Fortaleza, in the state of Ceará, is another 2014 World Cup city that England played in, and that also hosted us on our trip. From what I can tell, Fortaleza is one of the top destinations for Brazilians to visit. And as we are now adopted Brazilians, we had to go. Colleagues had told me that the beaches are incredible and peaceful and there are so many activities to do. When a country famous for its beaches has a city famous for its beaches, you can be pretty sure they are going to be fantastic. We spent some time based in Fortaleza, either side of a trip to a small town called Jericoacoara (post coming next).
Originally we had planned to do a few
organised day trips from the city but after the first tour, we decided to give
the others a miss. The tour we did involved seeing three beaches in one day. We
should have guessed it would be a little hectic from the description but we
hadn't experienced tours like this for a long time - not since China. We were
shuttled around on a huge coach with a lot of people (all Brazilians and us),
going to destinations with loads of other buses following the same route. Not
really our style but the tour itself was actually quite fun and we got to see a
lot for a relatively low price.
The concept of going to three beaches in a
single tour is a little alien to us. A beach is surely just a beach... Or so we
thought. The first stop on our tour was to a place called Morro Branco - we
were dropped off in a little village with lots of small shops full of these
cool trinkets!
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| Sadly we didn't stop for long so didn't have time to buy one. |
From the village we jumped on to what would
soon become a familiar mode of transport, a sand buggy, and headed across the
beach. These sand buggies (think large quad bike built for sand) held 4 passengers
and whizzed along the beaches in a crazy way. We went over dunes and it was a
lot of fun with the sand blowing in our hair making us feel like explorers –
what a way to travel!
At Morro Branco we went to a red rocky section
that looked like something out of a film. It was interesting to walk around and
take some nice photos although in such a large group, it was also a little
frustrating trying to get a picture without people in it (a particular man in a
red t-shirt seemed to enjoy photo bombing all my shots. Oddly fitting for a
landscape straight out of a Star Trek episode though!)
Praia do Fontes was the second stop and we
whizzed through it on the buggies. The cliffs were very cool and interesting
looking as we shot passed on our new favourite form of transport.
The final stop was at a beach called Canoa Quebrada with dozens of huge restaurants, where we ate, chilled out and went
for a swim. It was a nice end to the day (if slightly spoiled by the terrible
band that was playing!)
What else? Fortaleza city itself also has
beaches that are pleasant and we enjoyed walking around exploring some of the
local hangouts. We went to see some churches, the pretty decent Central Market where we bought an amazing map, and a cool bar where we listened to an
awesome band play some great covers of songs.
We also visited an area of town/another beach called Praia do Futuro that has a plethora of huge quiosques. I was recommended Croco Beach and it didn't disappoint. It is a resort of sorts with a huge restaurant, bands, as well as beach seating and all the amenities a person could need. I would recommend visiting this area for a day as it was decidedly different from any other beach experience we have had in Brazil. It was just surprisingly organised (for Brazil) and had a lot of infrastructure like you would expect in the top resorts in Europe.
We also visited an area of town/another beach called Praia do Futuro that has a plethora of huge quiosques. I was recommended Croco Beach and it didn't disappoint. It is a resort of sorts with a huge restaurant, bands, as well as beach seating and all the amenities a person could need. I would recommend visiting this area for a day as it was decidedly different from any other beach experience we have had in Brazil. It was just surprisingly organised (for Brazil) and had a lot of infrastructure like you would expect in the top resorts in Europe.
Fortaleza was an interesting place to visit and it was
very different to anywhere else in Brazil, by being completely tailored to
Brazilian tourists. It felt a little touristy and crowded but it was a fun
place to be. Again not a must see in our opinion but it’s a gateway to
Jericoacoara, which was a stunning place.
That's it for today – enjoy the photos and
join us next time for more beaches!
Costs
*Note: £1 was R$5 at the time of writing.
*Note: £1 was R$5 at the time of writing.
3 beaches in 1 day = R$55 pp (+R$50pp for
the buggy, which was definitely worth it!)
Bus from Fortaleza to Jericoacoara = $R140
pp return (£28)
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| The city of Fortaleza has a lot of beaches! |
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| And piers that have burnt down! |
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| Croco Beach - A great resort in Praia do Futuro |
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| The start of our day trip! |
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| Beberibe Church near Morro Branco |
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| Morro Branco beach |
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| The mass of red sands in Morro Branco |
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| Back on the buggy! |
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| Praia do Fontes |
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| Imagine being buried here with the sounds of the sea and children playing on the nearby beach. I don't remember ever seeing a cemetery so close to a beach before. |
