Cape Verde Family Holiday vs Canaries: The Price of Warmth

Cape Verde or the Canaries: what the half-term week costs for four

From Gatwick at February half term, a week for four costs £3,619 in Tenerife and £4,350 on Sal before Riu's local tax (as of October 2026, sources: TUI, RIU). This table sets them side by side:

Sources: TUI, RIU, FCDO, NHS, Teide cable car, Banco de Cabo Verde, read October 2026. Weather: WMO (Sal, 1961 to 1990), AEMET (Tenerife South, 1981 to 2010).

Check the hotel's own rate first, then compare Tenerife hotels on Expedia and Sal hotels on Expedia. Book whichever tab is cheaper for the same room and dates.

The gap is the flights, not the room: this table itemises both Gatwick weeks line by line.

Sources: TUI and RIU searches, Cape Verde Consular Portal, read 17 October 2026; TUI fares include a £40 a person discount. Rates: European Central Bank, 16 October 2026; the escudo's euro peg, 110.265 (Banco de Cabo Verde); Tenerife uses the euro. Not included: transfers, bags, days out, insurance.

That's about €5,160 or US$5,800 for Sal (before Riu's local tax) and about €4,290 or US$4,830 for Tenerife (as of October 2026, source: European Central Bank).

Both rooms are 24-hour all inclusive (a resort package, in US terms), but they differ: Funana is a 5-star, Buenavista a 4-star on the beachfront.

Riu's rate leaves out local taxes of CVE 276 a person a day (10 days at most): £59 for four, or £30 for the adults only. Riu names no child exemption, so ask before you book. If your budget stops at £4,000, book Tenerife.

What are some fun things to do in Cape Verde with kids?

On Sal, the fun is the resort's kids' club, a lifeguarded beach and one outing to Pedra de Lume (as of October 2026, sources: RIU, FCDO):

• RIU Land, Riu Funana's kids' programme.
• Lifeguarded beaches only: the FCDO warns of very strong currents.
• Pedra de Lume, which RIU describes as old salt flats in an extinct volcano's crater.

With a 4-year-old, that's RIU Land in the morning, the pool after lunch and one Pedra de Lume afternoon. With under-7s, that is the week.

When Cape Verde wins

Book Sal only if all three fit:

• Your children are all under 7 and happy with pool days.
• You can fly a weekend slot (Bristol or Manchester) or will take the school day.
• Your budget runs past Sal's total: £4,350 for four from Gatwick or about £4,650 from Bristol, both before Riu's local tax (Manchester's Sal flights alone are about £3,280).

Totals read on TUI's and RIU's sites, October 2026.

When the Canaries win

Book Tenerife if any of these fit:

• Any child is 7 or over, like the 10-year-old we priced: Tenerife has Siam Park, which our Tenerife vs Lanzarote comparison prices.
• You fly from Gatwick and won't take a school day.
• You want your UK GHIC to work: the FCDO says Cape Verde won't accept it.

On Gran Canaria, Aqualand Maspalomas's online family pack for four starts at €106, varying by date, and Palmitos Park's costs €118. Our Tenerife vs Gran Canaria comparison picks the island. Price both for your date and book the cheaper.

Park prices read on Aqualand's and Palmitos Park's sites, October 2026.

Which UK airports fit Sal into half term?

Bristol and Manchester have weekend Sal weeks inside a 15 to 19 February half term (as of October 2026, sources: TUI, Bristol City Council). TUI flies Bristol to Sal on Saturday 13 February and Manchester to Sal on Sunday 14, each for 7 nights. From Manchester, Sal's flights cost about £1,950 more for four than Tenerife's on the same days. From Bristol, TUI's Sal week is £2,500 for four, about £4,650 with the Riu room and the fee.

Ryanair's Bristol to Tenerife week starts at about £290 for one adult with no bag; we didn't price four seats. If you fly from Bristol, price four seats with bags on both before you choose. Bristol City Council says academies and voluntary aided schools may set other dates, so check your school's. From Glasgow the flights are within £30, so if your children are under 7, Sal's warmth costs you only the £104 fee and the room difference.

Welsh schools break a week earlier, 8 to 12 February, so from Wales both weeks miss five school days. Price a week inside that break first.

Fares read on TUI's and Ryanair's sites; Riu Funana US$2,733 for Saturday 13 to 20 February; term dates from Bristol City Council and the Welsh Government, October 2026.

Getting there and getting in

Flights from seven hubs

Tenerife is the shorter flight from every UK airport we read, by 1h 20m from Gatwick to 1h 50m from Birmingham (as of October 2026, sources: TUI, Ryanair). From Glasgow, Sal's flights cost £30 less for four. Add the £104 fee and Sal is £74 dearer before rooms; we didn't price Glasgow rooms. This table lists each hub's nearest slot:

TUI unless named. Sources: TUI (per person, party of four; £40 discount on both Gatwick fares and Bristol to Sal), read October 2026. Also Ryanair (lowest one-way fares added, Value fare, no bag), easyJet and TAP (one adult); fee: Cape Verde Consular Portal. Manchester Airport's own guide lists 5h 10m to Sal; TUI's February timetable is 6h 15m. Fare: easyJet Gatwick to Sal, Fri 12 to 19 Feb, about £652 an adult.

Entry by passport

No passport in this table needs a visa before arrival for either side, but every traveller aged 2 and over pays Cape Verde's EASE fee first. This table sets out each passport's stay rules.

Sources: Cape Verde Consular Portal, EASE (2026 visa-required list), US Department of State, Government of Canada, FCDO, European Union, read October 2026. Cape Verde's lists do not state the rule for Australian or New Zealand passports, so those rows are dropped.

A child entering Cape Verde without a parent or legal guardian needs a notarised letter in Portuguese. So entry does not decide this trip; the fee does.

The fee trap: pay Cape Verde's airport fee 5 days ahead

Pay Cape Verde's 3,400-escudo (€30.83) airport security fee on the EASE site at least 5 days before you land (as of October 2026, sources: FCDO, Cape Verde Consular Portal). Everyone from age 2 pays.

Arrive without the pre-registration or proof and, the FCDO says, you pay double the fee at border control. For a family of four, that's about €250 at the desk instead of about €123 online. Cape Verde's Consular Portal mentions only a surcharge "in the future".

Before you fly, have these for each traveller aged 2 and over:

• the EASE form, filed at least 5 days ahead;
• the €30.83 fee, paid online;
• the printed proof, kept with the passports.

If your dates move, the paid form stays valid for a year.

When to go, by school calendar

Go in any school holiday from October to April: Sal runs 1.7°C to 2.5°C warmer than Tenerife in each of those months (as of October 2026, sources: WMO, AEMET). This table maps each calendar's breaks (vacations, in US terms) to our pick:

Sources: each school system's calendar; FCDO (Cape Verde's rainy season); WMO and AEMET (warmth), read October 2026.

October half term lands after Cape Verde's rainy season ends in mid-October, with Sal at a 28.6°C October high. If every child is under 7 and your break is at Easter, book Sal; if any child is 7 or over, book Tenerife in any break.

Our take

For February half term from Gatwick, book Tenerife: about £3,620 for four with TUI flights and Riu Buenavista all inclusive (as of October 2026, sources: TUI, RIU).

Sal gives up Tenerife's ticketed days out, such as Teide's cable car, the GHIC and, from Gatwick, at least one school day. Tenerife gives up 2.1°C (3.8°F) in February. From Gatwick, that warmth costs about £104 a night for four. If every child is under 7 and pool days are the plan, that 2.1°C is worth the school day; if not, take the shorter flight.

With a 6- and a 10-year-old, we'd book Tenerife from any airport: the older child's days out outweigh 2.1°C. Use a weekend slot from Bristol or Manchester, or go from mid-October, when Cape Verde's rainy season ends, to December. Price your dates in the Budget Calculator, and see our winter sun destinations from the UK.

Rainy season: FCDO, October 2026.