Ponta Macia — Beach Bar / Seafood, Boa Vista
Ponta Macia occupies a position of improbable beauty at the northern end of Boa Vista — a simple wooden structure on a beach backed by Saharan dunes that rise forty metres from the shoreline. The combination of Atlantic surf, desert sand, and fresh lobster is not available anywhere else on earth.
The menu is short because the kitchen is small and the supply chain is the Atlantic. Grilled lobster, grilled fish, octopus salad, and pataniscas (salt cod fritters) constitute the entire offering. The lobster, pulled from the rocky crevices a short distance from the table, is the reason to make the journey.
Getting to Ponta Macia requires a 4WD vehicle or a thirty-minute boat ride from Sal Rei. The effort is the point. Restaurants that are only accessible to those who genuinely want to find them are almost always worth finding.
The cold Strela that arrives with the lobster, while the dune stretches behind the table and the Atlantic advances and retreats below, is among the simple pleasures that travel exists to find. There is nothing better happening in a restaurant on this island at this moment.
Best Occasion: Great for Solo Dining
The journey, the dune, the lobster, and the solitude. The precise experience that solo travel exists to provide — utterly unreplicable, absolutely unforgettable.
Best Occasion: Perfect for First Dates
The adventure of getting here creates the first shared memory before you've ordered. The lobster and the dune behind create the second. First dates at Ponta Macia have a very high success rate.