Fortaleza is the capital of Ceara and one of Brazil's largest cities, a hot, flat, fast-growing place of about 2.7 million behind thirty kilometres of urban beach. Most foreign visitors use it as the gateway to the Ceara coast rather than as a destination in itself, which is fair and incomplete.
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THE FIRST THING TO BE HONEST ABOUT IS THE CITY'S OWN BEACHES. The BEIRA MAR promenade is the city's front and is excellent to walk, run and eat along, with a handicraft market and the jangada fishing rafts pulled up at MUCURIPE. BUT THE WATER ALONG THE CENTRAL STRETCH IS NOT WHERE LOCALS SWIM, because of the port, the outflows and the currents. PRAIA DO FUTURO, east of the centre, is the swimming and eating beach and is where the city actually goes. Our Brazil travel guide for women covers the country.
THE SECOND IS THAT PRAIA DO FUTURO IS AN INSTITUTION RATHER THAN A BEACH. Its BARRACAS are large permanent beach clubs with tables, showers, music and enormous platters of fried fish and shrimp, and THURSDAY NIGHT AT THE BARRACAS, with crab and live music, is a genuine Fortaleza ritual that visitors are rarely told about. It runs late and it is where to spend one evening.
THE THIRD IS FORRO, and Ceara takes it seriously. This is the music and dance of the northeast, accordion, triangle and zabumba drum, and Fortaleza has dedicated halls running on a weekly rhythm with Monday long established as the big forro night. Lessons are easy to find and the dance is social rather than performance.
AND THE SUN HERE IS AT THREE DEGREES SOUTH, which is the practical fact that runs through everything below: the sun passes almost directly overhead, there is little seasonal variation, and the constant sea breeze removes any sensation of burning.
The Beaches, the Centre and the Markets
A promenade, a beach club culture, a cast-iron theatre and a cultural centre in a warehouse district.
THE BEIRA MAR is walked early or late: a long landscaped promenade with the craft market at its centre, joggers at six in the morning, and the fish market at Mucuripe where the jangadas land. The jangada is a flat wooden sailing raft, unchanged in centuries, and seeing them come in is the best twenty minutes in the city.
THE CENTRO DRAGAO DO MAR DE ARTE E CULTURA is the cultural anchor: a planetarium, galleries and cinemas in a converted warehouse quarter, with the bars of the surrounding streets busy in the evening. It is the one part of the old centre with real night-time life.
THE THEATRO JOSE DE ALENCAR is the city's finest building, a 1910 theatre with a cast-iron frame shipped in pieces from Scotland and assembled here, with stained glass and a garden by Burle Marx. Guided tours run on weekdays.
THE MERCADO CENTRAL is four floors of hammocks, lace, cashew nuts, leather and liqueurs, and the lacework from the Ceara interior is the thing to buy. THE CATEDRAL METROPOLITANA beside it is a vast neo-Gothic pile and the CENTRO DE TURISMO, in a former prison, has craft stalls in the cells.
FOR SWIMMING: PRAIA DO FUTURO for the barracas, and west of the city PRAIA DO ICARAI and CUMBUCO, which is one of Brazil's main KITESURFING beaches with dunes and a lagoon behind it. East, PORTO DAS DUNAS has the Beach Park water complex, which is the largest in South America and is a genuine family draw.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Ceara Coast and the Interior
Dune villages either side, a kitesurfing coast, and a mountain town inland.
THE COAST IS WHY MOST PEOPLE ARE HERE. WEST towards Jericoacoara the road passes PARACURU, LAGOINHA and ICARAIZINHO, a string of dune-and-lagoon villages, with JERICOACOARA itself five to six hours away and covered in our Jericoacoara packing list. EAST, CANOA QUEBRADA is the best known, a clifftop village with red sandstone and buggy rides, about three hours.
THE KITESURFING COAST is a serious international circuit from roughly July to January, and many visitors do a downwind trip from one village to the next rather than staying put.
INLAND, the SERRA DE BATURITE and the town of GUARAMIRANGA sit at around 900 metres about two hours southwest, which is cool, green and a complete contrast to the coast: coffee, orchids and mist. The SERTAO, the dry interior, is a different Brazil again and is thinly visited.
FOR THE REST OF THE NORTHEAST: the Recife packing list and Salvador packing list cover the two great cities down the coast, the Fernando de Noronha packing list the archipelago offshore, and the Praia da Pipa packing list the cliffs and dolphins in Rio Grande do Norte.
Getting around: Pinto Martins airport is 15 minutes from the centre with good domestic links and some European charters. RIDE-HAILING IS THE PRACTICAL ANSWER within the city and is cheap. THE BEIRA MAR IS WALKABLE and the rest of the city is not, for reasons of heat, distance and the advice below. For the coast, a hire car or a transfer, and note that the roads to the dune villages often end in sand.
When to Go
July to December. February to May is the rainy season and it is genuinely wet.
A tropical climate with no temperature seasons at all: 26 to 31C in every month, with a rainy season from roughly February to May and a dry one from June to January.
JULY TO DECEMBER IS THE SEASON. Dry, windy, every barraca open, the kitesurfing at its best, and the coastal roads in good condition. September to November is the driest.
JANUARY brings Brazilian holidays, full hotels and the first rains towards the end of the month.
FEBRUARY TO MAY is the rainy season and in Ceara that means real rain rather than a brief afternoon shower, with March and April the wettest. The compensation is that the sertao greens, the lagoons fill and prices fall. Beach days become a gamble.
CARNIVAL is relatively modest here compared with Recife or Salvador, and the city's own big event is FORTAL in July, an out-of-season carnival with trio eletrico trucks that fills the city.
AND THE HEAT NEVER VARIES, which is the honest summary. There is no cool month, no cool evening and no altitude within two hours. Plan the middle of the day indoors or in the water.
Is Fortaleza Safe for Women Travelers
This needs reading. Fortaleza has real violent crime, and the useful advice is geographic.
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.
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.
BE STRAIGHT ABOUT THIS ONE: Fortaleza has for several years had one of the higher homicide rates among Brazilian state capitals, driven by organised crime and gang conflict in peripheral neighbourhoods. THAT VIOLENCE IS OVERWHELMINGLY NOT IN THE AREAS VISITORS USE and is not directed at tourists, which is why the city continues to receive millions of them, but it is the honest background and it is why the geographic advice below matters more here than in Curitiba or Belo Horizonte.
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.
THE FCDO'S NORTH-EAST SECTION NAMES THEFT FROM HOTEL AND MOTEL ROOMS as the most common incident affecting British nationals in this region, which is a specific and slightly unusual warning: use the room safe, do not leave a passport or cash in a drawer, and be careful about who has access. It also advises USING TAXIS AFTER SUNSET RATHER THAN WALKING and avoiding quiet or deserted areas.
WHAT THAT MEANS IN THIS CITY, CONCRETELY. MEIRELES and the BEIRA MAR strip, where almost all visitors stay, are well lit, busy and patrolled into the evening and are comfortable. THE OLD CENTRE around the Mercado Central and the cathedral is a daytime place only and empties completely after business hours. PRAIA DO FUTURO is busy and fine at the barracas and the stretches between them are dark and empty at night, so move between them by taxi rather than along the sand. AND DO NOT WALK ON ANY CITY BEACH AFTER DARK, which is the FCDO's national advice and is specifically right here.
THE SEA IS A GENUINE RISK on this coast. There are strong currents and a shore break along much of the urban beach, drownings happen every year, and lifeguard cover is partial. Praia do Futuro has rip currents; ask at a barraca where it is safe rather than guessing.
THE SUN at three degrees south, with the sea breeze hiding it entirely, is the thing most likely to spoil a day.
FOR A WOMAN ALONE the social texture is warm and forward: the northeast is more demonstrative than the south, catcalling is more common than in Curitiba or Porto Alegre, and it is generally good-humoured rather than threatening. A firm disinterest is understood. A woman alone in a barraca or on the Beira Mar is ordinary. 180 IS THE NATIONAL WOMEN'S HELPLINE and Fortaleza has a DEAM, a dedicated women's police station.
Brazil has no reciprocal health agreement with the UK or the United States, so insurance with medical cover and repatriation is essential. Private hospitals in the big cities are genuinely good and expensive and will want payment or an insurance guarantee before treating you; the public SUS system will treat an emergency and is slower and more variable. 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.
The Fortaleza Packing List
Serious sun protection, because you are three degrees from the equator
A wide brim sun hat with a chin cord for the sea breeze, high factor sunscreen used more liberally than feels necessary, and a long sleeve sun hoodie, which is the only thing that really works on a beach with no shade and constant wind. Our affiliate registry holds no sunscreen, so that is advice rather than a product recommendation.
A rash top, which does the work sunscreen cannot
A long sleeved rash top is the single best beach item on this coast, because it is sun protection that does not wash off, and it is what you will want under a harness if you take a kite lesson at Cumbuco.
Light, fast-drying clothes and nothing heavy
26 to 31C every day with humidity and no cool evening. Cotton stays wet. Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a short or long sleeve merino wool base layer for women genuinely outperforms cotton here, because it keeps working rather than holding smell after a day of sweat and salt.
One warm layer, for the one place it is needed
A fleece mid layer, which sounds absurd for Ceara and is for two things: the Serra de Baturite at 900 metres, which is ten degrees cooler, and Brazilian long-distance buses and cinemas, which are air-conditioned to a punishing degree.
Insect protection
DEET insect repellent. Dengue, chikungunya and Zika are all present in Brazil with large annual dengue epidemics, and the mosquito that carries all three bites BY DAY, so this is a morning measure.
A bag that closes and a beach bag you do not mind losing
Take nothing to a city beach you would mind handing over, which is the FCDO's advice and is correct here. Keep a phone out of sight between 4pm and 9pm in the centre.
The small things
An insulated water bottle, since tap water in Fortaleza is treated and generally safe and the heat is relentless. Electrolyte sachets, the most useful small item in this climate. A quick dry travel towel. Cash in reais for barracas and buggy drivers, with cards fine in the city. And shoes you can walk a sand road in, because several coastal villages have nothing else.
Essential Resources for Women in Fortaleza
Emergency numbers: 190 police, 192 ambulance, 193 fire. 180 is the national women's helpline, the Central de Atendimento a Mulher, which can direct you to a DEAM women's police station, and Fortaleza has one. 181 is anonymous crime reporting.
Tourist police: Ceara operates a dedicated tourist police unit, the Delegacia de Defesa do Turista, in Fortaleza, which is the right first stop for a visitor who has been robbed or needs a report for insurance, and it is more useful than a general police station because of the language support. For a crime in progress, 190.
Main hospital or clinic: Fortaleza is a significant medical centre for the northeast. The Hospital Sao Carlos and Hospital Monte Klinikum are the main private options and handle international insurance; the Hospital Geral de Fortaleza and the Instituto Dr Jose Frota, the main trauma hospital, are the large public facilities with 24 hour emergency departments. A farmacia handles minor problems. For an emergency dial 192.
Official health authority: the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Brazil has no reciprocal health agreement, so insurance with medical cover and repatriation is essential, and it should cover kitesurfing if you intend to take a lesson at Cumbuco. Sao Carlos and Monte Klinikum are the private hospitals used to international insurance
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Brasilia.
Official tourism authority: Visit Brasil, the national tourism board. And with the Ceara state tourism body Setur-CE, plus the Delegacia de Defesa do Turista in Fortaleza, which is the dedicated tourist police unit and the right place to report a theft
The central beach is not the swimming beach. The Beira Mar is for walking and eating; Praia do Futuro east of the centre is where the city swims, and the barracas there are the institution.
The FCDO names theft from hotel and motel rooms as the commonest incident affecting British nationals in northeast Brazil. Use the safe and do not leave a passport in a drawer.
Do not walk on city beaches after dark, and move between the Praia do Futuro barracas by taxi rather than along the sand.
Thursday night at the barracas is crab and live music and is the local ritual visitors are rarely told about.
Solo women safety assessment: this section needs reading rather than skimming. Fortaleza has for several years had one of the higher homicide rates among Brazilian state capitals, driven by organised crime in peripheral neighbourhoods; THAT VIOLENCE IS OVERWHELMINGLY NOT IN THE AREAS VISITORS USE and is not directed at tourists, which is why millions still come, but it is the honest background and it makes the geographic advice matter more here than in the southern capitals. MEIRELES AND THE BEIRA MAR STRIP, where almost all visitors stay, are well lit, busy and patrolled into the evening and are comfortable. THE OLD CENTRE around the Mercado Central is a daytime place only and empties completely after business hours. PRAIA DO FUTURO is fine at the barracas and dark and empty between them, so move by taxi rather than along the sand, and the FCDO's national advice not to walk on city beaches after dark is specifically right here. The FCDO's north-east section also names THEFT FROM HOTEL AND MOTEL ROOMS as the commonest incident affecting British nationals in the region, so use the safe, and advises taxis after sunset rather than walking and avoiding quiet or deserted areas; nationally it names 4pm to 9pm as the phone-theft window, advises no resistance to a robbery, and is unambiguous about avoiding favelas. SOCIALLY the northeast is more demonstrative than the south and catcalling is more common than in Curitiba, generally good-humoured rather than threatening, and a firm disinterest is understood; a woman alone in a barraca or on the Beira Mar is ordinary. THE SEA IS A REAL RISK with strong currents, a shore break and partial lifeguard cover, and drownings happen every year, so ask at a barraca rather than guessing. The sun three degrees off the equator with a breeze hiding it is the likeliest thing to spoil a day. 180 is the national women's helpline, Fortaleza has a DEAM, and Ceara runs a dedicated tourist police unit.
Reading On
For the country-level picture, start with the Brazil travel guide for women. The Ceara coast west is covered in the Jericoacoara packing list, and down the coast the Praia da Pipa packing list, the Recife packing list and the Salvador packing list. Offshore is the Fernando de Noronha packing list. For why merino rather than cotton in equatorial humidity, 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.
