Maceio Alagoas Brazil

Driving into Meceio for the first time down the coast road from the north you could be forgiven for thinking that you have just entered some strange time warp and ended up in Miami the downtown beach strip is so modern clean and beautiful.
Maceió is a growing destination among Brazilian and foreign visitors it has wonderful beaches, and the colour of sea varies from emerald green to blue, but the water is always clear. The sand is white and there are a lot of coconut plantations. This natural beauty combines with its modern urban coast, with a lot of hotels, restaurants and bars. The scenery é inviting and attracts Brazilian and foreign tourists during all over the year.

If you add up all the factors that make a great coastal region in the northeast of Brazil—things like clarity of the water, variety of beaches, nightlife options, charm, safety, quality, and variety of food, and so on—Maceió may very well come out in the top position. Surprised? Most travellers are when they see what the Maceió region has to offer. The city itself sits in the middle of the Alagoas coastline with almost 200 kilometres of coast to the north and south. The water in Maceió is surprisingly blue and clear and it gets even better as you go farther north or south. The coastline is loaded with reefs that break the incoming tide (making the surf on the beaches both calm and warm) and provide great snorkelling and scuba diving areas—among the best in the country.

Some of the remote beaches are nearly deserted while others have options for tourists, like beach bars, restaurants, boat excursions, and hotels. What’s best about this region is that it’s not as “discovered” as some other places in the northeast—so you’ll find fewer crowds, lower prices, and better overall conditions. Highlights include the Pajuçara Beach and its offshore reefs in the city of Maceió itself Like the entire northeast coast of Brazil, Maceió is best visited just before peak season, September–December. Peak season in Maceió is not as packed as in other locations, so you might even find the summer months (December–February) agreeable, although prices do go up, and reservations are a must.

A steam train locomotive ploughing strait through the market in Maceio.  ©Photo courtesy of Jeanette Bolle. April 2009 

The best part of Maceio has to be the  Artesanato (Craftsmanship) Market and the street markets that surround it and while in the area walk through the fish and meat market. The whole area is so vibrant, colourful and lively. Most tourists miss this side of the city preferring the beach and modern shopping malls.

There is plenty of parking in the area look for estacionamento they charge around 2 to 3 R$ for a morning in a securer lot. However if you are not a fan of driving through the small street, park at the beach and take a taxi, they are cheap and never difficult to find

Also not to be missed are the Umbanda shops with their porcelain status of the deities  of this fascinating religion. Try and find Casa de Um Banda at Caboclo 7 Flecha it’s just up the street from the railway crossing at the Artesanato market, go in and talk to Jean he will be pleased to see you and tell you all about his religion and if you ask him nicely he will let you take as many pictures as you like.    

Umbanda is a religion blends Catholicism Spiritualism and Afro-Brazilian religions . It originated in Brazil in the early 20th century through a medium, Zélio Fernandino de Moraes, who worked among the Afro-Brazilian population of Rio de Janeiro. It has since spread across Brazil and is very popular in Alagoas The term "Umbanda" derives from Kimbundu, an Angolan language, and means "religious practitioners".
Umbanda is a religion based on the worship of Angolan spirits, brought to Brazil by the African slaves during the colonial period, and on elements drawn from Brazilian popular culture. Additionally, Orixás, from the Yoruba pantheon, are given token rule over the various legions of spirits and are associated with a Catholic saint under whose guidance the spirits work. This association started during the time when the African slaves in Brazil were persecuted by their owners for practicing their religion. The solution they found was to hide the original worshipping objects that represented the spiritual entities under different Catholic saint statues in order to give the slave owners the impression that they were worshipping that saint, which had the same personality or qualities of the worshipped entity.