Maragogi reef-front apartment

Maragogi is the centre of the Costa dos Corais, the longest continuous coral reef system in the South Atlantic, protected as a marine environmental area for a hundred and thirty kilometres between Alagoas and Pernambuco. At low tide, catamarans take you two kilometres out to the galés — natural pools of clear water over living coral where you can stand waist deep in the middle of the ocean. It is the single best snorkelling on the Brazilian mainland.

The apartment is a ninety square metre ground-floor unit in a low-rise condominio a street back from Praia de Maragogi: two bedrooms (one en suite), two bathrooms, an open living-kitchen and a private paved terrace with a garden gate. The building has a pool, gardens, barbecue area, lift, twenty-four-hour porteria and a parking space, with condominium fees that are low by Brazilian standards. Air conditioning in both bedrooms, ceramic floors, fitted kitchen and laundry. Eighty metres to the sand.

Maragogi town has grown up around the reef trips but remains a manageable size: a seafront avenue of restaurants and pousadas, a fishing harbour, supermarkets, banks, pharmacies and a hospital. Alagoan food is worth the trip on its own — sururu stew, agulha frita, fresh lobster and the sweetest pineapple in Brazil. The coast either side, from Japaratinga to Sao Miguel dos Milagres, is coconut groves, sandbanks and manatee sanctuaries.

Climate here is hot and humid year round, twenty-six to thirty-two degrees, with the rainy season from April to July. The sea sits near twenty-eight degrees, and inside the reef it is flat and calm — this is a swimming and paddling coast rather than a surfing one, which suits families.

Purchase follows the usual Brazilian route: CPF, lawyer, matricula check, ITBI and registration at the cartorio. In condominios also review the convention, the reserve fund and the fee history. Maceio international airport is roughly two hours south and Recife two hours north, both with direct European and domestic connections, so the property is realistically lettable in high season and easy to reach the rest of the year.