The most visited beach for kitesurfing in Ceará state

You can’t talk about kitesurfing in Brazil without talking about Cumbuco. The beach, located in Caucaia city, close to the capital Fortaleza, is one of the favorite spots of kite and windsurfers when visiting Northeast coast of Brazil. The aliases winds, side onshore, allow people to practice the sport during almost the whole year.

The proximity to Fortaleza (only 30 km away), the several options of hotels & restaurants, the wind always blowing and the Cauípe lagoon, one of the most famous spots for freestyle kitesurfing, are responsible for Cumbuco’s fame around the world.

As it is so close to Fortaleza International Airport (only 40 km), Cumbuco is almost an obligatory stop in a kite trip in Ceará. Many kitesurfers use it as a base to arrive or before going back home, making it easy to get transportation from the airport and also for the kite gear preparation for the return back.

The kite spot

You can kite on the ocean or in one of the lagoons of Caucaia: Cauípe or Tabuba lagoon.

Cumbuco beach is really long and you can kite along all its extension. In front of all hotels and bars area is forbidden to ride cars or motorcycles. The sand strip is also large, so it is easy to launch or land your kite with security. A coral reef located 300 meters from the coast makes the sea flat in many areas, especially during low tide. Beach front hotel bars and beach tents are open on all coast, so you have plenty of options to choose where to stay.

Cauípe lagoon is the most famous spot of the area, a big lagoon (20 thousand sq m), located approximately 5 km downwind from the end of the village. With strong winds and totally flat, is always filled with kitesurfers (locals and visitors) by the end of the day, where they meet to practice the maneuvers until the sun sets. You can arrive at Lagoa do Cauípe in 3 ways: by downwind with your kite from Cumbuco, by the beach on the low tide (in a buggy or 4x4) or by the road to the Lagoa do Banana. Some local beach bars host kitesurfers on the edge of the lagoon. In front of these tents, you can also find buggys for the route back to Cumbuco.

Tabuba lagoon is located more upwind from Cumbuco, 13 km from the center area. Many kitesurfers get a buggy ride to the lagoon, spend the day there and return to Cumbuco on a downwind by the beach.

When to go

For those seeking for kitesurf, between July and January is almost certain to find good conditions (from 15 to 30 knots). The wind is weaker than in Piauís coast, but in other hand, is more stable and frequent, even during the low season. We were there in September for 3 night, but couldn’t kite with our small gear (6 and 7 m²), but we saw many people king with 9 and 12’s kites.

Where to stay

Cumbuco has lots of options of where to stay. From bug hotels to small pousadas, to complete equipped apartments, houses and hostels. The prices vary a lot between the places, so it is worth looking for what best suits your needs.

We always choose our pousadas through Trip Advisor, looking for the price we are willing to pay and the style of the lodge. We made reservations on Pousada Sextaquadra, that had a good reputation on Trip Advisor.

Tip: we chose to stay on the garden front rooms, because we are more reserved and quiet. The rooms by the pool are less private, but have a great view of the pool.

We liked a lot our stay at Sextaquadra. The breakfast is really well done (with fruits, juices, breads and cereals), everybody is always willing to help you. The location is also good: close to the beach (25m), but more away from the central area. Besides being close to the road that leads to Fortaleza, we were not disturbed during sleeping there. The rooms are really comfortable.

Fábio, the owner, is also a kite instructor, and gave us all the information about kiting. Unfortunately, we couldn’t kite there, because we just had our small kites. But it was great to get to know the spot. On the night we stayed at the pousada for dinner, we could talk a lot to Fabio and share some of our experience with pousadas. Fábio is also a dog lover and has two small ones living with him in the pousada.

Where to eat

There are many options of restaurants and bars to eat, both during the day and night. Charming restaurants, with local or international cuisine, pizzerias, bars and snack bars are all around the central. Mainly all the pousadas also have its own restaurant.

We were in some nice restaurants during the night, one barbecue and in a beach tent during the day. We also chose the pousada’s restaurant one night.

Suggestions for the day: look for one of the beach bars by the beach, so you can kite and also be close to find something to eat and drink. The Brazilian tents work in a traditional northeast style: long menus with many options of seafood and meat. To spend less, look for the Barbecue of Gaúcho. They have two restaurants in town: one close to the beach (the original) and a new place also in center. Good food, well served, fair price (we were there for lunch time).

Suggestions for the night: restaurant Castanha soon caught our eyes because of the ambient: a big centenary tree in the middle of the tables. The food looks polished from the menu, but is really simple and made with fresh local ingredients. On Muda restaurant, the contemporaneous architecture is mixed with nice options on the menu: everything from salads to burgers and traditional plates with fish and meat. We love the drinks menu. Unfortunately we couldn’t get to know the Secret Spot, but the references were good. The night we had dinner at the pousada, we chose only starters to go with the beer, and it was also really good.

The Road

We were in Cumbuco beach during September 2014. We took so long to finally know the spot mainly due to the distance from Barra Grande: almost 400 km. The entire trip is made through CE-085, the main road on Ceará’s coast. The trip normally takes 5 hours and 30 minutes total (as slow drivers). We left Barra close to midday, but we had to stop for lunch on the way and also had to face some work on the road close to Fortaleza. We got a bit lost, because there was not much information, and took almost 7 hours to get to Cumbuco. We arrived there at night. But that wasn’t a problem, as the city center is open until 10 to 11 pm.

(*) The newest information we have is that the road has been finished, so it is much easier to get there by car!

Fast Guide