Imagine a beach two miles long, positioned in such a way that it receives the afternoon trade winds, yet doesn’t experience any of the related high surf.
As you can see in the video below, my daughter didn’t like the murkiness of the sand here. In fact, hardly anyone comes to this beach for anything other than to unload a fishing boat or to learn how to zip across the surface on a kiteboard or windsurf board.
But if you’re near and you want to spend a few moments, it’s worth a look if anything to see the bay. Full of silt and not very attractive, the bay has great historical value to Brazil. The silt is caused by the constant wind blowing right into shore, and the fact that the neighboring land is mainly clay composition.
You’ve arrived at Manguinhos Beach, or Praia de Manguinhos.
This is one of the most interesting beaches in Buzios, both historically, and topographically. When we visited here, the beach was mostly empty at close to noon on a weekday. The kiteboarding school was awake, but no one was out on the water yet. A few children were playing in the silty sand that makes up almost half of this beach that had a very gradual angle to the deep.
Because of this interesting feature, windsurfing and kitesurfing are “the” sports here. When we visited, we parked behind the local windsurf school, Buzios Vela Clube. It was early, so we didn’t notice anyone out on the water. The people at the club were arranging the boards and sails for later instruction. The school seemed well organized.
We found an alley between the school and the next property and walked down to the beach. That’s the way most beaches are here in Buzios. You find a pathway that leads down between properties. The beach is immense!
Praia de Manguinhos is well developed and faces almost due north. To the eastern part of the crescent is where a fishing development is.
Come here early in the morning and get the catch of the day – plus see some real Brazilian culture as you experience the open fish market.
A tad further north along the crescent is where you can still the ancient pier where slaves disembarked, secretly, even after law went into effect in 1850 prohibiting slave ships in Brazilian waters. Why slaves in Buzios? It was the perfect dropping off point.
Policing the whole coast became impossible and Buzios was chosen by traffickers because of its proximity to Rio de Janeiro, and by nature, offered many hidden coves and bays.
Today, the Praia de Manguinhos offers many beautiful posadsas. It becomes alive from Christmas through Lent – high season for Buzios.
If you have the chance to experience it, make sure you take time to get a windsurf lesson at the Buzios Vela Clube. Great people with patience.
Praia de Manguinhos – BEACH INDEX:
- Sand – very fine, clay-like, dense. Rock based from runoff.
- Facilities – many along the coast.
- Shade – many trees line the coast, some businesses offer umbrellas.
- Sports – windsurf, kitesurf, boating, sand soccer, futevoli, Frisbee.
- Notes – long expanse, but no white powder here.
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