I wrote a little article about it and compared it to surfing in Southern California because I don't have experience surfing in Northern California. I intend to correct that this spring, and I can already tell that Northern California has a more open, friendly, and inviting, (and maybe common suffering), thing going on than Southern California.
Link to article below
Love Jericoacoara but it can get a bit bizy. There's a right for board surfers on the other side of the point.
Argh. Pretty much my only life's regret... I lived in Sao Paulo for a year & a half... Made it to the beach often (about 2 hours away) but never surfed. Argh. Argh. Argh.
About the craziest thing I've ever seen on the water is the favela kids workin the shore pound at Copacabana. Sorta OT but the protagonist in Favela Rising broke his neck there surfing. I'm sure he wasn't the first. Pretty inspiring film though: http://www.favelarising.com/
brazilian surfers are like cockroaches, after the nuclear holocaust, they only thing left will be them and the real cockroaches. GO BACK TO BRAZIL!
@broughten - enjoyed the article! was in Brazil last-last New Years and didn't make it out to Florianopolis. Note to anyone traveling to Brazil...at least in my experience..it is not a place to go and just "wing it" or "play it by ear" like Thailand or Indo. When we got to Rio..we were pretty shocked/depressed to find out how expensive intra-Brazil travel was and how hard accommodations were to get when you try and book last minute. At least during the holidays (Christmas, New Year's and Carnival time) which is now obvious in retrospect.
Favela Rising just went on the Netflix queue. Thanks for the suggestion!
On the topic of high tourist season in Florianopolis, I think it's kinda funny how compressed it is. It's totally beautiful from about late November through April, but tourist season is Christmas, January and Carnival, and that's it). The rest of the time it's much sleepier, but just as nice. Also waves tend to be better in the fall and spring (October/November and April/May). Then again, though, the tourists tend to be from Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, and that's when they have time off.
The guy who wrote the article doesn't have it quite right about why the Brazilian lineup behaves differently. It's not because they're younger. The Latin culture down there places a much bigger emphasis on having fun than ours does. IMO, they place having fun higher on the priority list than working.
If you visit there, you can see it in the clubbing scene. The article mentions it in the surf lineup. After a night of drinking, Americans (me included) will be hungover and bleary-eyed at breakfast the next day. Not so the Brazilians. They'll be singing and dancing at breakfast.
I could go on an on about the cultural differences, but this isn't the place. Because of the difference in priorities, our culture will always be more productive while theirs will be better at enjoying life.
