The Beaches of Northern Brazil

By Allan Yuri Souza - 10:10 AM

Written by J. Warren:

I opted to leave Olinda during the peak of Carnival in search of more tranquil locations. I had heard from Brazilians about two wonderful beaches in northeast Brazil—Fernando de Noronha and Jericoacoara. I could not have chosen two more different beaches.

Fernando de Noronha

Fernando de Noronha is an archipelago in the Atlantic that is 220 west of northeast Brazil. I wanted to go there because I had heard from Brazilians that it is spectacularly beautiful. Fernando de Noronha is a Brazilian National Park that has been designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO because of its biodiversity. The island has dense vegetation with many cliffs overlooking rocky beaches. The aqua blue waters around the island are full of coral reefs, sea turtles, and many types of dolphins.

The islands were first discovered by Portuguese explorers in the early 1500s. The only remaining evidence of the early colonists is a tiny chapel, St. Peter of the Fisherman, on a cliff overlooking the sea. The main island is 6 miles long and 2 miles wide, the majority of the area belongs to the National Park. The rest of the island is home to 3,000 permanent residents and tourists who stay in small lodges nested in heavy vegetation. There is one main road that crosses the part of the island outside the National Park. The airport is the size of a high school gym.

The island is vigorously protected by the Brazilian government. The authorities are determined to preserve the biodiversity, primarily by controlling access to the park. There is a daily limit on the number of hikers on the trails. The beaches are remote and can only be accessed by a 4X4 vehicle. Some beaches are completely off limits. This makes Fernando de Noronha different from any other beach in the country. Brazilians embrace their beaches-they hang out on the strand and spend much time in the water. If such behavior were permitted on Fernando de Noronha, the biodiversity would quickly be destroyed. On the other hand, it makes the island more like an object to be admired rather than a locale to be engaged. I found the scenery to be lovely but it did not “wow” me. When you ask most Brazilians about Fernando de Noronha, they will passionately tell you what an amazingly beautiful place it is. What I did not recognize is that the people who are promulgating the beauties of the island have never been there. After my visit, I met two Brazilians who have actually visited the island. Their impressions were similar to mine- a pleasant place to visit but a long way to go for some panoramic views.

Jericoacoara

My final stop in northeast Brazil was at a remote beach named Jericoacoara, or Jeri as most people call it (see the map). Getting to Jeri is not easy. I flew to Fortaleza, a city of 2.6 million north of Recife. From Fortaleza, I took a 5 hour bus ride that ended at a sandy parking lot in the middle of nowhere. Everyone had to get out of the bus and take their luggage over to 4X4 vehicles. Why? Because there are no roads to Jeri. Getting there requires an hour drive in a 4X4 across lagoons and dunes until arriving in the town of Jeri, although town is a generous term.

How did I find this place? The name “Jericoacoara” kept popping up when I searched online for interesting locations to visit in northeast Brazil. In the past, Jeri was a sleepy fishing village. This changed in 1994 when a story in the Washington Post Travel section reported that it was one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world. That single story brought tourists, and shortly thereafter electricity. Now the town has electricity, running water (note the adjective “hot” is not linked to water), and rolling carts that sell caipirinhas and other drinks almost 24/7. The town has 4 streets, all made of sand. There are no paved roads. Being on the equator, there are almost daily deluges that wash away the streets. Rain in this locale is not a polite drizzle. Nope, it’s like being blasted with a fire hose. It took about 30 seconds to be wet to my skivvies. Once the rain has ended, the local pit crews are engaged in the sisyphean task of shoveling sand in the gulleys created when the storms wash out the streets.

Going to Jeri was well worth the trip. The town is surrounded by the Jericoacoara National Park, known for its large fresh water lagoons and huge sand dunes. Unlike the National Park on Fernando de Noronha, visitors to the Jeri National Park are encouraged to hike, swim, and dune buggy across all of the park. The beaches are wide, long and isolated. But looking at the beaches is not as much fun as getting in a dune buggy and taking off. I met a couple of Brits and we went out in a buggy for the day. The driver took us flying across the wide strand. We encountered large lagoons and crossed cross them in varying, non-NTSB approved modes. I was most impressed with the ferry that had movable planks as an on/off ramp (see the photo). Our driver seemed to delight in zooming to the top and across large dunes and then stopping suddenly to let us stare down the precipice before flooring the gas for our descent. It was like an amusement park ride. Equally as fun was a slide for humans that shot someone from atop the dune into a fresh water lagoon far below. The person going down is on a boogey board, resulting in being shot across the water. The Brits and I did it- what a blast. Check out the video. My entire trip to Jeri was a lot of fun. I was sad to leave but looked forward to the next leg of my trip- a visit to Uruguay.