Qualla: Itacaré

Itacaré: Introduction

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Deputado Rosemberg from Bahia, Brasil, Public domain. Rua Pedro Longo shuts to cars at four in the afternoon. That is when Itacaré becomes itself. The street fills with barefoot surfers walking home from the break, women selling açaí in plastic cups, a capoeira circle forming in a square, a man with a wooden cart grilling pineapple. This is a small town, about 29,000 people, tucked into a green corner of the Bahian coast where the Contas River meets the Atlantic. It almost died twice. Now it is one of the most alive places in Brazil.

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Image: Deputado Rosemberg from Bahia, Brasil | Public domain

Itacaré: Brazilwood to Cocoa to Surf

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Leandro M800, CC0. The first economic activity here was cutting brazilwood for European dye makers, and the tree that was cut so hard it became scarce is also the tree that gave Brazil its name. During colonial times Itacaré's cassava flour fed the enslaved workers of the Salvador sugar plantations...

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Image: Leandro M800 | CC0

Itacaré: Finding the Waves

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Deputado Rosemberg from Bahia, Brasil, Public domain. What Itacaré had, no one had noticed. The coastline for kilometers north and south of town is a series of small cove-type beaches set between rocky headlands, with Atlantic rainforest pressing right down to the sand. Praia da Concha, Praia Resende, Praia do Tiririca, Praia do Cos...

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Image: Deputado Rosemberg from Bahia, Brasil | Public domain

Itacaré: Capoeira and Carnaval

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Clebsoncjc, CC BY-SA 4.0. Itacaré is one of the strongholds of Bahian culture, and capoeira is at the center of it. Three groups work the town. Luanda, Filhos de Zumbi, and Tribo do Porto hold training sessions that are open to visitors, and their show nights draw crowds that spill into the streets. Capoe...

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Image: Clebsoncjc | CC BY-SA 4.0

Itacaré: At the Edge of the Forest

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Deputado Rosemberg from Bahia, Brasil, Public domain. Just west of town, the Serra do Conduru State Park preserves one of the largest remaining patches of southern Bahian Atlantic rainforest, a biome that has lost roughly ninety percent of its original extent in Brazil. The park holds jaguars, golden-headed lion tamarins, and a dens...

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Image: Deputado Rosemberg from Bahia, Brasil | Public domain

Itacaré: Getting There, Staying There

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Deputado Rosemberg from Bahia, Brasil, Public domain. Itacaré is seventy kilometers north of Ilhéus, reached by the BR-001 highway. From Ilhéus airport, the bus or a shared van takes under two hours on a road that winds through hills and creek crossings. From Salvador, the cheapest route is the Bom Despacho ferry and then a five-hou...

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Image: Deputado Rosemberg from Bahia, Brasil | Public domain