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Where you can still have a beach to yourself
Paraíba still has plenty of coastline with no buildings, no beach shacks and hardly anyone around, one or two hours from João Pessoa. They are usually harder to reach — dirt roads, river crossings or a ferry — and that is what keeps them empty. On weekdays and outside December, January and July, there is a good chance of having the beach almost to yourself.
On the north coast
- Camaçari (Lucena): long and almost deserted, running up to the Miriri river on the Rio Tinto border. Reached by the Cabedelo ferry or by driving round the river.
- Campina and Oiteiro (Rio Tinto): coloured cliffs, dunes and open sea, with no seafront facilities.
- Barra de Mamanguape: a fishing village at the river mouth, inside a manatee protection area.
- Barra de Camaratuba (Mataraca): 110 km away, river and sea on the same beach, coconut groves and almost no phone signal.
- Lucena and the bridge that will shorten the northern coast
- Rio Tinto, Barra de Mamanguape and Sapé, Paraíba
- Barra de Camaratuba
On the south coast
- Barra de Gramame: at the southern end of the capital, reached by a dirt track, with river and sea bathing.
- Praia Bela (Pitimbu): outside weekends, the meeting of the Mucatu river and the sea is very quiet.
- Acaú (Pitimbu): Paraíba's last beach, at the mouth of the Goiana river, with huge sandbanks at low tide.
- Acaú beach, on the Paraíba–Pernambuco border
- Praia Bela: where the river meets the sea
- Barra de Gramame beach
How to go safely
- Go in a group and tell someone your plans: some of these beaches have no phone signal.
- Bring water, food and sunscreen: many have no beach shacks or shade.
- Check the tide table: rivers and sandbanks change with the tide, and wading across is only safe at low tide.
- Do not leave valuables visible in the car and head back before dark.
- Open sea, as at Oiteiro, has waves and currents: only go in where you can stand.
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