Águas Belas & Rendeiras: Beach Day, Cane Mill & Buggy Ride

4.89

(267 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We rolled out of Fortaleza in a van just after sunrise — windows fogged up from the AC, everyone still a bit quiet. The road hugged the coast for a while, flashes of turquoise sea between palm trees. Our guide, Ana, pointed out little fishing villages as we passed. I kept catching whiffs of salt and sunscreen from someone’s bag (not mine this time). When we finally stepped onto Águas Belas beach, the sand was cool underfoot and there was this hush — just waves and some kids chasing a stray crab near the tide pools.

I didn’t expect to be so taken by those natural pools. They form when the tide pulls back, leaving behind these clear pockets of water with tiny fish darting around your ankles. Ana laughed when I hesitated to step in — turns out it’s warmer than you’d think. Some folks took off on an optional buggy ride down the shore (looked bumpy but fun), but I just wandered along, toes in the water, watching locals set up umbrellas with practiced flicks of their wrists.

Later we drove over to the Rendeiras Center downtown. It’s not fancy — just a few open rooms where women sit weaving lace at low tables. The click-clack of bobbins was oddly soothing. One woman showed me how she ties off her patterns; my fingers fumbled it completely and she grinned like she’d seen it a hundred times before. There was sweet cane juice waiting at Engenho de Cana nearby — cold and grassy tasting, almost like spring in a glass. We lingered there longer than planned because nobody wanted to get back on the bus yet.

On the way back to Fortaleza, I watched sunlight flicker through bus windows and thought about those quiet moments by the sea. It’s not flashy here — just small details that stick with you long after you rinse off the sand.