Cumbuco to Jericoacoara: Anatomy of a 6-Day Downwind Route
The western half of our Advanced Downwinder is six days that trace one of the most complete stretches of coastline in northeast Brazil — from Cumbuco, the region's best-known kite hub, all the way past Jericoacoara to Tatajuba. It's not one long ride; it's six distinct days, each with its own village, its own character, and its own reason to be on the itinerary.
Day one starts in Cumbuco, just outside Fortaleza — the most developed kite spot on this coast, with schools, shops and a lagoon that makes it an easy, familiar place to get your bearings before the trip gets remote. From there, day one runs to Paracuru, and day two continues on to Guajiru, and the coast starts to change fast: fewer buildings, more open beach, and the kind of villages that exist because of fishing, not tourism.
Days three and four are the heart of the route — Guajiru to Icaraí de Amontada, then on to Ilha do Guajiru. This is the most isolated stretch of the whole week, small communities strung along a coastline that barely sees traffic beyond the odd downwinder group passing through. It's also usually where the trip feels most like what people picture when they imagine kiting in Brazil: dunes, flat water, and long, uninterrupted beach.
Day five picks the pace back up from Ilha do Guajiru to Preá — a name every kiter on this coast knows, since it's the traditional launch point for the lagoon at Jericoacoara. And day six is the one that closes the loop: Preá to Tatajuba, with the group heading back to Jericoacoara that evening. You end the route the way our Jericoacoara guide describes it — as the hinge the whole coast swings around.
Across six days that's roughly 300 km, which averages out to around 50 km a day — some days shorter and calmer, some longer and more exposed, which is exactly why this half of the Advanced Downwinder rewards riders who can hold a solid pace for hours, not just handle a single strong session.
If you're weighing this against the eastern half — Jericoacoara to Atins — this western route is the one with more built-up starting infrastructure (Cumbuco) and a clearer village-to-village rhythm; the eastern half trades that for wilder, more remote terrain toward the Lençóis Maranhenses. Tell us your dates and we'll help you pick the half that fits.
