Jericoacoara

Is everyone’s idea of paradise, in my humble opinion.

It is in the middle of a national park, and the town is made up of five streets made of sand which house simple hostels, pousadas and fancy pants hotels, ice cream parlours, cafés specialising in tapioca and fish restaurants.

Heading to the sea you have three options, the main beach with bars, surf schools and umbrellas, a wilder beach called Malhada with high waves, and when the tide is low lovely walks along the shore to more hidden beaches, or the dunes which are covered in people at sunset but otherwise are normally rather empty and rather lovely.

Sunset at the dunes

 

The town itself boats a great nightlife. If you love dancing, every night a different place has samba or forró, otherwise there are beach parties where carts sell caipirinhas, or you can just go bar hopping soaking up the atmosphere.

There a day trips from here to various places, including Tatajuba, Jijoca, Lago de Paraiso and Gurihu. To get here from Fortaleza you have to get a 4×4 from the airport (or the centre), and it’s a 4 hour drive, partly on dirt tracks and it costs around 150 per person (they like to have groups of three or four). After a nightmarish journey which involved my first flight being delayed by 3 hours, and missing my connection I ended up being put on a different flight up here, so I arrived with no transport booked. Luckily the tourist office was helpful and told me to talk to three drivers going to Jeri, unluckily they wanted more people and that Friday night no one else came, so after 4 hours of waiting eventually one guy took just me. I became resigned to paying around 500 reais, but he only charged 200 which I was informed was a great deal. You can find  cheaper deals if you book your transport through your hotel, or take the bus service called Fretcar.

On our way to Gurihu

Once here, learn how to kitesurf, windsurf, normal surf or stand up paddle, take samba, forró or capoeira classes or just chill with a caipi in hand. Most people come during high season to practise a water sport, saying you don’t do one gets you a slightly odd look, ‘don’t you want to kitesurf?!’ Be attached to a kite larger than me and a board and control both? Nah, you’re alright.

I have (sort of) learned how to stand up paddle, which is a balancing act and a core work out all in one, as well as the perfect tanning technique. Once I’d worked out how to get where I wanted to go, I had an absolute blast.

I also took up Samba ao pé, which is the most intense dance I have ever tried, (and I’ve tried a fair few) which is insane fun, and after two classes my amazing teacher persuaded me to come to a hotel where she was dancing so I could ‘practise’, which turned out to mean perform in front of everyone, this was a mix of mortifying and really funny. She also asked me to go with them to Rio and be in the parade which I am deliberating over.

Hidden gem of a beach

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