Lets get a few things straight..I have just spent five days up the coast and been everywhere right to Touros 100km north of Natal.

Firstly, the new bridge really is the road to nowhere, unless that is you live in Rendinha otherwise forget it being any help to the North resorts...why because there's a blooming great sand dune North of Rendinha at Praia de Rita which you cant cross to go north unless you have a buggy and the tide is out! otherwise you cross the bridge north or south and have to turn inland to the old road 101 which runs over the old brdige at North Natal! Maracajau is 50 minutes in a Porsche 911 to Ponta Negra on a clear day with no traffic and as you have to use the old 101 for reasons explained above...you may as well cross the old bridge..or you can turn inland towards Rendinha cross the bridge and run the gauntlet of "Happy Hour Police checks" for Gringos on the Via Costeira.

Banking, from 5 km over the old bridge in Natal north there isnt another Bank or Cashpoint r ATM for you Americans for 90km! Yes I said 90km...so change your money at the airport..or starve.

Food drink and entertainment.....north of Genipabu and over the river by raft yes raft...there isnt a bar or restaurant serving tourists that opens after 4 pm! Yes I said 4pm! I have just had 5 late lunches and breakfast thats it...take some cards or monopoly with you as there is nothing else to do after sundown!

Will thigs improve....give it at least 5 years!

Is there potential...yes in my view...but add at least an extra five years onto your projections...would I rent there for a holiday..not for at least 5 years.

Could I find any resorts only Jacuma Beach marketing suite and signs..otherwise nothing at all..not a poster nothing. I found a very friendly local millionaire in Maracjau that took me up the coast by buggy..good job there are no roads to any of the existing or started developments...is there stuff there not much but a few signs of life....will prices explode...yes in 2015-2020! In the meantime...buy when finished as at present off plan and off the radar.

Thanks for the info about the bridge, Golfing.
It does not surprise me at all.
Last time I was there it just before the opening and everything was still pending.

Well, that is what I said, the Northern shore is beautiful indeed ut forget about rentals yields or a cosmopolitan way of life. It is just mumbo jumbo

Lets get a few things straight - Your information about the bridge is incorrect.

Start out at Camaroes Restaurant on Roberto Freire (just to pick somewhere well known and central), drive to where the two roads (from old bridge and new bridge) meet and you will save about 20-30 mins going via the new bridge. Even if you don't save that much now, you do compared to before the new bridge opened. (I did it the day before the bridge opened and two hours after the bridge opened and we still made better time - even with half of Natal trying to be the first to cross the bridge)

By the way, that little gem of information follows your preferred choice of information gathering as well as my own. Lots of research and asking everyone I met in Brasil, from every Taxi driver I used to hotel staff, people I met in restaurants and bars, developers, builders, agents, buggy drivers and friends who live out there.

I visited Jacuma Beach too (superb location), I personally visited 6 other developments which are already under construction between Natal and Touros. Some are better than others. Some I wouldn't go near with a bargepole, some I'd recommend as good investments. But saying Jacuma Beach is the one and only development in the north which has started construction? No. Possibly the only one with the best marketing team - props to them. Jacuma is also very unique in style. But it's not the only one to have started.

That's why you should consider using an agent who has researched, visited and knows the sites of what is being built and what isn't. Developers build developments - they aren't marketing specialists - which is why most prefer to sell to the general public through agents who have the experience in marketing their products. A lot of developments are off the beaten track and can't be found unless you know where you are looking and/or are taken there to see them.

Not many of the developments have roads which are finished leading to their front door - correct. Why build a road for tractors and heavy machinery to access the building site - so that the road can be destroyed and you have to build it again when the project is complete? Waste of resources and your investment partners would shoot you in the head. A finished road is one of the last things to go into a development.

Your information about banks and cashpoints is correct. Either Natal or Touros I believe. Restaurant info correct too as far as I know although not 100% sure. That is probably why most off-plan developments include a restaurant and bar and other facilities. The good news is, as Brazil is so cheap, you aren't exactly driving around with millions of Euros in your pocket.

Next time you head up to the north coast, have lunch in any of the amazingly affordable restaurants on the beach, toes dipped in the sand, enjoying the sun - right hand cupping a caipirinha while your left hand picks at the dish of lobster, prawns, Mero, pineapple and salad. But make sure you went to the bank before you left Natal though, that meal of fresh delicacies will set you back around 7.5 Euros (around 5.5 GBP). After spending that much, you'd best run back to Natal at full speed to fill up your wallet again. (/sarcasmoff)

However, while we disagree with each other as to the point of view we use to look at the facts, we agree with some of the facts, (I don't agree with the bridge being pointless or the fact that no developments have started to be built).

Amazingly enough though, we agree with each other finally that investors who are counting on a timeframe of at least 5 years when investing in Brazil can actually buy select property and feel comfortable with their investments. I'm delighted to hear you now agree with us! Welcome to the club!

Now all we need to do is agree that conditions are ripe for a new airport to be built and we won't have anything to chat about!!

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Yes, I work for a Real Estate company doing market research and analysis but I'm not involved in sales.

Have a nice day

This is the view I had to put up with last week whilst I was drinking a caipafruta which I decided I would have with cashew fruit, lime and cachasa, all this while I was waiting for a very nice Brazilian take on a Caribbean curry (prawns, fresh mango and pawpaw, plus lots of cinnamon sticks).

Cost R$ 14 for the curry, plus R$ 6 for the drink. Total = R$ 20 or £ 5.80 or € 7.60. This is in Pipa which is an established tourist town with lots of infrastructure.

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Brazil Property | Pipa Brazil

However do you survive without an atm or visa point though? Heh - just re-read your post - they have atm's and visa in Pipa

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Yes, I work for a Real Estate company doing market research and analysis but I'm not involved in sales.

Have a nice day

They have 3 atm's now that can handle foreign cards! The point of the post was that good food at great prices is available in all sorts of places in Brazil. Just like anywhere else it pays to avoid the tourist traps....

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Brazil Property | Pipa Brazil

I nearly forgot JM, in case you miss Spain they have a deli in Pipa that has pata negra for sale!!

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Brazil Property | Pipa Brazil

Talking of ATM's, I was with a friend here the other day who said that visa are starting to limit the amount of cash you can withdraw at any one time (even from the favourite haunt of ex pats - the airport) - down to the local daily limit of R$1000.

Anyone else come across this - it might mean travellers bringing more cash with them than they had originally planned.

Not only that, but the big restaurant at the entrance to town? Lampiao? Go in there and call out "Viva Sporting" and you'll have the owner chasing you out at full speed. I had the chance to tease him while I was there as I lived near the Sporting stadium (Estádio de Alvalade) in Lisbon for several years.

Lampiao was the name of a vigilante in NE Brasil a long time ago, but it's also the name given to the Benfica supporters (top Portuguese football clubs are Sporting, Benfica and Porto).

In the restaurant you have a mural depicting Lampiao the Vigilante on one wall and on the other you have a Benfica flag. Like any good Portuguese restaurant, it's cheap, good food and as well as many traditional Brazilian dishes there there are also several traditional Portuguese (like Bacalhau a Brás, Bacalhau a Gomes de Sá, and others).

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Yes, I work for a Real Estate company doing market research and analysis but I'm not involved in sales.

Have a nice day

I have always had a limit per transaction at hsbc of R$1k or R$600 at Bradesco, but I just keep putting my card back in until I get what I want.

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Brazil Property | Pipa Brazil