These days, most visitors stay in the southern beach neighbourhood of Ponta Negra, 12km from the center. It is a striking location, overlooked by fantastic dunes, and with steady surf and some great nightlife in the Alto de Ponta Negra area. Natal's Carnatal (out-of-season Carnival), at the beginning of December, draws huge crowds from all over Brazil, and is a much bigger deal here than Carnival itself.
