Map › Brazil › Pontal de Maria Farinha & Itamaracá Kite Point › Pontal de Maria Farinha

Pernambuco · Paulista

Pontal de Maria Farinha

also known as Maria Farinha

beginner-friendly

On this page

Wind
- Month by month
Forecast
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
- Rescue
Hazards
Rules & access
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos
FAQ

Nearby Itamaracá Kite Point 6 km · Praia de Candeias 39 km · straight-line distance

Seasonno season namedthe months riders and schools name How windy9-11 ktmixed LaunchUnknown. People clearly rig and ride here; nobody has written down where or how much room there is.access rules on record, below Waterocean/river mouth28°C in summer · 6 things riders flag LevelBeginner to intermediatewith a caveat, in the Level section Schools2named at this spot From the airport40 minFreyre International Airport (REC)

When it fills in

Sea-breeze shaped, so the afternoon is the window: light in the morning, filling through the middle of the day, easing after sunset. No hourly record is published for the pontal, so treat the timing as the regional pattern and not a measured one.

Pontal de Maria Farinha is a lesson spot, not a destination. The pontal sits where the Rio Timbó meets the sea on the Paulista coast north of Recife, 40 minutes from the airport, and the schools use Marina do Pontal on Rua Tejipió as the meeting point; the school supplies the gear (kite, board, harness, vest, helmet) and an instructor in the water.

The wind is the Recife SE, about 9 knots on the airport average, which is why foils turn up here and why there is no confirmed strong-wind month. Everything about the riding is tide-driven: the usable water and the current at the river mouth both move with it, and nobody has measured how hard that current pulls.

Boats come and go from the marina and bathers use the same beach. Water is 26-28 C, no wetsuit. If you already ride and want a proper session, this is not the place to plan a trip around; it is where Recife riders bring people for a first lesson with Escola Kitesurf Recife or Vila do Kite.

The wind

Direction

onshoreSE

Kite sizes

1011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

mixed

fills in: Sea-breeze shaped, so the afternoon is the window: light in the morning, filling through the middle of the day, easing after sunset. No hourly record is published for the pontal, so treat the timing as the regional pattern and not a measured one.

Typical strength

No anemometer at the pontal. The nearest long-run record, the Recife airport station, sits at a 9-11 kt hourly average across the year, August the windiest month and March the calmest, so a light-wind day is the default. The stronger and steadier wind belongs to the second half of the year, roughly August to January. Indicative, no local measurement.

Light SE on the Recife airport average; no month-by-month statistic exists for the pontal itself.

The Pernambuco wind is more constant and stronger in the second half of the year, roughly August to January. On the Recife airport record the windier stretch runs from late May to early January, with August the windiest month and March the calmest.

None of that is measured at the pontal itself, and no kite season has been published for it.

Also on record

The quiver, in words

Indicative, derived from the regional station averages rather than from any local report: at 75-85 kg you are on 15-17 m, or a foil, for most of the calendar. In the windier August-January half a 12 m covers the better afternoons. Pack the biggest kite you own; a Ceará quiver is the wrong quiver here.

Direction to shore

Onshore to side-onshore. This beach faces east and the prevailing wind sits between east and south-east, so it arrives off the water and angles along the sand rather than straight at it.

Forecast

Month by month

Jan6
Feb15
Mar22
Apr4
May29
Jun44
Jul74
Aug66
Sep63
Oct34
Nov20
Dec14

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

9Jan30°
10Feb30°
9Mar30°
9Apr30°
10May29°
11Jun28°
12Jul27°
12Aug27°
12Sep27°
11Oct28°
10Nov29°
10Dec29°

avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	6%	9.1 kt	ESE	26.9°C	29.6°C
Feb	15%	9.5 kt	ESE	27.2°C	29.7°C
Mar	22%	9.4 kt	SE	26.9°C	30°C
Apr	4%	8.9 kt	SSE	26.8°C	30.1°C
May	29%	9.9 kt	SSE	26.2°C	29.4°C
Jun	44%	10.7 kt	SSE	25.1°C	27.9°C
Jul	74%	12.1 kt	SSE	24.7°C	26.8°C
Aug	66%	11.8 kt	SSE	24.7°C	26.9°C
Sep	63%	11.5 kt	SE	25.1°C	27.1°C
Oct	34%	10.5 kt	SE	26.1°C	27.9°C
Nov	20%	9.9 kt	ESE	26.7°C	28.6°C
Dec	14%	9.7 kt	ESE	26.8°C	28.9°C

modelled

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid (2022-2024), not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

ERA5 reanalysis grid point (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical weather API — ECMWF ERA5/ERA5-Land reanalysis, not a ground station · 2022-2024

The water

Type

ocean/river mouth

Standing depth

Shallow and gently shelving over sand, with reef offshore holding the water flat. At low water the sand strip widens, shallow pools open near the reef and banks dry out off the point. What limits where you stand is boat and jet-ski traffic, not depth.No measured profile exists for the pontal.

Tides

Semidiurnal and large by Brazilian standards. On the published tables high water usually falls between 1.8 m and 2.5 m and low water between 0.2 m and 0.9 m, with an extreme spread from about -0.2 m to 2.9 m. The usable water at the point moves with all of it, so fix the session against the tide table first.

Temperature

28°C summer · 26°C winter

Wetsuit

No wetsuit normally needed; warm water year-round.

Currents

Tidal current at the pontal and the Rio Timbó mouth; how strong it gets under a kite is unmeasured.

27–30°C water

Sea and river mouth at the pontal in Maria Farinha, on the Paulista coast; the schools meet at Marina do Pontal and take lessons out from there.

Your level

beginnerintermediatenot for advanceds here

Lessons run from Marina do Pontal with an instructor and safety gear. On your own as a beginner it comes down to the tide, the current and how much beach there is that day.

The scene

What riders come here for

lessonsfreeridefoil

A lesson scene around the marina and the pontal. How many independent riders show up is not documented.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

2 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: Unknown. People clearly rig and ride here; nobody has written down where or how much room there is.

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Itamaracá Kite Point, 6 km

Itamaracá Kite Point Praia de Candeias

Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.

Rescue

Lessons come with an instructor plus helmet and vest. Riding independently there is no rescue on record.

Launch

Kite-school meeting point at Marina do Pontal, Rua Tejipió, Maria Farinha, with beach/pontal access nearby.

Space

Unknown. People clearly rig and ride here; nobody has written down where or how much room there is.

Rules & access

No Paulista municipal ordinance naming kitesurfing was found. What governs the water is the Pernambuco port-captaincy norms: where bathers are present, sail-driven craft must keep off the line of breaking waves, a limit of 100 m in the 2001 edition of those norms; the 2021 revision superseded that edition and its current text could not be read in 2026, so treat 100 m as the floor and not the confirmed figure.

The practical constraints at the point are the marina channel and the Rio Timbó mouth, both worked by boats.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Rider tips

Book through Escola Kitesurf Recife or Vila do Kite and meet at Marina do Pontal on Rua Tejipió; ask them where they rig, because the area is not documented anywhere.
Read the Maria Farinha tide table before you fix a time; the usable pontal area is tide-dependent.
Stay clear of the marina channel and the Rio Timbó mouth: boats use both and the current there has never been measured.
Expect light wind, about 9 knots on the Recife average, so bring a foil or your biggest kite.
Read the Maria Farinha tide table before you fix a time; the usable pontal area is tide-dependent, and spring tides here swing close to three metres.
If the trip is flexible, come between August and January, when the Pernambuco wind is at its most constant.

Getting there

Airport

Recife/Guararapes-Gilberto Freyre International Airport (REC)

Route

Maria Farinha is on the Paulista coast north of Recife, about 40 minutes from REC by taxi, app car, hire car or a booked transfer.

Transfer

40 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Pousadas and apartments in Maria Farinha and Paulista, resorts too, or stay in Recife and drive up.

No-wind days

Veneza Water Park · Maria Farinha Beach · Recife and Olinda sightseeing · catamaran or coastal tours

Photos

Pontal de Maria Farinha vista frontal — DiogoCDuarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

Is Pontal de Maria Farinha suitable for beginners?

Yes, commercial lessons meeting at Marina do Pontal include instructor support, kites, boards, harness, vest and helmet, adapted to rider level.

Are there kite schools or rental?

Yes, lessons run under the name Aulas de Kitesurf Recife Pontal de Maria Farinha, and Escola Kitesurf Recife also holds lessons and demo events here.

What hazards should riders know about?

The pontal is a tidal river-mouth area, so tide-dependent currents, boat traffic, bathers and shallow banks are all relevant.

How do you get to Pontal de Maria Farinha?

The spot is in Paulista, north of Recife, and is reached by taxi, rideshare or rental car, about 40 minutes from Recife's airport.

Last updated: August 2026