Cupe Beach

Cupe Beach is in Ipojuca (PE), between the Vila de Porto de Galinhas (the village center of Porto de Galinhas) to the south and Muro Alto to the north, about 5 km from the Vila. It is 4 to 5 km long, with open sea and waves along most of its length. At the Pontal do Cupe, shallow natural pools form at low tide. Resorts and hotels are concentrated along the beachfront.

Where it is and how to get there

Access is via the PE-009, the same highway that leads to the Vila and to Muro Alto. Recife International Airport is about 45 km away, and the beach's hotels give distances of between 48 and 57 km, depending on the spot. From the Vila it is 15 to 30 minutes by car.

• Car, Uber or taxi: to get to the Pontal, enter "Bar da Praia Pontal do Cupe" in your GPS. Parking at the Pontal cost R$ 20 in September 2025.
• Bus: lines 191 and 195 connect Recife to Porto de Galinhas via the PE-009. To reach the sand at Cupe, finish the trip by car or ride-hailing app.
• Buggy: the "ponta a ponta" (end to end) buggy tour stops at the Pontal do Cupe.

Pontal do Cupe and natural pools

The Pontal do Cupe is a strip of sand that juts out into the sea, within the beach itself. You reach it over the sand, with no need for a jangada, a traditional sail raft. With the tide near 0 m, a reef barrier holds back the waves and forms a shallow natural pool with clear water and fish. At high tide the strip of sand almost disappears and waves can form.

Go around the time of low tide and check the day's tide table; the nearest official Brazilian Navy tide table is the one for the Port of Suape. At the Pontal, masks, water shoes and transparent kayaks are sold and rented; the transparent kayak cost about R$ 100 in 2025.

Sea, waves and surfing

Except for the Pontal at low tide, Cupe is an open-sea beach, with waves, holes and currents in several stretches, some of them marked as unsafe for swimming. The difference from Muro Alto is significant: there, a 4.7 km reef forms an extensive pool; at Cupe, calm water is limited to the Pontal.

The beach is popular for surfing and hosted a stage of the Dream Tour in May 2024. The Salvamar de Ipojuca lifeguards work from 5:30 to 17:00, with flags marking the areas with currents. People drowned in currents at Cupe in 2022 and in 2024, in both cases in marked areas.

What to do

• Swimming and snorkeling in the Pontal pools at low tide.
• Surfing, for those who already have experience.
• Buggy tour: in September 2025, a buggy for up to 4 people cost R$ 400 (4 hours), R$ 450 (6 hours) or R$ 600 (8 hours).
• Day pass at Bar da Praia Pontal do Cupe: R$ 30 per person in 2025, from 8:00 to 17:00, with parking charged separately.
• Day pass at Club de Plage Cupe, another beach club facing the natural pools. Confirm the price and hours before you go.

Where to stay

Cupe's beachfront has resorts and hotels such as Vivá, The Westin, Village, Armação, Marupiara, Enotel and Ocaporã, the last one on the Pontal do Cupe, as well as smaller places such as Pousada Tabapitanga and Tabaobí Smart Hotel. Summerville, Nannai and Samoa are in Muro Alto. Because the sea is rougher, Cupe works well as a base for your stay, with swimming at the Pontal, in the Vila or in Muro Alto.

Facilities

Outside the hotels and gated communities, there are few facilities on the sand: few beach kiosks on the open stretch, almost no restaurants right on the sand and a lack of public restrooms. Travelers report renting beach umbrellas for about R$ 50. Avenida Marupiara has restaurants and a small grocery store. For restaurants and nightlife, head to the Vila.

Precautions

• Only go into the sea where there are lifeguards, and follow the flags. There is no lifeguard coverage after 17:00. Emergency: Bombeiros (fire and rescue), 193.
• When the tide is rising, do not stay on sandbanks far from the beach.
• Manatees: on September 30, 2026, beachgoers surrounded and touched a manatee at Cupe. ICMBio treats this as an environmental offense, subject to a fine. Keep your distance.
• Sea turtles nest at Cupe. Respect the nesting areas.
• Do not feed the fish in the natural pools.
• Ipojuca is outside the 33 km stretch, between Paiva and Olinda, that CEMIT classifies as at risk of shark incidents, and there is no record of an incident in the municipality.

When to go

According to APAC, it rains most from April to June, with May and June the rainiest months, and the dry season in eastern Pernambuco starts in September. For the Pontal, the best time is around low tide; for swimming in general, choose the period when lifeguards are on duty, until 17:00.