Ceará (Brazil)

Cumbuco keeps its word without theatrics: from August to December the trade wind arrives in the morning, firms up through the afternoon into the 15–22 knot band, and stays with you until the light goes — day after day, a steadiness that anyone raised on Europe's on-again, off-again wind takes a while to trust. The land does the rest. The sea is choppy, good for jumping, while a few kilometres north the Cauípe Lagoon offers its exact opposite: water like glass, shallow, a sand bottom, where beginners find their footing and those crossing over to wing or foil meet the most forgiving stage in Brazil. Constancy has its price, and here the price is company: by late morning the lagoon fills. This is a spot for repetition, for stacking hours against a wind you can count on — and at that, it does better than almost anywhere.