In order to find out more www.pipa.com.br interviewed veteran surfers Caio Pereira and Lecrécio de Araújo, from Natal.

They first started coming here to surf in the late seventies when Pipa was just a village of wattle and daub. “The surf movement in Pipa started in 75 with the Simonete family” (one of the first families to come and spend their summer holidays in Pipa) says Lucrécio whose surf habit in Pipa began in 78. He can remember when Ronaldo Barreto (nowadays the owner of “Radical” the make which is considered the best among surfboards in the Northeast) was just a surfer boy dating Simone from the Simonete clan.

When they first came here they found an untouched paradise, with waves of up to 8 feet forming perfectly due to the rocky seabed. It was reason enough for them and their gang of mates to come regularly bringing more friends – a group of 10-15 surfers among them Luruca and Felipe Dantas who was Brazilian vice champion in 89.

Discovering all that nature had to offer as well as the sea with its Lajão , Sororoca and Abacateiro was almost too good to be true for those young adventurers from all corners of Brazil. “In those days there wasn’t much in the way of comfort… but the people were always open-minded and we were well received. We slept in hammocks on the verandahs of people’s summer houses and often they let us have the keys so we could sleep inside,” remembers Lucrécio.

This welcome, the unforgettable views as well as the discovery of Lajão

(the best surfing point in the region with the chance of tubular waves) all contributed to making Pipa the best surfing point along the coast of Rio Grande do Norte according to Caio.
He first came to Pipa in 78 and nowadays lives here.

It was because of the practice he put in here that he was able to travel round the best surfing points in the Pacific with his project “Rota Panamericana” (Panamerican route). For him what makes Pipa so fantastic is the experience of surfing waves over a rocky seabed.

In his opinion those who can surf here, especially at Lajão “ are confident enough to take on the waves anywhere in the world”. Which is what professionals Carioca* Rico de Souza (one of the Brazilian surfers who often competes in Hawaii), Otávio and Mauro Pacheco (Brazilian champion in 82) and Pernambucan Carlos Burle (world champion of big waves) say too. Before shining on the beaches of the world they had to train hard – in our oceans.)