Cape Verde on an Indian Licence — You Switch to the Right, Limit is 0.05

Cape Verde is an archipelago off the West African coast, and a hire car is the practical way to reach the volcanic interiors and quieter beaches the resort shuttles skip. For an Indian visitor the licence question is easy; the road habits are what take adjusting.

The verdict for Indian licence holders

You can drive in Cape Verde on your Indian licence, and an International Driving Permit is recommended — not because the law always insists on it, but because rental desks on the islands like to see one. Carry the IDP, your Indian licence and your passport together, and arrange the IDP at home before you fly, since you cannot obtain it once you arrive.

The first real change: traffic flows on the right

India drives on the left; Cape Verde drives on the right. This is the single adjustment most likely to catch you out, and the risky moments are reflexive ones — pulling out of a fuel stop, taking a roundabout that now turns the other way, or looking the wrong direction at a junction. Spend your first hour on a quiet road, not in central Praia, until right-hand driving stops feeling unnatural.

A stricter drink-drive limit than home

Cape Verde’s blood-alcohol limit is 0.05, which is actually tighter than India’s 0.03 in practice and leaves no comfortable “one beer” margin. With island roads that climb, twist and are poorly lit away from the towns, the honest advice is simply not to drink before driving at all.

Driving across the islands

Each inhabited island has its own small road network, and conditions vary a lot — newer surfaces near the main towns, rougher cobbled and gravel sections inland and on the smaller islands. Posted limits are not consistently signed, so drive to the road rather than to a number, watch for pedestrians and livestock, and allow far more time than the distance suggests on the mountainous islands. The emergency number is 112.

Check the local rules on our Cape Verde driving guide, confirm your paperwork with the Driving Permit Checker, and see how penalties are handled in who pays driving fines abroad.