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Itamaracá |
Other opinions
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Close to Recife, Itamaracá is a quiet beach, with the "extra" programs of the mangles, the islet Coroa do Avião, the fort, and the project "Peixe-Boi". It's a good detour, for a calm and different day. With a good beach, less than an hour from Recife, we could eat on the beach in Bar do Zezinho, and visit the atelier of a local handicrafts producer |
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Good Beach It's a very quiet and safe beach, in both sides of the fort. As an option, if you cross to "Coroa do Avião", the quality is the same. Oysters are the top production, and widely offered. We didn't taste them, but had a good swim and a peaceful lunch in the beach. |
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Selling in the beach: Cheappest market It is not so intensive as in Recife, but also in Itamaracá everything is offered in the beach. For a woman, the challenge is often irresistible. |
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Coroa do Avião A small islet facing the fort is well promoted as the highlight of the area. Well, it's a good place to bath, seafood is there, (you can see people catching it), the place is absolutely calm, but it has nothing you can't get inland. Unless you cultivate loneliness (with a few more dozens) it's just a place to see, have a drink, and eventually, eat seafood. |
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Boat Trip Not cheap (maybe negotiable - I had no patience to try), this trip takes you in a short ride along the mangles, an old furnace of chalk, and the atelier of a craft producer, to the islet of Coroa do Avião. Nothing special, but OK as a different program. No need to search for, you'll be approached by someone as soon as you enter the beach. |
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Mangles Close to the beach, a short boat ride across the mangles is an opportunity to watch its typical life, from fish to birds (here and there under a delicious and welcome shade) |
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Chalk furnace A strange curiosity in the bay, is an old chalk furnace, with the residence atop of it. We didn't go ashore there, but I think we didn't miss anything special. |
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Peixe-Boi (Manatee) project Next to the fort there's a curious program to protect a big mammal called manatee, locally named Peixe-Boi. We may see several tanks where they are created and feed, and each half an hour there's a projection explaining the project. Website: http://www.projetopeixe-boi.com.br/ |
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Orange Fort - Portuguese Fort
Right on the beach, you have a fort generally called Orange due to wrong connection with Dutch occupation. It is a Portuguese fort, with the typical Portuguese military architecture, providing good observation points over the beach and Coroa do Avião. Its real name is well Portuguese: Forte de Santa Cruz de Itamaracá. The confusion is due to the circumstance that the fort was built over the ruins of a prior fort, that one really built by the dutch. Portuguese reconstruction comes from the 17th century, and follows typical Portuguese architecture. Inside, there's a small shop. |
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Slave Isaura In our way to Itamaracá, and already in the island, we passed in the place where it was filmed a famous novel called "Slave Isaura". It was fun to recognize the site, now in ruins. |