Tibau do Sul.

Tibau do Sul is a coastal municipality in southern Rio Grande do Norte, 85 km south of Natal. The headline is Praia da Pipa, a clifftop village with dolphins in the bay and a long beach below. Praia do Madeiro, the next bay north, is the mellow peeler and the local school zone. Cacimbinhas, the open beach south of Pipa, holds the bigger days. The cliff line traps clean wind on the south-facing pockets even when the rest of the coast is sideshore.

This is a trade-wind coast at 6° south. South-east trades blow most of the year, with August through November the windiest stretch. Working swell is south-east wind swell, 0.8 to 2 m at 8 to 10 s. The standout window is the Brazilian summer, December through March, when north Atlantic swell wraps the headlands at longer periods. West-south-west is offshore. Dawn or the after-trades window before sunset is when it’s clean.

Water runs 24 to 29 °C every month, so boardies and a rashie. Madeiro is the soft option for any level; Cacimbinhas wants intermediate ability when it’s overhead. Sharp rocks expose at the southern end of Pipa beach on a low tide, and a longshore current builds as the tide drains. Crowds thin midweek and stack on weekends. December through March is the cleanest stretch. Outside the summer window, surf at dawn before the trades fill or wait for the breeze to back off near sunset.