The cheapest island tour one can get here is by using the city’s public transportation system. The buses can take you nearly everywhere with reasonable comfort. The system is not perfect, though. Rates are expensive for locals and there aren’t many frequent buses, especially during weekends. Many protests have been going on and recently there was a fierce battle between students and the police. As a Lagoa resident, Daniela beach is a far destination for me and to the North there are only 3 departures on Sunday. I haven’t been to this location yet so I thought about using the public system to test it on Sunday and meet this new location. I got the 12:30 bus from Lagoa terminal reaching the Canasvieiras terminal at about 13:20. The terminals are like major hubs connecting the existing lines.

The first problem: there weren’t any buses going to Daniela beach from Canasvieiras on Sundays. In this case I would have to go to Santo Antonio terminal and then get another bus to Daniela from there. Then a second one: I would need to wait for an hour to get the bus. Luckily, I had a good book “The Servant, by James C. Hunter”, an excellent tale about the true essence of leadership. The reading was good so the second problem wasn’t a problem at all. I finally got the bus to Daniela, going down and back up again and passing Jurerê twice. Well that’s the way they run the system.

I have always had some prejudice about Daniela beach for the fact I thought it was a place for families and BBQs but at least on this Sunday it was far from the truth.

A local resident told me it was a quiet place most of the time and even during summer it doesn’t get much crowded. As soon as I stepped on the sand I started my beach walk. There were few people and the wind was blowing quite strong making a ruffle sea. The location is quite interesting. It is a long tip, like a thin peninsula ( also called Pontal beach), going for about 2km of sand and vegetation with calm sheltered waters and nice views of the continent and mountains. Despite the fact of having many houses the place is not so developed, having a small commerce and absence of front beach constructions. Most of the houses are owned by people who use it only during weekends and summer vacations.

The end of the tip is quite amazing. You can spot the 2 Ratones islands, the Santo Antônio dos Ratones fort and also the city with the Hercilio Luz bridge. In the other side you have the Mangrove following the tip, meeting a river mouth at the end. A sat down for a while and enjoyed the view.

After a couple minutes contemplating the scenery I took my way back accompanied by the setting sun. I was happy about my decision of coming down here despite the long journey. In the bus stop I knew it was going to be a long way home but I pretended I had a private driver so I could just sit and relax. This is a good thought to go bed with.

“If you don’t change the direction, you will end up exactly where you started.” - Chinese proverb