Canoa Quebrada is a village on the Ceara coast of north eastern Brazil, about two and a half hours south east of Fortaleza, and it is built along the top of a line of RED SANDSTONE CLIFFS that drop to a wide beach. The first image is them. Cut into one cliff face is a CRESCENT MOON WITH A STAR, which has become the village's emblem and is on everything, and which dates from the 1970s and 1980s when this was a stop on the hippie trail rather than a resort.
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What Is Here
THE WIND IS THE REASON HALF THE VISITORS COME AND IT IS EXTRAORDINARILY RELIABLE. The third image is kitesurfing. The Ceara coast sits in the path of a trade wind that blows onshore, hard and consistently, for months at a stretch from roughly July to January, which makes it one of the most dependable kitesurfing coasts anywhere on earth. Schools here teach beginners and the lagoons and flat water inland are part of the appeal. If you have no interest in it, the same wind is why the beach is comfortable at thirty degrees and why the afternoons are not oppressive.
THE CLIFFS ARE THE LANDSCAPE AND THEY ARE ALSO ERODING. Layered red, orange and white sandstone, best at the end of the afternoon when the light is on them, with the beach below reached by steps or by the road down. They are soft rock and they do come down, which is covered in the safety section: this is not a cliff to sit at the foot of.
THE JANGADAS IN THE SECOND IMAGE ARE WORKING BOATS. The traditional Ceara sailing raft is still used for fishing along this coast and they are pulled up on the sand between trips. Boatmen take visitors out, which is a good hour on the water and the cheapest thing you will do here.
BUGGY RIDES ARE THE OTHER STANDARD OUTING. Open buggies run along the beach and over the dunes to the Canoa Quebrada lagoons and down toward Majorlandia and the coloured sand cliffs, with the drivers, BUGUEIROS, licensed through the state tourism body. Ask for a licensed driver and expect to be asked whether you want the ride COM EMOCAO or SEM EMOCAO, with or without excitement, which is a genuine question about how steep the dune descents will be and is worth answering honestly.
AND BROADWAY IS THE STRIP, WHICH IS EITHER THE POINT OR THE PROBLEM. The main street, Rua Dragao do Mar, is a pedestrian run of bars, restaurants and shops that fills in the evening with forro and reggae, and the village has had a party reputation since the hippies. It is small-scale and good-humoured rather than Ibiza, and it is also directly above where you are sleeping if you book badly.
When to Go
July to January is the wind season and the dry season at once, which makes it the clear best window: hot, bright, breezy, with the kitesurfing at its most reliable.
FEBRUARY TO MAY IS THE RAINY SEASON, which on this coast means heavy intermittent rain and much less wind. It is cheaper and quieter and it is the wrong time to come for the thing the place is known for.
Temperatures sit between about 25 and 31 degrees all year at four degrees south of the equator. There is no cool season at all.
Carnival fills the village and the New Year period is the most expensive of the year.
Getting There
Fortaleza's airport is the gateway, about two and a half hours away by road, with transfers and vans running to the village and buses to Aracati, the nearest town, about ten minutes inland.
There is no airport, no train and no reason to hire a car for the village itself, which is small enough to walk end to end in fifteen minutes. A car helps only if you intend to explore the coast independently, and the buggy drivers do that better.
The sand streets are the local texture rather than a problem, though a wheeled suitcase is a poor idea.
The Canoa Quebrada Packing List
Equatorial sun, relentless wind, blowing sand and no cool season whatever.
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a lightweight long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is worth more here than the climate suggests, and the wind is why: a long day on a windy beach at four degrees south is a sunburn and a chill at the same time, because evaporative cooling off wet skin in constant wind takes more heat than people expect. Wool handles being damp in wind, where a cotton top turns cold and clammy and then smells by the second day in this humidity.
A long sun hoodie is the most important item on this list. Four degrees south means near-vertical midday sun, the ultraviolet index is extreme for most of the year, and there is no shade on a beach, a jangada or a buggy.
A wide brim sun hat, though note it needs a chin strap or the wind will take it, and an insulated water bottle, since a buggy trip is hours from anywhere.
A quick dry travel towel, and walking shoes with grip for the cliff steps and the sand streets, which are steeper and looser than they look.
Insect repellent, applied by DAY as well as at dusk for the reason in the health note below, and particularly inland around the lagoons where the wind drops.
Not linked and worth packing: SUNGLASSES THAT STAY ON, because blowing sand is constant and the glare off pale sand and water is severe; A SEALED BAG OR CASE FOR A PHONE AND CAMERA, since fine sand in this wind gets into everything and is abrasive; CASH IN REAIS for the jangadas, the buggies and the beach barracas; AND EARPLUGS if you are sleeping near Broadway.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Canoa Quebrada
Emergency numbers: 190 for police, 192 for ambulance and 193 for fire, all free from any phone, with 193 also reaching the fire service for a water rescue. Response comes from Aracati, ten minutes inland, which is the thing to factor in.
THE FCDO HAS A SECTION ON NORTH-EAST BRAZIL AND CEARA IS IN IT, SO THIS IS OPERATIVE ADVICE RATHER THAN BACKGROUND. It names THEFT FROM HOTEL AND MOTEL ROOMS and MUGGINGS, and advises TAKING TAXIS AFTER SUNSET RATHER THAN WALKING and AVOIDING QUIET OR DESERTED AREAS. In a village this size that translates into three specific habits. Use the room safe or your pousada's, because the named risk is theft from inside the room. Do not walk the beach or the unlit lanes between the village and the outlying pousadas after dark; it is a short distance and a dark one. And treat Broadway as the drinking strip it is: keep a drink in sight and go back with people rather than alone at three in the morning. THE CLIFFS ARE A PHYSICAL HAZARD AND A SPECIFIC ONE. They are soft sandstone, they are actively eroding, and sections do collapse, so do not sit, shelter or set up directly at the foot of a cliff face and take the warning signs seriously where they exist. THE SEA HAS RIP CURRENTS and this is an open Atlantic beach with a shore break and no reef to soften it, and there are no lifeguards on most of it; swim where other people are swimming and not alone. BUGGY RIDES are the activity most likely to injure a visitor here: use a licensed bugueiro arranged through your pousada or the tourist office rather than a tout, wear the seatbelt, and if the dune descents are frightening say SEM EMOCAO, which is the standard phrase and will be respected. THE SUN AND THE WIND TOGETHER are the most reliable cause of a ruined week, because the wind hides how much sun you are taking.
Theft is the realistic risk in Brazil and the FCDO is specific enough to be useful. Robberies are common in many cities and particularly on buses, thieves target mobile phones and the FCDO names the window BETWEEN 4PM AND 9PM, and attackers may be armed. THE ADVICE IS NOT TO RESIST: hand over valuables rather than arguing with someone who may be armed and under the influence. Thefts are especially common on public beaches, including ARRASTOES, where a large group runs through a stretch of beach grabbing everything, so take nothing to the beach you would mind losing and DO NOT GO ON TO CITY BEACHES AFTER DARK. And the FCDO is unambiguous about FAVELAS: avoid all of them, including favela tours marketed to tourists and any accommodation, restaurant or bar advertised as being inside one, and check that a GPS route is not taking you through one, because tourists have been shot after entering by accident.
UK FCDO: there are no advised-against areas in mainland Brazilian cities, and the one place the FCDO advises against all but essential travel is RIVER TRAVEL ON SPECIFIC AMAZON STRETCHES: along the Amazon west of Codajas and east of Belem do Solimoes in Amazonas State, along any part of the Itaquai or Japura rivers, and along the Rio Negro north or west of Barcelos, because of criminal activity in the border country Brazil shares with Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. NOTE THAT BELEM DO SOLIMOES IS A TOWN IN AMAZONAS AND NOT THE CITY OF BELEM IN PARA, which is 1,500km east and is not named. Four areas have their own sections covering ordinary crime rather than advice against travel: RIO DE JANEIRO, SAO PAULO, BRASILIA, where the FCDO names the central bus station area for theft, and NORTH-EAST BRAZIL, where it names theft from hotel and motel rooms and muggings, and advises using taxis after sunset rather than walking and avoiding quiet or deserted areas.
US State Department travel advisory: the Brazil advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/brazil, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Main hospital: There is no hospital in the village. ARACATI, ten minutes inland, has the local hospital, and anything serious goes to FORTALEZA two and a half hours away. That distance is the reason to take a buggy injury, a fall on the cliff steps or heat illness seriously immediately rather than waiting to see. Dial 192 for an ambulance. The FCDO says foreign nationals are entitled to emergency medical treatment in Brazilian public hospitals, which especially in the major cities tend to be overcrowded, with long waits for a bed and a lack of medication. Private hospitals in the big cities are genuinely good and expensive, and the FCDO notes they will not accept you unless you can show evidence of enough money or insurance to cover your treatment. A farmacia handles minor problems. TAP WATER IS TREATED AND GENERALLY SAFE IN THE MAJOR CITIES including Brasilia, Porto Alegre and Fortaleza, though most Brazilians drink filtered and bottled is universal. DENGUE IS THE REAL HEALTH RISK and Brazil has large annual epidemics, with chikungunya and Zika also present; the mosquito that carries all three bites BY DAY, so repellent is a daytime measure. YELLOW FEVER VACCINATION is recommended for much of the country and some onward countries require a certificate if you have been here, so check before you travel rather than at the border. Ceara sits in a region with recurring dengue epidemics, so the daytime repellent habit above is the most useful health measure on this trip.
Official health authority: the Brazilian Ministry of Health, covers the national health service and the current dengue situation, which varies sharply by state and season
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Brasilia.
Official tourism authority: Visit Brasil, the national tourism board, covers Brazil nationally, and the state tourism body licenses the bugueiros, which is the register to ask about rather than accepting a driver off the street
Takeaways
July to January is wind and sun. February to May is rain and no wind.
The cliffs are soft sandstone and they collapse. Do not sit at the foot of them.
Use a licensed bugueiro, and say sem emocao if you want it calmer.
No hospital in the village. Aracati ten minutes, Fortaleza two and a half hours.
Solo women safety assessment: Canoa Quebrada is a well-trodden solo destination and has been since the backpacker era, which works in your favour: the pousadas are used to people arriving alone, the kitesurf schools are a ready-made social structure, and eating alone on Broadway is completely ordinary. THE FCDO'S NORTH-EAST BRAZIL SECTION APPLIES TO CEARA and names theft from hotel and motel rooms and muggings, advising taxis after sunset rather than walking and avoiding quiet or deserted areas, so use the room safe, do not walk the beach or the unlit lanes between the village and outlying pousadas after dark, and treat Broadway as the drinking strip it is by keeping a drink in sight and going back with people. Nationally the FCDO adds that robberies are common and particularly on buses, names the window between four and nine in the evening, says attackers may be armed and that THE ADVICE IS NOT TO RESIST, and calls out beach theft including the arrastao, so take nothing to the sand you would mind losing. THE PHYSICAL RISKS ARE CLIFF, SEA, BUGGY AND SUN. The cliffs are soft eroding sandstone that collapses, so do not sit or shelter at the foot of them. This is an open Atlantic beach with a shore break, rip currents and no lifeguards on most of it, so swim where others are and not alone. Buggy rides are the likeliest cause of injury: use a licensed bugueiro through your pousada, wear the belt, and say sem emocao if the dunes frighten you. The constant wind hides how much sun you are taking, which is why a long sleeve beats sunscreen here. There is no hospital in the village, with Aracati ten minutes away and Fortaleza two and a half hours. 190 REACHES POLICE, 192 AMBULANCE AND 193 FIRE AND WATER RESCUE.
Reading On
Canoa Quebrada is one of three Ceara destinations in this library and they are genuinely different from each other. The Jericoacoara packing list covers the village four hours north west whose landscape is DUNES rather than cliffs and which is harder to reach and more expensive, and the Fortaleza packing list covers the state capital two and a half hours away that everyone flies into, with thirty kilometres of urban beach. Along the north east coast, the Praia da Pipa packing list covers a clifftop village of similar scale in Rio Grande do Norte, the Joao Pessoa packing list the Paraiba capital at the easternmost point of the Americas, and the Maceio packing list the Alagoas one with its reef pools. Offshore, the Fernando de Noronha packing list covers the archipelago with the clearest water in Brazil. For the country, the Brazil travel guide for women carries the regions, the transport and the seasons in full. For why wool suits wet skin in a constant wind, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
