diving natal - brazil

[Helen H]

Am going to north-east Brazil in March for 3 weels and looking for any info re diving in the area between Natal and Salvador. I saw a thread mentioning some islands but not sure where they are, what there is to see and how easy it would be to organise a trip there.

Any suggestions very welcome.

[Andy M]

Originally Posted by Helen H

Am going to north-east Brazil in March for 3 weels and looking for any info re diving in the area between Natal and Salvador. I saw a thread mentioning some islands but not sure where they are, what there is to see and how easy it would be to organise a trip there.

Helen, there are some islands off Fortaleza. and there is also Fernando de Noronha Island. Very good diving. Not many people speak english though so I hope your portuguese is good!

The diving down near Rio de Janiero is fairly naff, and the water is cold, coming from the antartic. Its rather strange to be above water in 35C temperatures then jumping into 14C water!!! Oh, just about all divers take spearguns with them in Brazil, so mind you dont get speared..

[CotoChris]

As Andy said the islands are Fernando de Neronha. It is supposed to have some fantastic diving, the islands are a nature reserve and only a limited amount of people can go there. The islands are very far (some 550km) from the coast and you have to fly there, abnd it's expensive as well.

This is the information I could find for you:

Diving from Natal area:

http://www.maracajaudiver.com.br/maracajaudiver.htm (site is in Portuguese but try e-mailling them in English for details)

http://www.maresub.com.br/

These are the only two I could find for Natal. The impression I get is that they take you by launch to sites an hour away for the diving then return around lunch time. The latter gave me a better impression.

Fernando de Naronha
http://www.atlantisnoronha.com.br/


You can also try looking at the PADI website for PADI centers in the area.

Otherwise I don't have more info on diving in these areas. I've been to Natal but didn't dive then. The beaches are fabulous though. It's been some ten years since I was there, it's a bit off the beaten track, makes me wonder how come you are going there?

If you have difficulties in communicating I can help you out there, let me know what you need to know and I can get in touch with the centers.

Bets of luck

Chris

[Helen H]

Thanks for the above advice and websites - the thought of somewhere being tricky to get to makes me even more keen to get there. Had been thinking about Fortoleza so this may swing it.

Thanks Chris for the offer of translation services - I will see how I get on but may take you up on that.

I spent 18 months in latinamerica alone in the 1989/1995 so had to speak spanish much of the time. Unfortunately this proved completely useless when I got to Brazil.

An 8-week adult education course in portugese starts locally in January so hope to do that before I go.

Reason for going to Natal is that Brittania do a charter flight there from Gatwick so am only paying £250 for a 3-week return. This will probably be my cheapest chance to get to Brazil before I hang up my 20-year old backpack for good.

[CotoChris]

For the men out here. Fortaleza has a populatiion ratio of 7 women to 1 man!

Helen. When I was there everyone said that the best beach in Brazil was Jeriquaquara, a small town past Fortaleza I think.

North East Brazil, well especially the inland is very poor, Still, it's well worth travelling. I took the bus fro Recife to Rio and it took 3 whole days!

As for the language Spanish will help a great deal. Even a fluent speaker of Portuguese the brazilians can be hard to understand, they sing their words more than speak.

Any help let me know, in the meanwhile I'll ask around for more info.