Pipa Beach

Pipa was a fishing village that surfers reached in the 1970s and is now the main beach destination in Rio Grande do Norte, built along a clifftop with the beaches below reached by stairs and paths. Baia dos Golfinhos, the next bay north, holds a resident group of spinner dolphins that come in through the morning and can be watched from the cliff or from the water; access on foot depends on the tide, which cuts the bay off at high water. The Santuario Ecologico protects a stretch of Atlantic forest on the cliffs with trails and viewpoints. The main street is dense with restaurants and bars and is loud until late, which is the trade-off for everything else the place offers.

History

Early Portuguese maps call the place Orotapiry, white man's village, and from 1626 it was known as Itacoatiara, the painted cliff, then Ponta do Cabo Verde; its present name is said to come from a barrel-shaped rock, pipa being the European Portuguese word for barrel, that sailors saw from the sea. It stayed a small fishing village until the 1970s, when surfers and backpackers found it, and foreign visitors who came and stayed have since built much of its tourist trade, within limits set by the protected areas around it (Wikipedia, Pipa Beach).

What's there

• Baia dos Golfinhos - resident spinner dolphins in the bay north of town.
• A clifftop village - beaches reached by stairs from the lanes above.
• The ecological sanctuary - Atlantic forest trails along the cliffs.
• A loud main street - restaurants and bars running late every night.

When to go

September to March. Three days.

What to expect

The dolphin bay is only walkable at low tide and gets crowded when it is. Nightlife noise carries across the village. Cliff paths are steep and slippery. In peak season prices rise sharply and the beaches fill.

Nearby

Tibau do Sul and the Guarairas lagoon are north; Natal is up the coast.

Key facts