Intermediate vs Advanced Downwinder: Which Trip Is Right for You
The hardest part of booking a Brazil downwinder often isn't choosing the destination — it's being honest about which trip actually fits you. 'Intermediate' and 'advanced' mean different things at different schools, so here's exactly what each level means on our routes, and how to tell which one is yours.
Intermediate, for us, means you can ride comfortably upwind and downwind, handle basic transitions, and — most importantly — you're confident running a self-rescue on your own if you need to. It's not about tricks. Our Intermediate routes stay on the same forgiving, side-onshore wind (18–25 knots) along the Barrinha–Tatajuba–Jericoacoara stretch, split into a 2-day version (~45 km) or a 3-day step-up to Barra Grande — built to grow your distance and confidence without throwing you into conditions you're not ready for.
Advanced isn't really a skill notch above intermediate — it's a different kind of trip. Our Advanced Downwinder is 6 days and roughly 300 km, and what it actually demands is endurance and self-sufficiency: riding comfortably for hours at a stretch, staying composed if the wind picks up past what you'd choose, and reading terrain that keeps changing as the coastline does. It splits into two halves at Jericoacoara — Cumbuco to Jericoacoara, or Jericoacoara to Atins — so you can also think about it in terms of how many long days you actually want, not just raw skill.
A few honest questions settle it faster than a skill checklist: can you ride 3 to 4 hours in a row without it wrecking you? Have you actually run a self-rescue solo, not just practiced it in a lesson? Are you comfortable riding overpowered on a gustier day, not just capable of surviving it? If you hesitated on any of those, Intermediate is the right call — not a downgrade, just the trip that's actually going to be fun instead of a grind.
If you're between the two, start with the 2-day Intermediate. It's honestly one of the best ways to test yourself against real distance and changing conditions before committing to a 6-day trip, and our guides adjust pace within a level based on how the group is riding — so you're never stuck exactly on a script that doesn't fit.
Tell us your riding background — hours per session, self-rescue confidence, and the biggest wind you've comfortably ridden in — and we'll tell you honestly which trip fits, not just which one you asked for.
