Cabo Frio in Brazil

Cabo Frio vies with Porto Seguro for the title of Brazil's first city. The navigator Amerigo Vespucci landed here in 1503 and returned to Portugal with a boatload of

. Since the wood in these parts was of better quality than that further north, the area subsequently became the target for loggers from France, the Netherlands and England. The Portuguese failed to capitalize on their colony here and it was the French who established the first defended settlement. Eventually the Portuguese took it by force but it was not until the second decade of the 17th century that they planned their own fortification, the

, which was started in 1618 on the foundations of the French fort. It is now a ruin at the mouth of the Canal de Itajuru, with rusting cannons propped up against its whitewashed ramparts. The canal connects Lagoa Araruama with the ocean.

The town beach,

, is highly developed and stretches south for about 7.5 km to Arraial do Cabo, its name changing to

(after the dunes) and

. These waters are much more suited to surfing. North of the canal entrance and town is the small under-developed beach of

(popular with surfers and naturists) and the wine-glass bay of

, which has a few shack restaurants. Next is

, 7 km of surf and sand on the open sea with a small town behind it and cheap accommodation. The best dunes are at Peró, Dama Branca (on road to Arraial) and the Pontal dunes at Praia do Forte.