On the second day in Pipa, the wind finally doesn’t blow at night, as is so often the case here, but also during the day at a cosy 17 knots. The east-facing Praio de Amor is only 15 minutes away from the Sugar Cane Hostel. Standing on top of its cliffs, I finally spot the first other kiter. I hadn’t met anyone yet.
At high tide, Praio de Amor is just 7 metres wide in the less densely populated southern section. Even at low tide, it’s unlikely to be more than 12 metres wide. Directly behind it are steeply rising cliffs, some of which are overgrown with scrub. Thanks to the windward eddies caused by these cliffs, I make two really bad starts, which also happens to a few other kiters later on.
Nobody speaks English, some Brazilians speak a little Spanish. The only safe launch helper is the rescue guard. He launches my kite cleanly and already standing in the shore break in the opposite direction to the sideon wind. I quickly ride out of the eddy zone in front of the cliffs. Three other kiters are now playing with me in the rather large waves. I’m the only one without a waveboard. Quite appropriate, because at Praia do Amor the waves come unchecked across the entire Atlantic. On the beach they only break at a good metre, but further out the swell is a good man-high.
There are lots of bathers at the northern end, then a few surfers, and there is only 100 metres of space for four kiters to reach the rocks at the southern end. An ideal spot clearly looks different. But the wind is blowing. The waves are rolling. What more could I want? Kitespot no. 1, check.
Frank Woelky, born in 1973. Kitesurfer since 1998. Since 2006, I have been combining kitesurfing and web design on trips lasting several months off the beaten track.