The Northeast Corner of Brazil
I remember meeting a traveler a few months ago who mentioned with a twinkle in his eye just how much he loved the beaches in Pipa. A couple months later I talked to someone who planned to visit for a week and ended up staying for a month. I kept those conversations in mind and eventually my time came to pay those beaches a visit.
Pipa is a place that’s far enough from Rio de Janeiro that it doesn’t draw as much mainstream international tourism. In my hostel it was refreshing to have Brazilian guests in the mix with foreign travelers. There is also is pretty big Argentinian presence as well.
The town has everything you need for a relaxing time. It’s kind of like Rio Grande do Norte’s more secluded and underground little brother version of Itacaré.
From the cobblestone streets, to the shops, pousadas, and restaurants, it gives off a similar vibe, just toned down a bit with less people from outside of the South American continent.
Getting There
The nearest airport to Pipa is in Natal, also located in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. If you book flights in advance you can get a pretty good deal that will beat taking the bus if you’re coming from far.
If you plan on arriving by bus from the south, the fastest way is to go to Recife first. From the main bus terminal there, take another bus to Goianinha by way of Progresso bus company, which runs every 1.5 hours. Make sure to tell the driver that you need to exit at Goianinha. From there, take a R$ 5 minivan to Pipa, which leaves every 30 minutes from church Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres (from behind the church to be exact). If you prefer you can take an Uber to Pipa instead.
Your alternative and the conventional route is to take a bus to Natal and then another one from there to Pipa. It’s a longer trip because Natal is actually a couple hours north of the final destination, causing you to have to take a 2 1/2 hour bus ride back south to Pipa. It adds more than a few hours to your trip that way. On the other hand, there’s less switching of buses so it could be considered easier.
Check all the bus times and do the math to see which option would be better for you.
Where to Stay in Pipa
I spent a lot of time at Hostel do Ceu and couple days at No Worries Pipa/No Worries Suites. Both are good choices and Hostel do Ceu specifically is in an excellent location for access to Praia dos Golfinhos, my favorite beach in Pipa. Jam Zinha, a packed live music show takes place every week here as well. Feel free to check it out!
Another popular choice for backpackers is Lagarto na Banana Hostel, which provides free breakfast for guests. Unfortunately, the location isn’t as ideal and requires a longer walk to get to and from a lot of places. If you want to go the hotel route there are plenty of places to choose from.
The Beaches
The main attraction of Pipa is the collection of beaches and cliffs that consist of layers of sandstone, claystone, quartz, feldspar, and iron oxides. The variation in colors of the cliffs really catches your eye.
Here’s the basic list of beaches:
- Praia dos Golfinhos
- Praia do Madeiro
- Praia do Centro & Piscinas Naturais
- Praia do Amor
PRAIA DOS GOLFINHOS
At the time of writing this, Praia dos Golfinhos is my favorite beach in Pipa and probably in all of Brazil (on a side note I’ve heard great things about the beaches Buzios and Isla Grande in Rio de Janeiro).
This particular place’s marvelousness exists for 2 reasons – sandstone cliffs that serve as giant earthly walls and dolphins that frequent the waters here, hence the name ‘Beach of Dolphins‘ in English.
There are usually about 3 or 4 of them scattered around, casually swimming. Sometimes 1 or 2 will get very close to the shore around low tide to the point where you can be a few meters from them without even having to swim, just hanging out in the shallow water.
More about the dolphins…
If in fact you enjoy swimming and decide to go further from the shore closer to where the paddle borders search for these marine creatures you can get a real closeup experience. I swam pretty far out to get a glimpse and there were a couple times where I was no more than 3 meters from a couple of golfinhos.
FYI the visibility under water is not good, so when I mention spotting dolphins I’m seeing them appear above the water doing their little dolphin swimming thing (you know what I mean) revealing themselves for our viewing pleasure.
I’m sad to say that I have no photos of them though… too busy swimming around and of course didn’t have a waterproof camera or waterproof case for my phone.
Access to the beach…
Accessing this little heavenly location is achieved by crossing a rocky passage along the beach that has to be done no more than 2.5 – 3 hours before or after low tide, otherwise it becomes dangerous.
For example, If low tide is 1:00 pm, you ideally don’t want to arrive before 10:30 – 11:00 am and when it’s time to leave you shouldn’t leave any time after 4:00 pm. This is how it works more or less.
To check the tide for Pipa, just head to this website and you’ll have all the information you need.
PRAIA DO MADEIRO
This beach is also beautiful, just more touristic due to the infrastructure in place like umbrella seating and options for food. The one annoying thing I would say are the hosts/vendors flashing their menus at you, persistently chasing your business. Aside from that it’s a great beach and a popular spot for beginner surfers.
In order to get to Praia do Madeiro, you can take a van from the main bus terminal, costing about R$ 5. The other option is to walk down the main road for about 40-50 minutes.
Speaking of surfing, check out Surf’s Up Club, a surfboard rental and subscription club in Brazil. You can sign up for a monthly or annual subscription that grants you unlimited access to surfboards and renewals.
PRAIA DO CENTRO & PISCINAS NATURAIS
This beach has by far the most infrastructure (restaurants, walking paths, etc) due to its proximity to the town center, in addition to being the departure point for most of the boat tours out of Pipa. During low tide people just lay in the water like seals. I call it the lazy beach. The waves here tend to be much calmer here.
Towards the end of Praia do Centro on the way to Praia do Amor is a collection of calm natural pools. What makes them possible are large rocks in the water that prevent waves from reaching the shore. The best time to visit is kind of exactly in the middle of high tide and low tide because the water is at a optimal level to essentially bathe in, plus you’ll see the most fish swimming around at this time.
PRAIA DO AMOR
This is the most rugged looking out the beaches in Praia. It attracts more experienced surfers during high tide. This is the place to go to test your skills. Around Praia do Amor are some great viewpoints to see the beach and landscape from above. I’d recommend exploring the dunes and cliffs here. Closeby is a beautiful sunset viewpoint I will list next, which is at the end of a passage through the dunes here.
SUNSET POINT
There’s a specific location to watch the sunset but it’s not an officially named place. It’s essentially next to ‘as Dunas da Praia do Amor’. Unfortunately I forgot to drop a pin there so I could share the exact location. I’m sure if you ask around someone will relay the directions to you.
NIGHTLIFE
There are about 5 bars/clubs that most people attend, plus a select few hostels that have events week to week. To keep up with current events in Pipa, follow these 2 Instagram accounts – @roles.pipa and @vidaheyhey
Generally speaking, here’s the rundown…
TAIPA BRASIL
The most popular live music venue in Pipa. There’s Samba night twice a week for the most part and other music acts throughout the week.
AGORA BRASIL
Beach vibe club playing a mix of Brazilian pop/funk, Reggaeton, and international pop hits open from 10pm-2am.
TRIBUS IN PIPA
A rock bar showcasing a live band inside the bar that does popular international rock music covers. Outside of the bar to the side is patio seating.
BAKANA
Rooftop bar playing mostly Brazilian funk.
GALERIA PIPA MAR
There is a bar/club in the back if you walk up the stairs that’s the late night spot in Pipa, open till about 4-5am. It’s the late night spot to go to after everything else closes.
FOOD
I barely ate out here as I was mostly cooking for myself, but Pipa has a nice collection of restaurants. When I did venture to dine somewhere, I chose the lunch buffets, acai and gelato spots, and one bakery to which I took a liking. I stuck to the budget stuff.
LUNCH BUFFETS
The lunch buffets range from about R$ 30-40 and include one plate of meat or fish and an assortment of veggie dishes or fruit, from which you eat as much as you want. The 2 most popular restaurants of this sort are Churrascaria Dona Branca and Restaurante Altas Horas. Churrascaria is better, but I would suggest getting the chicken are your meat plate. I got steak once it was way too overcooked.
ACAI & GELATO
Gelateria Preciosa serves a great quality product with classic and artisanal flavors. Practically next door is Top Summer Acai (loja 2). This specific location has a great view looking down at the beach in the distance. Don’t get it confused with the other location (loja 1).
BAKERY
There’s a cafe and bakery called Casa de Farinha Pipa. The google reviews are NOT good, however…
I had an surprisingly good donut and this great pastry called Catarina Banana (like a banana strudel). For some reason I’m good at ordering sweets. The Tapiocas and coffee were fine too and I thought their plain croissant was rich and hearty in a good way. The attitude of the workers there is definitely not great though. However, it’s affordable.
Conclusion
I spent 3 weeks in Pipa and thoroughly enjoyed my time. If you make it this far up the coast of Brazil, I’d highly recommend staying here at least a week to enjoy the festivities. If I wasn’t so far along during my trip in Brazil, I would have stayed even longer! For anyone without a real travel schedule, keep this place on your radar.
