Last year I went on a road trip along Brazil’s northeast coast, driving from Lagoinha all the way down to Natal, along 540 miles of absolutely stunning coast. (The roads weren’t quite as stunning–I’ll be glad when the big World Cup infrastructure fund fills in all those pot holes.)

This week, our roving Latin America editor, Lee Harrison, is taking his own Brazilian road trip–and it makes mine look like a walk to the store. Lee is driving from his home in Uruguay to his new vacation home on one of Brazil’s tropical islands, Itamaraca.

I don’t envy Lee all that time behind the wheel. But I sure would like to be with him on his trip–this part of Brazil is something special.

I’ve kept in touch with many of the contacts I made on that trip last year, and every so often one of them teases me with details of a property currently for sale.

Here’s a few recent favorites–all for less than $100,000 (sometimes a lot less):

Recife. The most noted upscale beach district in Recife is called Boa Viagem, which stretches for several miles in front of a row of luxury apartments and hotels. Avenida Boa Viagem is the beachfront road, and it’s wide, fast, clean, and well-maintained. Sparkling clean with white sand that’s groomed nightly, this beach seems to collect most of the city’s foreign visitors. A beautiful two-story, two-bedroom house here with air-conditioning, communal garden, off-road parking in a gated complex has an asking price of $30,500. It’s 655 feet from the beach.

Olinda’s small, winding, cobblestone streets, great restaurants, and fantastic views of old Portuguese churches and colonial architecture provide a nice contrast to the beach scene. Green and leafy, it’s extremely popular among Brazilian travelers as well as international visitors (the photo above is Olinda). Sitting directly on the beach of Olinda is an attractive five-bedroom, four-bathroom house, with over 3,200 square feet of living space inside, plus two porches outside. Built in 1984, it also includes a two car garage and maids quarters for the asking price of $92,000.

Itamaraca. On the same island as Lee’s new vacation home, one of the most memorable properties is an apartment on the beach. It has a gorgeous beach view looking south down the shoreline and great views from the back of the apartment looking inland towards the hills of Itamaracá. Edifício Diplomato, on São Paulo Beach, is one of very few apartment buildings on the island. The apartment, which has three bedrooms and three bathrooms, earns $840 during the week of Carnevale…and that week alone would just about pay for your cost of ownership. Asking price is $31,500.

Acaú is yet another beach town with great property prices. A perfect little beachfront cottage here, sitting directly on the beach, built of gleaming dark wood, inside and out, has two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, and living room, all with tropical wood detail. There is a large, covered front porch and spacious front yard complete with tropical fruit trees. Asking price: $33,600.

Jenipabu is a town of about 500 full-time residents, and the city has just approved plans to renovate the public beach area and add a boardwalk. The beach itself is one of the nicest in Brazil. The town has all the basics, and is clean and safe…and only 15 minutes from Natal via the new bridge. Right in Jenipabu–only 30 yards from the wonderful city beach–is a large house with huge wrap-around terraces from which to enjoy outdoor living and almost half an acre of tropical gardens out back. Inside, the house offers six spacious rooms with natural ventilation. Asking price: $84,000.

You can find out more about these real estate opportunities (and 35 others) in the report Brazil‘s Top 40 Beachfront Deals–for Less Than $100,000.

The report comes free with our Ultimate Brazil Kit. If you want instant access to everything we’ve learned about Brazil in the last year, including full details on all the properties I mentioned above…plus the huge new Brazil Owner’s Manual…plus audio recordings from Ronan McMahon, Lee Harrison, and others talking about the hottest beachfront deals in this part of Brazil right now…all for just $69…then you should sign up for the Ultimate Brazil Kit with this link.

Len Galvin
Managing Editor, IL Postcards