<<< Back to Home << Back to Tourism in Brazil < Back to Beaches Brazilian beaches - Porto de Galinhas All about Porto de Galinhas. « Click Here Porto de Galinhas means Port of Chickens; during the 18th century, when the traffic of slaves was forbidden, "chicken" was the code used to refer to the slaves. "There are new chickens in town" was the way to say that a ship loaded with slaves had arrived. Until a few years ago, Porto de Galinhas was an anonymous small village of fishermen; today, it's a famous small village of fishermen. Many of the locals still make a living out of the catches they get from the sea, the coconuts which abound in the palm tree plantations, the small commerce businesses. Around the 1990s, some Brazilian celebrities (TV stars, sportsmen, politicians) discovered this place; from the social/gossip sections, Porto de Galinhas moved to the tourism section of major newspapers and magazines. Being close (around 60 km) to Recife, it was easy for travel operators to include a one-day trip to Porto; soon, the beautiness of the place was widespread, and today Porto de Galinhas is one of the most important tourist destination in Brazil. The village is still small. No more than a couple of streets, laid out in a maze-like grid. Every house which was barely large enough was turned into a hostel. There are several restaurants, shops (mostly beach wear), car rentals, agencies operating tours to the neighbourhoods. The beach front is fully taken by hotels, with (few) restaurants in between. Recently, some large groups have invested in luxurious hotels; check out, for example, Summerville and Nannai. The beach line is 18 km long, all with white, fine grained, clean sand. There is a chain of reefs lining all along the coast. During the lower tide, the water trapped by the reefs forms several natural pools; tourists can swim, dive and feed the fishes. Porto de Galinhas is about 60 km south of Recife. Many visitors come in package tours and are picked up at the airport in Recife and driven straight to Porto. Packages (including flights and half-board lodging) starting from Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have prices comparable to the price of flight tickets alone. The village gets crowded during high seasons, with tourists and residents of Recife, who are attracted by the night life of Porto. Read more: All about Porto de Galinhas. Porto de Galinhas Very informative site, in Portuguese only. Information about beaches, hotels, tours, nature, etc. Check out the tab "Informações" to see a map and prices estimates. Guide of Porto Several photos of the city and links to hotels. Back to Top