Anyone travelled to Jeri in recent times? Interested in the best travel route and whether the norm is to fly from Fortaleza to Cruz or bus it or hire car? Any personal safety issues to worry about? Worth the trip and the expense to get there? Conditions as good as the hype indicates for someone wanting to sail some waves for the first time? Best time of year to go for wind and those gentle waves?
Select to expand quoteOrange Whip said..
Anyone travelled to Jeri in recent times? Interested in the best travel route and whether the norm is to fly from Fortaleza to Cruz or bus it or hire car? Any personal safety issues to worry about? Worth the trip and the expense to get there? Conditions as good as the hype indicates for someone wanting to sail some waves for the first time? Best time of year to go for wind and those gentle waves?
It's been a few years since we were in Jeri. We went in June (connected to a business trip), which is the very beginning of the wind season, with much weaker winds. I was out on a 5.x sail every day (which was one of their biggest sails). It's a pretty unique spot, well worth the long travel. Not sure about going there for first-time wave sailing, though. It's a point break that can get very crowded. Spots like Coronation in WA are a lot friendlier to beginners. But if you're not trying to get into the break, there's plenty of space for B&J sailing, with nice big swell on the outside, and the wind is great. There are good reasons why many pros make the trip to Jeri every year.
Safety was never an issue in Jeri, but big cities could be a different story. Probably best to arrange the transport by car from Fortaleza through the place in Jeri that you are staying at, or renting gear from.
Have a look at Jem Halls website, he does clinics there in November each year, a good option if travelling on your own, and great coaching for getting into waves. The Sportif travel agency he operates through can advise on best way to get there from Oz, or you can make your own travel bookings and just link up for the accomo, clinic, equipment rental. There are other windsurf coaches that run similar there. Sportif's website has some good Jeri info.
Been there twice.
Not worth it for wave sailing IMHO, A great place for a long trip. Both of my trips for 3 or 4 weeks. You can either get a bus from fortalezza. Or share a 4WD, that will take you right there. If you want to organise the 4WD try one of the big windsurfing centres.
Basically I went there to bump and jump which it is perfect for, its great for freestyle or learning to loop etc. Reasonably cheap while your there if you want it to be, much cheaper than WA...
All the roads are sand, nice place to get out of it for a bit.
I took 100L freestyle board, and 4.2/4.7/5.3, you can probably sail everyday for several hours, I did. One trip in November one in December.
Safety? Yeah, be careful. Brazil has a higher rate of shootings than the States. Take medical insurance.
