Brazil's Best Beaches Call Those Looking for Adventure

10/18/2013 - 08h47

Imagine: calm seas, white sand, the straw huts of a fishing village. Or perhaps crystalline lagoons, surrounded by sand dunes as far as the eye can see. Is this what comes to mind when you think of the beach of your dreams?

With two months to go until summer kicks off and the coastal resorts really begin to fill up, Folha spoke to the authors of three books of photography dedicated to the most beautiful - and inaccessible - regions of the Brazilian coast. One thing is clear: the more untouched the beach, the better.

Three days, two nights, by plane, bus and boat. This was Valdemir Cunha's journey from São Paulo to Ilha dos Lençóis, an island off the coast of Maranhão state, in the northeast of the country. After such a long journey, "it would be stupid to stay for less than a week," Cunha says.

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The photographers Bala Blauth and Ita Kirsch travelled nearly 7000 kilometers (4350 miles) along the coast for their book "Costa do Brasil." The difficulties in accessing the best beaches are compensated by scenery which "takes your breath away," they say.

For Cristiano Burmester, the wealth of the coastal ecosystems is what makes the travelling worth it. He went to Ilha de Trindade, the island furthest away from the coast, to photograph the region's biodiversity.

"In truth, the sea is just one aspect to it," says Cunha, who will this month launch the book "Brasil Litoral". "The culture and the communities that lie just inland are much more interesting. This is something only Brazil has."

With little infrastructure, these places have potential for sustainable tourism. "When I go to one of these places I want to see the traditional way of fishing, of making flour. I don't want to watch television," explains the photographer.

For those interested in making these kind of trips, the key is good planning.

	Editoria de Arte/Folhapress
	WHERE THEY ARE Check out the following five tricky access beaches choosen by the photographers

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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