Kitesurfing atBrazil

Roughly 220 kilometres west of Fortaleza, in the municipality of Itarema, Ilha do Guajiru is built around one huge lagoon: nearly four kilometres of flat water that a sandbar has slowly sealed off from the sea. Behind that barrier it's a mirror laid over the sand; in front, the open-water swell and chop. The spot reads by the tide — glassy inside, ocean outside — and its giant lagoon makes it one of the great flat-water playgrounds of Brazil's Northeast.

Ilha do Guajiru moves to the rhythm of its lagoon. The vast sheet of flat water draws a crowd — plenty of beginners, but also riders coming to lay down freeride, freestyle, foil and wingfoil on a smooth, open surface. The sheer size of the spot leaves room for everyone: you ride out across the lagoon, pick your corner by the tide, and the mood stays that of a wide-open Northeast Brazilian playground.