Originally Posted by debzor

Hi Paul - we were actually staying at the Monte Pascoal Praia hotel on Barra beach (I can pass on contact name for excellent rates if anyone wants), which I cannot fault - it was excellent. However the hotel was let down by the city in general.

I agree with all your comments, and I can see why First Choice send their people up the coast a few miles (50+). There are some excellent restaurants, bars, etc, but there is a constant seedy underside that you only really appreciate when walking along the seafront - answer - take taxis everywhere!

I also found the "traders" much more aggressive, despite speaking a little Portuguese (and being in the company of Brazilians), however the official tourism (buses, etc) were very reasonable, and unbelieveably the lift down to the port area was just R$0.05 each way!!!

Great football matches every morning on the beach outside the hotel (just like Sundays back home!), but we actually wanted to come up to Fortaleza but could not find reasonable flights. Maybe next time...

Oh my incident was just down the road from Barra away from the lighthouse, on Ondina beach, past some of the big hotels near a handful of beach bars. But my fault entirely...