Samba-soaked Brazil: a surf guide
Samba-soaked Brazil: a surf guide
by Sam Bleakley
Rio views - photo Adam Duffy
Brazil has an incredible 7,491 km
(4,655 miles) of coastline that rarely goes flat, dominated by punchy,
white sand beaches (such as Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro), some fickle, but
brilliant pointbreaks, and gorgeous palm-lined beachtown hang outs such as Praia
Da Pipa in the north and Florianopolis in the south. Coastal mega-cities have
enabled surfing standards (from short- to longboards) to flower beyond all
expectations, and the beach life is a youth festival – a visual overload of scantily
clad confident and curvaceous bodies. But that’s just the beginning. By area
and population, Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, with a
swollen cultural and biological diversity to match. The Amazon Rainforest and
the Amazon River add to the Guinness Book
of Records longest and largest lists. Brazil was also the first sustainable
biofuel economy on the planet, running all cars on ethanol fuel (produced from
sugar cane) since 1975.
The territory was claimed by the colonialist
Portuguese Empire in 1500 and ultimately populated with European and African slaves
who mixed with the indigenous communities, creating over time a culturally
diverse and vibrant society. This melting pot produced not only great food and
beautiful people, but a wonderful music heritage fusing African rhythms and
European influences, leading to samba and the call-and-response folk music of
capoeira. Brazilian artists like Antonio Carlos Jobim and Joao Gilberto famously
merged jazz with samba, opening up the close, insistent beats and hypnotic rhythm
of samba and slowing down the polyrhythmic changes to make space, creating the
new sound of bossa nova (simply ‘new trend’). One of the great highlights of
travelling through Brazil is the almost constant background buzz of samba and
bossa nova rising from beach bars, restaurants, backyards and outdoor parties. English
is rarely spoken, so Brazil will really test your travel mettle and you’ll
return home all the more charismatic for it, your surfing soaked with samba.
‘Brazil’ comes from ‘brazilwood’,
which produces a vivid red dye, once of big appeal to the European clothing
industry, and thus an important export from the country. Minerals and sugarcane
ultimately took over as leading exports, while tourism is the latest emerging
industry.
There are two distinct surfing
areas, the northeast and southeast. The tropical northeast (up to South
America’s easternmost point at Recife) gets north Atlantic swells in the Brazilian
summer (when Pipo comes alive), then
east to southeast trade wind swells for the rest of the year. Pipo is a vibrant and mellow equatorial
pointbreak framed by pink sandstone cliffs, south of Natal in Rio Grande do
Norte. Pipo needs a solid groundswell to come alive (most likely between
November to March during Brazilian summertime), when you might share the set-up
with dolphins. Long smooth walls blaze over sand and reef. Further into the
bay, Lajao is a super consistent punchy, sometimes hollow, right beachbreak
working all year at two to five feet in east to southeast trade wind swells.
Praia Da Pipa (Kite Beach) is a cosmopolitan traveller town, and has been a
surf centre since the 1970s, with schools, camps, cobblestone streets and
buzzing nightlife.
The southeast coast south of Recife receives
swells whipped off the back of Antarctic lows moving east. This coast faces
south to southeast, with a continental shelf that drops away rapidly, keeping
the sting in the swell, sets often unloading with ferocity close to shore.
Snapped boards are guaranteed on overhead days, so maybe sniff out the points,
and settle for the smaller swells.
Where the awe-inspiring Serra do Mar
mountain range runs parallel to the coast, the stretch from Cabo Frio to Santos,
encasing Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, is the powerhouse of surfing in Brazil.
Of course with a national population of 190 million that mostly lives along the
coast, traffic is bad and crowds are guaranteed, but public transport is
excellent and the beach break peaks are plentiful, if buzzing. Northeast winds
are best for breaks like Saquarema, and transparent morning glass is
common thanks to the shelter of the looming Serrra do Mar mountains.
Saquarema is a carnival-style top-to-bottom left reef and
beach, peeling 100 metres, 96 km (60 miles) east of Rio de Janeiro. Sheltered
from wind by the impressive Serra do Mar mountains, a flat, exposed rock helps
currents trap the sand. There is a short, intense, hollow right, and roiling
left that climbs in size, before exploding in the shorebreak. The
performance-oriented open face is a welcome break from the surrounding beaches,
generally unloading in ankle deep water because of the continental shelf that
drops very deep, close to the coast. Breaks between April and October at three
to eight feet. North winds and high tide are best.
Other noteworthy spots (that also
serve as big wave breaks on monster swells) include the left at Bananas Point
20 km east of Boraceia in the village of Sahy. With a solid east swell, it
wraps around the point and skips across the rocks in cadence. The
quintessential beachtown of Maresias (home patch of Gabriel Medina) is a must
with endless peaks and bars (both on the sand and along the road). The right at
Pontao do Leblon, in Rio’s coastal suburb of Leblon, is worth keeping an eye
on. Busy at size, but can be a fun glide when it’s small.
While we know about the prowess of a
new generation of Brazilian shortboard champions, longboarding is a big part of
surf culture here with a proud, tight knit community. The country has always
produced top international competitors, including former World Champion Phil
Rajzman. Owing to the snappy beachbreaks, Brazilians over time tend to favour
progressive longboarding offering vertical smacks and quick tens on lightweight
boards (although there are some excellent single fin aficionados rising through
the ranks). Their competitive flair is infamous and the team spirit is
electric. Watching often raises a debate about ‘style’, and the American,
European and Australian dominated surfing press has a habit of accusing many
Brazilian surfers of having ‘bad style’ or at least an awkward style. But this
is a question of cultural perspective. Brazil has a thriving surf magazine
industry famed for its intellectual approach to surfing. When I get caught in
the ‘style’ debate I like to talk about Brazilian football. This nation
continually produces the most silky, skilled dance-like footballers in the
world, because most of the kids grow up playing football in the sand, where you
spend time on the ball. Perhaps a different cultural perspective would say the
same for their longboarders who have perfected a unique style?
Pele
For a slice of the extraordinary, the
Pororoca is a tidal bore that forms in the Atlantic and travels up the Amazon and
surrounding rivers for 322 km (200 miles) (through crocodiles, snakes and
piranhas). March and April, the end of the dry season, are the best times to
surf it. Former world longboard number two and multiple Brazilian Champion Alex
‘Picuruta’ Salazar has surfed the Araguari River Pororoca in Ampa State for over
six miles.
The Pororoca
WHEN TO GO: November to March for the northeast
coast. April to October for the southeast coast.
AIRPORT: Rio De Janeiro (Galeao / Antonio
Carlos Jobim) (GIG). Sao Paulo (Guarulhos / Governador
André Franco Montoro) (GRU), Natal (Rio Grande do Norte) (NAT) and Florianopolis
(HercÃlio Luz) (FLN).
ACCOMMODATION: Brazil is the most popular tourist
destination in South America, so there is a massive variety of hotels and
beachside apartments.
CURRENCY: Brazilian Real.
LANGUAGE: Portuguese is the official language, but 210
languages are spoken or signed, with 180 of those being indigenous.
RUBBER: Average water temperatures
range from 17°C in winter to 24°C in summer, making or shortie or 3/2 winter
the go for the cooler months, but boardshorts or bikinis and a wetsuit vest possible
in the hot season.
WATCH OUT FOR: Violent crime around large urban
areas. Avoid jaunts into the wrong part of town. Respect the local surfers, and
don’t be offended if someone drops in. Brazilian surfing etiquette is a
‘free-for-all’. Stay calm, or find a quiet peak further down the beach.
AFTER DARK: The lifestyle is outdoor
and upbeat, culminating in the unforgettable sensory overload of carnival every
February or March.
ALTERNATIVE EXCITEMENT: Surf the Amazon Pororoca tidal
bore through crocodiles, snakes and piranhas.
Travellers’ Tales
by Phil Rajzman
“When the former ASP World Longboard
Tour passed through Saquarema in
2001, local lifeguard and fisherman Jeremias da Silva, charged the eight feet
conditions wearing Speedos. He knew the wave and reached the quarter finals. It
meant he qualified for the World Tour. He stayed on the Tour, competing
internationally for the next seven years. He had a really loose style, usually
rode a BIC board and continued to wear Speedos. He even surfed a heat in
cold-water Raglan, New Zealand in 2003 in Speedos. Crazy! He had no money, so
was always dependent on winning prize money to get home, or make it to the next
event. It made him surf hard. He was really passionate. Sometimes he slept
rough, like on the beach, or on the floor where other Brazilians were staying.
And he could catch fish for dinner. But he’d always share. He even caught fish
sitting outback on his board at Anglet, France in 2007. He didn’t have a
sponsor, and during interviews at the events if he made a heat he’d say, “My
sponsor is God,” and cheer. He usually had a Jesus sticker tapped on the nose
of his longboard. A real character. That’s the great thing about longboarding –
so many characters.”
Jeremias da Silva takes the win
