Explore Kitesurifing in Brazil

For years I had heard talk in the kiting community about Brazil. Fabulous wind, long downwinders, and interesting towns with sand streets and free roaming donkeys. And each time I would ask someone about it while standing on a beach after a session of kiting, they would rattle off a number of hard to pronounce names and talk about a journey that seemed too complex to wrap my head around. It was never as simple as buy a plane ticket, show up, and start kiting. 

Finally, I decided to figure it  out and do the trip myself. Then, I was hooked, and the trips to Brazil kept getting bigger. Eventually, I covered the whole coast from the city of Sao Luis in the north to Fortaleza in the South. This is now almost an annual trip, sometimes with just kiters and sometimes with a mix of kiters and spouses who are not kiters, because the area has so much for everyone, even if you just want a relaxing vacation, this is a beautiful and fun area.

Below is an overview of my favorite kiteboarding destinations in Brazil, along with photos from our trips.

 The kiting season runs from September to early December. I typically go in October or the first half of November. It’s hot and sunny, but the wind keeps the daytime temperatures manageable and nighttime temps are perfect for soaking up the scene.

Jericoacoara, which is usually just shortened to Jeri, is one of the top destinations in the world for kitesurfing and the epicenter of kitesurfing along this stretch of coast. Kiters flock to it, but it’s also the place to come if you want an awesome beach vacation. Most Brazilians who visit Jeri have no interest kiting, they come for the beaches, town, and the whole  amazing experience that comes with the surrounding dunes.

This small town with streets made of sand is set on a beautiful crescent of beach in a national park and surrounded by huge sand dunes. It's remoteness is part of the attraction. You can fly into the airport at Jericoacoara but you can only reach the beach town itself, about an hour away,  by 4x4, across the dunes. 

You can’t kite from the main beach in Jeri, so your commute will involve a dune buggy ride from your hotel, through the dunes along the coast, possibly a quick boat trip (buggy and all) across a river mouth to your kiting destination. 

Although this might sound like a hassle, it’s a fun part of the experience. We hire a driver and fit three passengers and their kiting gear on a buggy.  If you get a good driver who knows about kiting and speaks English, this is a real bonus. I prearrange my driver to make sure I get someone I want to work with, and who can assist people in our group who are newer to kiting.

I like to head out to nearby Tatajuba but there are a number of options depending on your kiting style. Also, nearby, Prea is a popular spot for those who enjoy waves. You can also arrange downwinders and have your buggy driver pick you up.

Jeri is an awesome town! After kiting, head to the beach to catch the sunset. The early evening on the beach is a special time and everyone comes out. Enjoy a caipirinha from a drink vendor making cocktails on the beach, try some fried cheese on skewers, and if you're lucky, listen to some live music as bands set up on a beach stage.  

This is just a warmup before heading out to dinner at one of the towns many restaurants. Afterwards, grab a gelato (a donkey will likely be watching you hoping for a lick), wander the streets to see artists displaying their goods, pop into a shop or two, or head to the  rooftop club with a DJ and dancing. Bars stay open but the club scene ends early, so if you are staying in town you don’t have to worry about noise.

If you want a break from kiting, you can arrange an excursion to one of the lagoons, like Lagoa do paraiso, set in the dunes and hang out on the at a beachside restaurant. This is popular with vacationers. When we have a mix of kiters and non-kiters, we plan for a day off from kiting and head out to one of these places to enjoy a day of chilling on the beach.

Accommodation and Restaurants: Jeri has a full range of hotel accommodation, from mid-range to high-end, on the beach or just back. You can also find everything from fine dining to feet-in-the-sand restaurants, decent shopping, and plenty to explore once the heat of the day has passed.

 Some kiters prefer Barra Grande to Jeri, but both are fun places. The town is smaller but you can still find a good selection of accommodation, including some luxury properties. Kite clubs can be found along the beachfront and you can kite here or make your way over to Macapa, just across a river mouth to the west of Barra Grande.

Although smaller, Barra Grande has the same type of quirky vibe. In addition to donkeys, horses also roam the streets, try to get into the resorts to eat the lawns, and sometimes they even stand at your table in outdoor restaurants looking at you for food. And they’re not skinny! 

The kiting here offers a real mix. At Barra Grande, it's wavy, but at Macapa it's flat water. You can also kite between the two but it's a long upwind tack back to Barra Grande. Instead, you can hire a donkey cart on the sandspit that juts out into the river mouth to transport you back, but you have to prearrange this. 

Barra Grande is about 3 hours north west of Jeri.  Macapa is very near to Barra Grande as the crow flies, or as the fish swims, because it's just across the mouth of a river. You can kite acorss, but there is no easy way to drive across. To get there by car you have to go around back inland to Highway 402 to get across the river, and it takes about a little less than an hour. 

Atins is a completely different experience from the other kiting destinations along this coast. This will likely not make the itinerary if it’s your first trip, but it’s a place you have to go at some point. The town sits on the edge of Lencois Maranhenses National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of Brazil’s natural wonders. 

This is an enormous landscape of white dunes dotted with lagoons, that stretches on for as far as the eye can see. Like with Jeri, most Brazilians simply come here because of the fantastic scenery and are not kiters.

The kiting is right from the main beach in town. The river mouth is wide and protected by an outer sand bank that separates it from the ocean. There is plenty of room here to find your own space, and it’s not nearly as busy as the kiting destinations to the south. 

Back on shore are a couple of restaurants where people hang out to watch the kiting and relax.

Part of the attraction is the remote setting. Most people get here by an hour and a half boat up the river from the town of Barreirinhas,which is about 4.5 hours west of Barra Grande. Once you dock at Atins, it’s all 4x4s and 4-wheelers to get around because the streets all consist of heavy, deep sand, making even walking seem strenuous. Your hotel will call you a truck, or more likely, a r wheeler to get around town.

You can find some excellent accommodation here, too.

For flatwater, Ilha do  Guajiru is the perfect place. I also like this destination for the ease of being able to kite right from our hotel. The town itself is small, but has enough restaurants and infrastructure to be enjoyable. The vibe here is very bohemian.

Kiting here is tide sensitive so some advance planning helps, otherwise you may be limited in the number of hours you can actually get out on the water. The lagoon that fronts the town fills at high tide and can be nearly empty at low tide.

From Jeri, Guajiru is about 2 hours east (south). Unlike some places that are quite a detour of the main highway, this town is easy to get to and easy to add to an itinerary if you are planning on going from Fortazela to Jeri. 

The first thing I'll say about Cumbuco is that it has some of the best restaurants and food between Fortaleza and Sao Luis! I'm more interested flatwater than waves, so, although this wouldn't normally be a place I would want to return to annually, the food here puts it on my list. 

Cumbuco is an unassuming town at first glance but has a lot of charm if you give it a chance. My favorite memory is coming here for Halloween and giving out candy in the main square.

The kiting in Cumbuco is on the ocean, no protection from sand bars. It's fun for people looking for waves. Depending on where you are staying you can kite right from your hotel.

From Fortaleza, this a good starting point as you make your way north.  If you arrive into Fortaleza in the evening, you can transfer directly to Cumbuco and be on the water the next morning. Although traffic can be tricky getting out of Fortaleza, it typically takes about an hour to an hour and a half to get to Cumbuco. Fortaleza is not a destination you want to fly into at night and try driving yourself.