Praia de Redonda

Redonda is situated at 4º latitude south and 37º longitude West, in the northeast of Brazil, on the southeast coast of the state of Ceará, in the community of Icapuí.
There are 50 km to the nearest bigger town Aracati, and 200 km to Fortaleza,  the capital of Ceará. To the south lies the state of Rio Grande do Norte with 80 km to the nearest town Mossoró and 350 km to Natal, the capital of RN. Fortaleza has several air connections with Europe.
In these coastal regions the weather is almost always sunny, around 30º C with mild breezes from the Atlantic Sea. The community of Icapuí has 64 km fine sand-beaches, partly surrounded with sand-hills and multicolored sandstone cliffs with cave-formed hollows.

The community of Icapuí has been independent since 1985, before that it formed part of Aracati community. The main sources of income are lobster fishing, cashew, coco, melons and salt.
Until 2004 the community was governed by PT (The Labours Party), which since the very beginning emphasized education and health.

Redonda, situated some twenty km northwest of Icapuí, the community centre, is a fisherman´s village with around 5000 inhabitants. Unfortunately the lobsters have been dying out for some years, which has resulted in a drawn out economic and social crises. During the time when the  lobsters reproduce, from January until May, the fishing is forbidden, and the fishermen get a minimum salary per month, in 2018 R$ 954, as an unemployment assistance, which is far from sufficient, nor for the reproduction of the lobsters neither for the livelihood of the fisherman population. There are studies and speculations about various solutions, while illegal fishing continues without any significant control, and the lobster stock is reduced from year to year. The last three years the period for the fishing prohibition time was extended to half a year, from December until June. The fishermen themselves are trying to keep the illegal fishing away from their waters and cages and have confiscated and even burnt some pirate boats. When the fishing season begins some twelve thousand cages are laid out with persistent hopes for the same big profits as in earlier years. And the more than one hundred rustic sail boats, that rock in the bay, still go out at sunrise to inspect the cages.
In these waters there still exists a great variety of fish species, shrimps and other crustaceans, but none as lucrative as the lobsters. There are also sea cows and sea turtles, but both have been proclaimed inviolable.

Due to the current economic decline, the population, of Redonda has slowly opened up to receive tourists, despite lack of education and infrastructure. This means that our visitors still can enjoy almost empty flat beaches for walking, football playing and swimming. At low tides there are warm pools, perfect for relaxing rigid end stressed bodies. Massages are also available. For visitors who want more excitement, joining a fisherman´s boat for a fishing and diving tour is a great experience. Tours can also be arranged to other villages, mangrove and salt pits, refreshing river bathes and to small oases for a cold beer in the shadow of a cashew tree.

In Redonda and the nearest neighbor villages, Ponta Grossa and Peroba, there are a handful of pousadas, simple hostels letting out rooms and guest houses, and a few restaurants and bars.
In the weekends there are dance clubs in the area.
There is a health station with (sometimes) both a doctor and a dentist, there are a few churches, some convenience stores, a bakery, and handicraft art sold directly from the producers.

In Icapuí , a post office, a hospital, a drugstore and some more shops. Aracati offers more of a city life including a bus station for long distance trips.
The famous beach and tourist village Canoa Quebrada, 10 km from Aracati, has many hotels and restaurants, with shopping and a more vivid beach and night life, for those who want a change to the calm and simple life of Redonda.
There are cash machines, Aracati and Canoa Quebrada.
For transportation to Icapuí and Aracati there are small buses Monday through Saturday.

Portuguese is the spoken language in Brazil, and because of this it´s easier to make yourself understood with Spanish than with English. If you wish Portuguese lessons can be arranged.

Our attitude towards tourism
As an alternative to the conventionally swarming tourism in Fortaleza, Canoa Qubrada and other more well known places with their disadvantages as prostitution, drugs and property speculation, our idea in Redonda is to promote for a quiet and mindfully orientated tourism. Redonda is an excellent place for people, individually or in small groups, who want to retire to a calm environment, far away from distracting stressful and noisy everyday life. Here you are able to concentrate on and take care of your own well-being and relax. Redonda can also be a place to study and work with developing themes such as environment and humanity, nature and body, mental and spiritual health. This can be approached globally or locally, socially or individually, with or without Redonda as an example.
Here in Redonda you can combine your own calm and stimulating work with an equally calm and secure, healthy and affordable leisure time.
An important part of this idea includes stimulating tourists and local inhabitants to a friendly and respectful interchange, that the meeting between the cultures of our visitors and of the natives can be intensified to the enrichment of both parts


If you want more information about what´s happening in Icapuí, take a look at the Homepage of Icapuí Township Council:

http://www.icapui.ce.gov.br