Beaches of Salvador de Bahia

In Salvador de Bahía the sea is a constant presence, although not all coastal neighborhoods have good beaches, mainly due to the numerous rock formations of much of the north coast. Below description and location on map of some of the most important and interesting beaches of the Bahian capital:

Piscinas naturales en playa de Barra

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Porto da Barra ( View on satellite map )

Playa de Itapuã

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One of the most beautiful urban beaches in Brazil, located at the end of the neighborhood of Barra, natural pools as in the beach of Farol da Barra, and the city that begins to divide in high and low part from its right side growing vertical . Street vendors rent lounge chairs and umbrellas, and sell canned beer, pay attention to which they buy and try to keep the account with only one to avoid confusion and misunderstandings when paying.

Playa de Porto da Barra - Salvador de Bahía

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Farol da Barra ( View on satellite map )

Playa Stella Maris - Salvador de Bahía

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Named for its historic lighthouse standing on a fort, which is one of the icons of Salvador, the beach of Farol da Barra is the main beach of the district of Barra, one of the neighborhoods with the largest number of hotels and tourist presence in the city. , the beach has reefs that cut the sea forming natural pools of warm water, it is very nice its sunset over the sea in the part of the beach that goes to the right of the lighthouse and before the fort of Santa María, border with the beach of Porto da Barra

Playa de Ondina - Salvador de Bahía

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Ondina ( View on satellite map )

Playa y faro de Barra - Salvador de Bahía

Foto de Eduardo de São Paulo - CC 2.0 By

Continuing north along the coast. Ondina is the beach of one of the emblematic hotels of the city, the Othon Palace, depending on the tide the sea is calm or rough.

Pituba ( View on satellite map )

Going towards Itapuã along the north coast of Salvador, Pituba is one of the most extensive beaches, with waves and suitable for surfing, recently reformed.

Itapuã Beach ( View on satellite map )

Itapuã is a mythical beach of Salvador de Bahia, one of the last before leaving the perimeter of the city towards Lauro de Freitas , it is famous for being the great Bohemian stronghold of the 70s, it sang Vinicius de Moraes and the great Bahian singer Dorival Caymmi, also honored Caetano Veloso in his beautiful song Itapuã whose lyrics say: "She was my guide when I was cheerful and young". It is a delight to have a few cold beers with friends until sunset in a bar near the lighthouse of Itapuã, with the city in the distance on one side and the lighthouse turning red as the afternoon falls. Of course, try to leave the beach before it gets dark because the beach of Itapuã is not completely safe when it gets dark, and there are marginal people waiting for the night to steal the tourists who stay after dark. After the beach, eating an acarajé( see bahianas de acarajé ) at the post of the bahiana Cira , is another classic of Salvador.

Stella Maris ( View on satellite map )
Passing Itapuã, it is a beautiful beach with reefs and palm trees.

Flamengo ( View on satellite map )

The last beach of Salvador towards the north coast, almost reaching Lauro de Freitas , is the least urban of the beaches of Salvador, an outline of what we can find moving further north in beaches like Arembepe ( View on satellite map ) and Praia do Forte ( View on satellite map ).

The beaches of Salvador and their outlawed barracks

Many of the beaches on the north coast of Salvador, from Ondina and until Flamengo , had numerous bars/restaurants on the beach, these have recently been outlawed by court decision Because they were occupying an area(the beach) belonging to the municipality, therefore the majority has been demolished in recent months, the municipality of Salvador has a project that aims to revitalize the coast and tender the installation of establishments on the coast but off the beach.

Personally, I consider that this decision takes away from the traveler one of the things we like most about the beaches of Brazil, such as eating or drinking on the beach itself, close to the sea and feeling the sand under our bare feet; Those who still want to enjoy something like this in Salvador, should go out of range of the bulldozers of the municipality, to Lauro de Freitas , cross to Itaparica , or search with a magnifying glass beach barrack that has not been demolished thanks to some appeal for protection.

Brazil currently wants to show itself to the world as a totally civilized country. Surely they will build a beautiful promenade bordering the beaches of Salvador, and fill the coast with first class restaurants in the best Miami style; But it is worth asking: Is that kind of impersonality what we want to see when we travel to Brazil? I know that the controls on the installation of these establishments are necessary, but it can not be denied that the Brazilian informality is sometimes a central attraction for many of the travelers, often because of small informalities, of things that do not work perfectly, is that Brazil has become synonymous with happiness and relaxation for those who come from abroad; especially for those who come from a developed, civilized and hyper formal world; with beautiful boulevards, expensive restaurants and buses that always arrive on time, and with high rates of suicides and Clonazepam abuse.

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