Hostels and cheap hotels in Saquarema

Saquerema, 100km east of Rio, is a smaller town in a beautiful natural setting, squeezed between the sea and its sixteen-kilometre-long lagoon, retaining vestiges of its origins as a fishing village. Local anti-pollution legislation means that the environment still sustains much wildlife, including the microleão monkey which you may be able to glimpse on a walk into the nearby forests. Saquerema has a healthy agricultural sector, too, based on fruit cultivation, and orchards surround the town. The main business nowadays, though, is holiday-making: you'll find holiday homes, art and craft shops and young surfers here in abundance. Saquerema is widely rated as second only to Florianópolis as Brazil's surfing capital, and the Praia de Itaúna , 3km from town, is a favourite with the surfers, who gather every year for the National Championship in mid-May. A strong undertow makes its waters potentially dangerous for the casual swimmer, so if you want to swim without struggling against the currents head instead for the Praia da Vila , where the seventeenth-century church, Nossa Senhora de Nazaré (daily 8am-5pm), stands on the rocky promontory. For fishing, the Praia de Jaconé is a popular haunt, stretching 4km west of Saquerema. Hostels in Saquarema