Ask anyone about kitesurfing in north-east Brazil and you'll hear "July to January". That's true, but it hides the most useful part: the season doesn't peak at the same time along the whole coast. Around Fortaleza the wind is strongest earlier, and the further west you go towards Jericoacoara, Barra Grande and Atins, the later it peaks and the longer it lasts.
I looked at five years of wind data (2022–2026) for the main spots on this coast and counted, for every month, the days with at least two daytime hours of 15 knots or more. Here's what that shows.
The short version
| Month | Where to go | Why |
|---|---|---|
| July | Atins, Preá, Taíba | The season is just starting; Atins and Preá wake up first |
| August | Anywhere on the coast | Cumbuco and Taíba are at their best, the west is catching up |
| September–October | Anywhere, the whole coast is on | Peak season: Preá, Guriú and Barra Grande get 25–30 windy days a month |
| November | Preá, Guriú, Barra Grande, Macapá, Atins | The west holds its peak; around Cumbuco it starts to fade |
| December | Preá, Atins, Ilha do Guajiru | Still good in the west, especially Preá and Atins |
| January | Preá, Atins (with luck) | The end of the season; the rains start |
| February–June | Not the time | Rainy season and light winds almost everywhere |
Fortaleza coast: Cumbuco, Cauípe and Taíba
This is where most people start, an hour or less from Fortaleza airport. In our data Cumbuco and Taíba have their best months from August to October, with 20–25 windy days a month. From November the number of strong days drops quickly. Riders who know the area say you can still kite most days in November, but with less margin and more days on a bigger kite.
If you want flat water, the Lagoa do Cauípe lagoon a short drive from Cumbuco is the classic: shallow, no tide, ideal for learning and freestyle. The water level drops towards the end of the season, so it's at its best from August to October.
Ilha do Guajiru and Preá: the middle of the coast
Further west, Ilha do Guajiru has a flat lagoon behind a sand island and a longer season: 23–27 windy days a month from August to October, and still around 17 in November and 12 in December.
Preá, the long beach next to Jericoacoara, is the most consistent spot in this comparison. It gets 26–31 windy days a month from August to November and is still around 23 in December. If you only have the end of the year, this is the safe bet.
Jericoacoara, Guriú and Tatajuba
Jeri itself is a little lighter than Preá in the numbers, with its best months September to November. West of it, Guriú has a calm river mouth with flat water and peaks in September and October (27–29 windy days), while Tatajuba, with its lagoon among the dunes, is at its best in October. Both are classic stops on the downwinder west from Jeri.
Barra Grande, Barrinha and Macapá (Piauí)
On the short Piauí coast the season peaks late: Barra Grande and Macapá have their best months in September, October and November, with 22–28 windy days, and still around 14 in December. Riders based in Barra Grande often go to Barrinha in the morning, because it gets clean wind earlier, and ride Macapá in the afternoon, when the wind often holds until sunset.
Atins: the longest season
At the western end of the classic route, Atins on the edge of the Lençóis Maranhenses has the longest season of all the spots we looked at. It already has around 14 windy days in July, 28 in September and October, and still about 22 in November and December. If you're travelling late in the year and want the best odds, Atins and Preá are the two to look at.
Water, rain and what to bring
The water is warm the whole season, around 27–28°C, so boardshorts or a shorty are enough. The windy months are also the dry months: from August to November there are only 2–6 rainy days a month on most of this coast. In December showers become more common, and from January to May most days have some rain, together with light winds.
Christmas and New Year are peak holidays in Brazil, so in Jeri and Preá book early if you're going in late December.
How we got these numbers
The figures come from five years of hourly wind data (2022–2026). For each spot we compared three weather models (ECMWF, GFS and ICON) and use the one that picks up the most wind there, because global models tend to underestimate coastal wind. A "windy day" is a day with at least two daytime hours at 15 knots or more. Models smooth out local effects like thermal wind, so treat the exact numbers as a guide and the month-to-month pattern as the important part.
You can see every month for each spot, with wind, water temperature, rain and sun, on its page on Best Time to Ride.
