The bay
The state's only one.
Roberto Oliveira de Azevedo Maia Filho — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Helobap — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marinelson Almeida - Traveling through Brazil from Niteroi, Brasil — CC BY 2.0 · Marinelson Almeida - Traveling through Brazil from Niteroi, Brasil — CC BY 2.0
Baía Formosa, «Beautiful Bay», is a small town at the far east of Rio Grande do Norte, near the Paraíba border, some 96 kilometres south of Natal; it is the state's first coastal town from the south and sits on its only bay. It began with a boat harbour around which a fishing village grew, and in the eighteenth century it was a summer retreat for the Albuquerque Maranhão family and nearby landowners. In recent years it has become known as a surf town: it is the home of Ítalo Ferreira, 2019 world surfing champion and the first Olympic champion in the sport. Its sights include the Araraquara lagoon, known as «Coca-Cola Lagoon» for its dark water, the Junco and d'Água lagoons, Sagi beach on the border, and the Mata Estrela Atlantic forest reserve. It is quiet, away from the crowds of Pipa.
The state's only one.
Araraquara.
A champion's town.
Baía Formosa, far east of Rio Grande do Norte state
Because its water is dark.
