Pipa Beach

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Pipa Beach is a village and beach in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. It is situated in the municipality of Tibau do Sul, about 84 km south of the capital of the state, Natal.

[edit] History

The first maps of the coastline drawn by Portuguese settlers, refer to Pipa Beach as Orotapiry, or "White man's village." In 1626, the beach became known as Itacoatiara, meaning "the painted cliff," later becoming Ponta do Cabo Verde ("Green Headland"), and is now Praia da Pipa, or "Pipa Beach."

Pipa was a small fishing village until the 1970s. Then, it was found by surfers and backpackers, who were attracted by a set of natural attributes rarely found even in other Brazilian beaches: crystal-clear waters, white fine sand, areas of preserved Atlantic Forest, 10-meter-high vertical cliffs, and a very friendly population.

After the Brazilians, it was the foreign visitors who discovered Pipa, which grew very fast. Soon, it became not only one of the most popular beaches in Brazil, but also one of the most cosmopolitan.

Today, many businesses in Pipa are ran by foreigners who came to visit it and decided to stay; Pipa, still small in area (expansion is limited by law, with the creation of Environmental Protected Areas around the village), is one of the beaches in Brazil with highest densities of hotels, restaurants, night houses and other tourism-oriented businesses.

Success has also brought problems to the community. The large influx of visitors and new dwellers was not matched by investments in infrastructure. Transit is slow, public sewerage is non-existent, prices are high and, despite attempts of protection by law, the environment is being hit.