Fortaleza - Cumbuco - Cauipe - Taiba - Paracuru - Jericoacoacara
Author: Renārs Bīrmanis0 COMMENTS
Brazil beyond doubt is among the world's best kiting destinations. It is chosen by most of the planet's leading kiters for their off-season trainings, to say nothing of annual PKRA tours, the top level kiting competitions that are held there, too. A current kiteboarding invasion has somewhat deprived those wild and intact beaches of their original solitude and tranquility, however. During my first visits to the north coast of Brazil (May 2005, 2006), I was amazed at its unspoiled beauty and non-existence of any tourism infrastructure. Now it is different. An attitude towards American or European kiteboarding tourists shows that no one really cares if you will wish to return there again, as beaches are crowded anyway. Featuring never-ceasing wind and warm water, this place definitely has a potential, and locals are aware of that.
****Cumbuco village is a perfect place for learners. It offers good kiteboarding schools and nice lodgings. Cauipe flat water lagoon, split off from the ocean by a sand dune, is just excellent for the first kiteboarding steps. Cumbuco beaches and Cauipe lagoon are great for downwind wave riding as transportation is there to take you back to where you have started.
*****If you feel confident about your skills, then enjoy an amplitude and freedom of Taiba lagoon. Just beware of multitude of submerged rocks there. If it gets too crowded, the whole ocean is there - kite to your heart's content!
***Paracuru is another great kiting spot, featuring a beautiful flat water lagoon. It offers big and smooth water span with nice ripples at the reef, yet wave riding is cut a bit short by a jetty, sited down the wind. The only drawback to be mentioned is a huge popularity of this place, swarming with kiteboarding enthusiasts.
***Jericoacoara features sharp gusts, instantly reminding Seu Jorge's movie The House of Sand. Strong, slightly offshore winds are typical to this area. Hidden in the middle of nowhere, electricity being installed just about 20 years ago there - maybe this spot, amidst dunes, is the very place you are looking for. Jericoacoara is excellent for rough water chopping, although it becomes increasingly popular among windsurfers, too.
Summing up:
+ Long kiting season from March to October;
+ Beaches, stretching for hundreds of kilometers;
+ Constant wind (average size kites 9-11m²), water temperature 26-28ºC
+ Downwind wave riding;
+ Relatively low lodging costs and lively nightlife.
- Lengthy flight;
- Rather crowded lagoons;
- Poor medical service;
- Undeveloped tourism infrastructure;
- Sex tourism and poverty.