Macau (Praia de Soledade)

About This Spot

Remote flat-water spot on the salt-pan coast of northern Rio Grande do Norte, centered on Praia de Soledade just outside the town of Macau (the regional 'Land of Salt'). It's a tiny village (~300 people) roughly 2.5h / ~165–180 km NW of Natal airport, so you come here for empty water, not nightlife. The riding area is a vast lagoon-like flat filled by the ocean, dotted with sandbars, sand islands and mangroves — genuinely flat, sheltered water that's ideal for learning, improving and freestyle/foil cruising. Step outside the protected zone and you get small waves and natural ramps for jumping. It suits everyone from first-timers and improvers not yet riding upwind to independent freestylers; some wave riding is possible but it's not a wave spot. Wind: SE–E trade winds, season roughly September to March, with mornings typically calm and wind filling in from around 10:00, building through the afternoon and often holding to sunset. Locals rate Macau ~5 knots stronger on average than nearby São Miguel do Gostoso, so expect reliable, punchy side/side-onshore wind in peak months — solid 12–17m weather early season trending windier later. Tides matter a lot: at low tide the lagoons shrink (shallow, exposed sandbanks and salt-flat edges) but stay rideable; mid-to-high tide gives proper depth for kite/wing foiling. Hazards: very shallow areas and hard sandbars at low water, mangrove channels and river mouths, working salt evaporation ponds (salinas) inland, and remoteness — gear repair and rescue are hard, so ride conservative and self-sufficient. Crowds are essentially nil. Macau is also a classic stop on the Gostoso→Galinhos→Macau→Ponta do Mel→Icapuí downwind safari, usually run at intermediate level.