Beaches

There are four main beaches in Recife. These are Pina beach, Boa Viagem beach, Piedade beach, and Candeias beach. Due to an increased number of shark attacks by bull sharks in recent years, surfing is prohibited at all four of the beaches. The attacks have gotten so bad that they are featured on Shark Week, which is a television show that airs on the Discovery Channel. Aside from some shark attacks, the beaches of Recife have a lot to offer tourists and visitors.

Pina beach is one of the beaches of Recife. This beach is located north a little of Boa Viagem beach. Pina beach is not recommended for swimming because of the fact that there are so many fishing families, and no sewage system in place, and this can cause the sea at this point along the beaches to become polluted.

The most famous beach of Recife is called Boa Viagem, and this stretch of glorious white sand has been seen on television shows and in movies. This beach is ten kilometers long, and the name translated means good travel. It is not recommended that anyone actually go into the water, but the smooth white sand is perfect for walking on or getting a suntan on. The water off this beach is crystal clear , and has a gorgeous turquoise color. Boa Viagem beach of Recife has a long reef wall that protects the beach.

Boa Viagem beach merges into Piedade beach. This beach is normally a local beach, and tourists usually are not found here. This beach is usually frequented by the residents who live in the middle class area. There are no fancy hotels or restaurants along the avenue here.

This leads us to the Praca de Boa Viagem. This is the stretch of beach where all of the hotels and the pousadas are. This is the area where most tourists come to visit. The beach is full of vendors who are selling alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages, as well as food like fruit, oysters, crab, shrimp, ice cream, and even sun tan lotion and straw hats. There is even a crafts and food fair at the beach on weekends, and is busiest Sunday evenings.

There are several urban beaches of the city as well, but these beaches can not be used for bathing because of residues left by the Beberibe River. These beaches include Rio Doce, Casa Caiada, Jardim Atlantico, Praia dos Milagres, Praia do Carmo, and Bairro Novo.