What to Do in Jericoacoara

Jericoacoara is a village that’s part of Jijoca de Jericoacoara, in Ceará, in Brazil’s Northeast, and it also sits inside a National Park, beautiful to explore!

The town of Jijoca de Jericoacoara is a peaceful place, with sandy streets, where you’ll find along the way not just great inn options, but also shops and restaurants. It’s a fantastic pick for anyone looking to rest and recharge!

The village used to be hard to reach, and electricity only arrived in the region after 1990. Anyone expecting a destination with no tourist infrastructure will, without question, be surprised by how much the town has grown.

It’s a genuinely eclectic destination, with dunes, lagoons, mangroves, and an ocean that’s fantastic for wind sports like kitesurfing, windsurfing, and more.

We wouldn’t call this a cheap trip, since there are high costs for transfers, tours, and tour add-ons. Everything is charged for, and even meals in the area run pricey. So if you’re planning to go, plan ahead.

Village of Jericoacoara

How to Get to Jericoacoara

Jericoacoara sits 298 km from Fortaleza, the capital of Ceará, roughly a 5-hour drive by 4x4 to reach the village. Coming from the other direction, it’s about 580 km from São Luís, in Maranhão — either way, it’s a long trip.

In 2017, an airport opened in Cruz, the municipality neighboring Jijoca de Jericoacoara, called Aeroporto Regional Comandante Ariston Pessoa (JJD). It’s 30 km away, about 40 minutes from the village of Jeri, though only Gol and Azul currently operate flights there.

When to Go to Jericoacoara

Jeri is a destination you can visit year-round. Between the second half of December and Carnaval, it’s packed with tourists, especially around New Year’s, and parties. So if you love the buzz, this is your spot.

Summer brings a higher chance of rain, lasting through June, though it’s mostly brief summer showers, and it’s rare to get a full day of rain.

During winter, in the second half of the year, the weather is drier. And for anyone into water sports like kitesurfing and windsurfing, August is the best month, since it has the strongest, most consistent winds.

How to Get from Fortaleza to Jericoacoara

To get from Fortaleza to Jericoacoara, we’d recommend booking a shared or private transfer, first because you can’t drive your own vehicle within Jericoacoara. Private cars have to stay parked at the entrance to the village, and to reach the village itself, you need to cross sand dunes along the way, which is dangerous if you don’t have experience.

To get there, we chose to book a private transfer, especially since we arrived in the early morning and shared transfers only depart in the morning. We booked with Clédino, owner of cvs_passeios, who handled both our transfer and our regional tours.

You can also go by bus, with the company Guanabara, though it’s a much longer trip. Buses depart from Fortaleza’s airport to Jijoca de Jericoacoara.

Fun Facts About the Town

The village of Jericoacoara is a really simple place, where you spend the whole time with sand between your toes. There are no banks or ATMs in the village, but there’s good cell and internet signal.

As mentioned, cars can’t enter without authorization, and your vehicle has to stay parked outside.

Since 2017, the Jijoca municipal government has charged a Tourism Fee of R$30.00 per person for up to a 7-day stay. Seniors over 60 and children up to 12, however, are exempt. Visit the Jijoca municipal website to pay, though you can also pay on arrival.

Restaurants and shops accept credit and debit cards.

On the main street, once you leave the beach, there’s a hippie market set up, genuinely interesting to browse for handmade goods!

At night, the street transforms, with several street vendors selling cheap food and drinks around the area, including drinks made with local fruit — a classic example being cajá, which is delicious!

Where to Stay in Jericoacoara

We stayed at a peaceful inn very close to downtown and the beach called Pousada Ibirapuera (Instagram). The owner, Celso, is originally from São Paulo, but considers himself a Cearense out of love for the region, and he’s extremely helpful with tips about the village, where he’s lived for more than thirty years.

The space has a spacious room and bathroom, and a beautiful pool to enjoy in the late afternoon. Breakfast is also really tasty, with tapioca made fresh to order with whatever filling you choose, plus fried or scrambled eggs. Absolutely a place we’d recommend staying!

Pousada Ibirapuera

What to Do in Jericoacoara

In short: enjoy Praia de Jericoacoara, the beach right downtown, and do the east-side and west-side tours — so we’d recommend staying around 5 days to fully enjoy everything the town has to offer. As we go through each tour, we’ll also share some fun facts about the sites.

Most of the tours to reach these attractions require booking a transfer again, either by buggy or 4x4 truck, either as a group tour or private.

We chose a private tour, since it let us decide how long to spend at each stop — we thought it was a great option, since the tours run all day, from 9 AM to 4 PM, and we again booked with Cledino, bundling the transfer and tours together, all private, for R$1,950.00.

Finally, Jericoacoara has a genuinely lively nightlife, not just with forró, the region’s signature style, but plenty of other musical styles too. We’re not big on going out at night ourselves, but we got a tip from a friend, which we’ve included at the end of this post.

Praia de Jericoacoara

Praia de Jericoacoara is the village’s main beach — not the most beautiful, but easy to reach and close to restaurants, inns, and kiosks equipped for sunbathing and a good meal. It’s also used for windsurfing and kitesurfing, since lessons are held here. Don’t forget to check the tide chart.

Praia de Jericoacoara

One spot we’d recommend on the beach is Bar e Restaurante Sol. It’s a beautiful spot, with live music, and one of the only ones on the whole beach that doesn’t charge to sit down. You only pay for what you order.

Bar e Restaurante Sol

Duna do Pôr do Sol

This is a symbol of Jericoacoara, especially since it’s impossible not to notice, come late afternoon, a crowd heading toward the dunes. The walk from the beach takes about 10 minutes and is genuinely easy, accessible even for children and seniors, since it presents no real difficulty. Just walk along the shore.

Sunset at the dune

Pedra Furada

The town’s postcard landmark, Pedra Furada is beautiful and makes for great photos. We hiked from Jeri to Pedra Furada via Morro do Serrote, though the path is rough and covered in loose rocks. At the base, some vendors offer horse-cart rides up to the highest point. We wouldn’t recommend it for kids or seniors, since there’s a real risk of falling. The round trip from downtown covers about 5 km.

Pedra Furada

Another option is via the beach, when the tide is low, which is much easier — just remember to check the tide chart to time your arrival, and budget for a photo line of nearly 1 hour, plus the walk back.

It’s also a great spot to catch sunrise, though since we got a few overcast days, we ended up skipping that option.

Sunset in Jericoacoara

Take a Kitesurf or Windsurf Lesson in Jericoacoara

We took a kitesurf lesson at Clubventos (Instagram) for R$220.00 per person, which gave us an hour and a half with a private instructor, using the equipment solo, and we thought it was well worth it.

It’s important to go in the morning and pay attention to the tide chart — beginners should aim for low tide and lighter wind, but there are also other package options, like more advanced lessons and other sport variations, or even more hours of instruction.

At Clubventos, you can also just spend the day enjoying the space for R$100.00 per person, with food and drink included, with comfortable chairs and a beautiful, cozy space. Food-wise, there’s a self-service option at R$99.90 per kilo, plus snacks on the menu.

Kitesurfing takes several hours, including theory lessons, before you can actually get up on the water, so we’d recommend it if you have a bit more time. With less time, we found windsurfing more interesting, since you can already get up and enjoy the water after your first lesson.

Windsurf lesson

Church in Jericoacoara

The Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima is built entirely of stone, sitting around a charming, well-kept square, and it’s worth checking out. When we visited, though, the interior was under renovation, so we just stopped by briefly.

The Igreja de Nossa Senhora de Fátima, built in 1945, is a tourist attraction for visitors, who admire the beauty of its architecture.

Church in Jericoacoara

West-Side or East-Side Tour of Jericoacoara

All the tours can be done by buggy or open-air truck with a guide, but even after paying, there are some extra costs not included in the package. We’ll describe the tours here and all the prices charged.

We thought the west-side tour was better for nature lovers, with activities like ziplining and a water slide. If you’d rather relax and skip that kind of adventure, then the east side is better, since that’s where the beach clubs are, letting you relax and take in stunning scenery.

Private tour prices range from R$400.00 to R$500.00 for each side.

West-Side Tour of Jericoacoara

I’ll describe the tour and then say a bit more about each stop. The first stop is a boat tour through the mangroves to see seahorses. After that, you cross the Rio Guriú by ferry, arriving at Mangue Seco. Next, you drive by car across the dunes, with the option of sandboarding, ziplining, and the water slide down to a lagoon. Finally, you arrive at the restaurant for lunch and relaxation, at Lagoa da Tatajuba, with tables and hammocks set up in the water.

Ferry crossing the Rio Guriú

Boat Tour to See Seahorses in Jericoacoara

This tour runs through the mangroves by boat. As mentioned, there’s an extra cost: R$20.00 per person for the boat. We went with Raimundo Nonato, a genuinely fun boatman, and had a boat just for the two of us.

From the moment you board, the search for seahorses begins, and spotting one is really exciting — their color closely matches the mangrove, and they’re quite small, swimming while coiling their tails around the roots.

Boat tour to see seahorses in Jericoacoara

Fun Facts About Seahorses

Seahorses are bony fish typically found in shallow water. They range widely in size, from 13 millimeters up to 30 centimeters long. They’re excellent at camouflage, able to change color.

They move slowly, so as not to be swept away by currents, coiling their tails around aquatic plants, corals, or algae.

In these animals, fertilization is internal, and the offspring develop inside the male’s body, producing around 300 babies at a time. After birth, baby seahorses are just 2 millimeters long and no longer depend on their father.

Despite the large number born, only a small fraction survive to adulthood, since they’re frequently eaten by larger fish. And unfortunately, they’re endangered due to overfishing and habitat destruction.

Seahorse

Mangue Seco in Jericoacoara

Mangue Seco stands out for its natural beauty, with plenty of trees and exposed roots. It’s a beach in Guriú, where the Rio Guriú meets the ocean, forming a saltwater lagoon that shelters seahorses, known as Gamboa.

There are hammocks, swings, and treehouses on site for beautiful photos, but be careful, since the swings sit high up, along with some of the structures.

Praia de Mangue Seco and its swings

Dune Tour

The dune tour is a lot of fun. It’s not quite like Natal, but the dunes are quite tall, and sliding down them is genuinely great fun! Worth remembering, it also makes for beautiful photos and videos going up and down the dunes.

Dunes in Jericoacoara

Zipline, Water Slide, and Sandboarding

Each activity you want to try costs an extra R$20.00 per adventure, per person, but we all thought it was worth it. You land in a lake, and for this, we’d recommend wearing a one-piece swimsuit, since the force of the water tends to pull bikinis off. Shorts help too. The drop, especially on the zipline, is a lot of fun, and we’d recommend it, even with the lines you’ll have to wait through.

Zipline and water slide in Jeri

Lunch at Lagoa da Tatajuba

This lagoon has a darker shade of green, with several restaurants around it, each with hammocks and chairs set up in the water for you to enjoy — a genuinely pleasant spot.

We ate at Barraca do Coelho, and service was really good — we ordered a dish called misto, with fish, shrimp, and lobster for two, served with vinaigrette, farofa, white rice, and baião de dois (R$150.00). Dishes range from R$100.00 to R$170.00. There’s no dessert on site, but street vendors sell sweets, popsicles, and snacks nearby.

Lunch

This is the tour’s last stop before heading back to the village, so take the chance to really relax in the hammock.

Hammock at Lagoa da Tatajuba

East-Side Tour of Jericoacoara

The East-Side tour passes by Pedra Furada, which is optional. Because of the trail involved, we’d recommend doing it separately, outside this tour. Right after, the route passes the sloth tree, Lagun, Lagoa Azul, and Lagoa do Paraíso, where you can enjoy The Alchymist Beach Club.

We booked a private tour specifically so we could control how long we spent at each attraction and where to have lunch — since it was just the two of us, we got to choose. Lagun Beach and Buraco Azul are both newer attractions, quite similar and priced the same, so we chose Buraco Azul after seeing photos of both, and we spent most of our time at The Alchymist, where we also had lunch — though there are simpler, cheaper options around Lagoa Azul too.

Árvore da Preguiça (Sloth Tree)

This is a tree with branches “lying down” because of strong winds, unable to stand upright. Located on Praia do Preá, it’s beautiful for photos from any angle, though you’ll also need to wait in line to get a shot with the tree — a shorter line than at Pedra Furada, though.

If you don’t want to wait for the main photo spot, you can grab shots from other angles! We thought the stop was well worth it.

Árvore da Preguiça

Buraco Azul

Located in Caiçara, about 20 km from Jeri, this is a newer attraction that opened in September 2019, built on the site of an artificial lagoon with intensely blue water.

The site was created through excavation, removing clay and sand used to build highway CE-182, which connects Lagoa do Monteiro to Praia do Preá. With the heavy rains of 2019, water pooled in this hole, creating yet another paradise-like scene in Ceará.

The turquoise-blue color comes from the limestone-rich soil where the excavation took place. The sand at the bottom of the pool reflects the sunlight, producing this stunning color.

It has great infrastructure, with tables, umbrellas, and food and drink for sale, so you can easily spend the whole day there.

Beyond photos at the Buraco Azul itself, there are several other beautiful Instagrammable spots around the lagoon. Admission is R$15.00 per person.

Buraco Azul, Caiçara

Lagun Beach Club

Lagun Beach Club opened in June 2021, with good infrastructure, similar to Buraco Azul, offering food on site along with several spots for photos while relaxing. There’s even an artificial waterfall to cool off in and serve as a photo backdrop for visitors. Admission is paid, and tickets cost R$15.00 per person.

Lagun Beach Club

Lagoa do Paraíso

Located in the municipality of Jijoca de Jericoacoara, Lagoa do Paraíso is stunning for its water color, crystal-clear, blue, and green. There are several establishments here, including The Alchymist, a beach club (Instagram).

This is a spot well worth spending the whole day at, thanks to its facilities, food, hammocks in the water, and overall setup — and it’s the last stop on the east-side tour, so pace your time well. Price: R$25.00 per person.

Lagoa do Paraíso

Where to Eat in Jericoacoara

Jeri has fantastic restaurant options, making it genuinely hard to choose where to go, and it also has several ice cream shops and dessert spots around town.

Restaurante Bistrôgonoff

Bistrôgonoff (Instagram) — even though the restaurant’s name references strogonoff, the menu is varied, with great options for two. We ordered the grilled robalo fish with shrimp farofa (R$160.00), served with mashed potatoes. It was delicious and generously portioned. Other options include fish and shrimp moqueca (R$160.00), shrimp moqueca (R$140.00), and Argentine picanha (R$180.00).

There are vegetarian options too, like seven-grain rice (R$42.00), and dessert options like brownie with cream ice cream (R$30.00) and cocada with passion fruit ice cream (R$28.00).

Restaurante Bistrôgonoff

Location: Rua São Francisco, 34 A.

Na Casa Dela Restaurante

Na Casa Dela (Instagram), located on Jeri’s main street, is nearly impossible to miss thanks to its distinctive décor, and it looks even more beautiful once you step inside, with all its varied light fixtures.

There are several starter options, like bean broth (R$10.00), cassava fritters (R$25.00), and we ended up getting complimentary tapioca cubes as a starter too.

Every main dish is meant for two. We ordered the shrimp moqueca with rice and salad (R$120.00), and we found it delicious, with a fair price for the portion served.

Other options include paçoca, made with carne de sol, pumpkin purée, and coconut milk rice (R$100.00), and more unusual choices like stingray moqueca with rice and salad (R$90.00).

Two brigadeiros came with the check.

Na Casa Dela has two locations in Jeri. The one we visited serves regional Brazilian food, but there’s also a second location serving Mediterranean food, which also has plenty of charm, though we didn’t have time to visit.

Na Casa Dela

Location: Rua Principal, 16.

Dona Amélia Restaurante

Dona Amélia (Instagram) is part bar, part restaurant, with live music, and it’s famous since people dance forró here every single day in Jeri.

We ordered a fish and shrimp moqueca (R$90 for two), with baião de dois, pirão, farofa, salad, and vinaigrette. It was really good.

The menu also offers, also for two, grilled lobster (R$230.00), grilled seafood mix (R$230.00), shrimp in pineapple (R$124.00), filet mignon parmigiana (R$94.00), and carne de sol with onions (R$117.00). The restaurant also has kids’ dishes, like filet mignon (R$50.00).

Dona Amélia

Location: Rua do Forró, 440.

Tamarindo Restaurante

Tamarindo (Instagram) is also one of the most famous options, and of everywhere we ate, it was the best restaurant — it absolutely belongs on your list!

We ordered two individual dishes: Tamarindo Fish, grilled fish with shrimp sautéed in garlic and herbs, served with coconut rice and tamarind sauce (R$89.60), and Aguardente, shrimp flambéed in cachaça and sprinkled with spicy garlic, served with grilled mango and Sicilian lemon risotto (R$88.90) — both dishes were spectacular.

Main course at the restaurant

The desserts couldn’t be any less impressive — all of them were described so appealingly that we had to order two: the chocolate trilogy (R$33.50) and a creamy baked cocada (R$23.00) — even after trying both, I still couldn’t tell you which one I liked more.

Dessert at Tamarindo

Location: Travessa Ismael.

Pimenta Verde Restaurante

Pimenta Verde (Instagram) is another one of the best places to eat in Jericoacoara. There are dishes for one or two people: plain fish filet (R$76.00 for one, R$126.50 for two) and dendê shrimp seafood (R$90.00 for one, R$150.00 for two).

We ordered the seafood mix on the griddle for two (R$163.00 for two), and the portion came out generously served — one of the best dishes we had.

The menu also has meat dishes, along with vegetarian and vegan options.

Pimenta Verde Restaurante

Location: Rua São Francisco.

Bistrô Caiçara

On the second floor above a souvenir shop is Bistrô Caiçara (Instagram), run by Chef Apolinário Souza, who worked in São Paulo at restaurants like Fasano, Leopoldo, and Hotel Meliá, and has now opened his own restaurant in his hometown.

The recipes here are quite unusual, like Polvo Louco, octopus in spicy rapadura honey (R$75.00), and a stuffed filet roulade with parma ham and mozzarella in coffee sauce (R$72.00), among others.

We ordered the octopus and the robalo filet in shrimp sauce with rice (R$70.00). Both dishes were tasty, though we found the octopus portion small.

Bistrô Caiçara

Location: Rua Principal, s/n.

Delícias da Vila

For a day when you’re craving a quick burger, we’d recommend Delícias da Vila (Instagram). We ordered a burger where the bun came out really soft, the patty was good, and the fries were nice and crisp. Prices range from R$19.99 to R$27.99.

They also serve crepes, omelets, cakes, ice cream, and açaí.

Burger at Delícias da Vila

Location: Rua São Francisco.

Ice Cream Shops in Jericoacoara

This is genuinely hard to write about — honestly, all three main shops are spectacular, but Gelato & Grano is the best of them all, and we ended up going three times, trying a different flavor every time.

Gelato & Grano

Gelato & Grano (Instagram) is great any time of day, whether at lunch, dinner, or coming back from an afternoon tour — the flavor is genuinely distinctive and creamy, and it absolutely won as our favorite.

Price: R$23.00 for three scoops, though other options are available.

Gelato & Grano

Location: Praça Principal, s/n.

Da Vinci Gelato Italiano

Da Vinci (Instagram) also has really tasty ice cream, with unique, delicious flavors, and it absolutely deserves a spot on your list of ice cream shops in Jericoacoara.

There’s also a restaurant next door, though we didn’t have time to try it.

Price: R$18.00 for three scoops.

Da Vinci Gelato Italiano

Location: Praça Principal, s/n.

Jeri Mescla Gelateria

Jeri Mescla (Instagram) is tasty, though I found it a bit more ordinary than the other two, with more classic flavors — still, you can safely add it to your list.

Price: R$23.00 for three scoops.

Jeri Mescla

Location: Rua Principal, 500.

Dessert Shops in Jericoacoara

Shopping da Tapioca - Tia Angelita

Shopping Tapioca Tia Angelita (Instagram) is home to Brazil’s most famous banana pie — you’ll notice from the décor that it’s been featured in multiple magazines and articles, and everyone knows it. This is a required stop.

The banana pie is served warm and really soft, reminiscent of a fluffy cake, topped with banana and cinnamon.

Tia Angelita’s banana pie

Location: Rua Principal, s/n.

Doce Divino

Doce Divino (Instagram) has a display case full of sweets that you won’t be able to walk past without wanting one! We tried two: a warm cocada with ice cream, and a dessert cup with dark and white chocolate, strawberry, and dulce de leche — genuinely sweet, but tasty, though the chocolate in the cup had hardened quite a bit.

They offer several kinds of cocada too, including options to pack for travel or give as a gift.

Doce Divino

Location: Beco do Forró.

Samba Rock

Jericoacoara is a place known for always having forró or somewhere to dance. So we’d recommend both Dona Amélia and Samba Rock, both located on the main street, and both always packed.

During our nights strolling through downtown, we heard different music styles, like samba and forró. Several bars always have music playing too, whether live or DJ-spun. But here’s a tip for a genuinely charming spot, with its little lights and good music.

Samba Rock

Read more about our trips through the Northeast in Milagres and Caraíva.