within Cape Verde, in an particular San Nicolau, to relocate to Sal. This led to the construction of the tourist destinations.

Santa Maria became the main tourist destination within Sal, and Cape Verde as a whole. The old salt pits were located here before the tourist invasion. The main attraction, however, are the magnificent beaches and the sea, with excellent conditions for watersports.