Recife's main beach district, a long strip of high-rise apartment blocks running south from the centre along an Atlantic frontage of pale sand and reef. Boa Viagem is where most visitors stay: hotels, restaurants, a paved promenade, and an offshore reef that creates calm shallow pools at low tide.
The reef is also a reminder that swimming here is restricted in many places — shark warnings on the beach are real, and locals stick to the patrolled zones. The neighbourhood has the city's best concentration of mid-range and upscale restaurants and is the safest place to walk after dark.