Taipus de Fora

Taipus de Fora, Maraú Peninsula, Bahia

Taipus de Fora beach, Maraú Peninsula, Bahia

At the other side of the Peninsula do Maraú, there´s the Taipus de Fora beach, facing the Atlantic Ocean. 

Taipus de Fora beach, Maraú Peninsula, Bahia

With stronger waves and a bit colder water, this open-sea beach attracts young people, some surfers and hosts some expensive inns.

Seawater temperature in Bahia is perfect: it is not cold, nor hot, making it very pleasant both for refreshing in hot days and to do not feel cold.   

Going to Taipus de Fora requires taking a jeep service, which departs about half an hour from Barra Grande beach, where most of the inns, b&b´s, hostels and hotels are. This small trip takes about 20 minutes away over the sand roads that cross the Peninsula. 

The road to Taipus de Fora beach, Maraú Peninsula, Bahia

The place to stay stay there is the Buda bar, with a big golden Buda statue wellcoming visitors. In the middle of this rustic place, the bar has a nice infraestructure, with comfortable sofas, beds, chairs and tables.

The Buda bar at Taipus de Fora beach, Maraú Peninsula, Bahia

The Buda bar at Taipus de Fora beach, Maraú Peninsula, Bahi

The food, as in every part of the Peninsula, is wonderful; main dishes are shrimps, fish, squid and octoptus, as well all sorts of sea food. But brazillian northeast and bahiana cuisine is allways present, with a variety of snacks and drinks. 

The Buda bar at Taipus de Fora beach, Maraú Peninsula, Bahi

Beware jeeps may not return after sunset to Barra Grande, as the service is not provided by night. But a day at Taipus de Fora is simply magic. 

Lying down a palm tree at Taipus de Fora beach, Maraú Peninsula, Bahia

The road to Taipus de Fora beach, Maraú Peninsula, Bahia

The road to Taipus de Fora beach, Maraú Peninsula, Bahia

The road to Taipus de Fora beach, Maraú Peninsula, Bahia

To get to Barra Grande and the Maraú Peninsula, see our previous post>

http://brazilguide.blogspot.com.br/2015/09/peninsula-do-marau.html

The sunset at Barra Grande beach in Bahia, Brazil

The sunset at Barra Grande beach in Bahia, Brazil

Doubtlessly, the best thing to do at Barra Grande beach is to appreciate the sunset. As the Maraú is a big peninsula, we can see the sun seting behind the sea, a rare scene is Brazil, as the coastline in Brazil faces mostly the east, but never the west. 

The amazing game of colours at Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

The colours produced by the waters in combination with the clouds are breathtaking. The calm of the fishermen´s boats just add a bit of poetry to the scenes. 

The marvelous sunset at The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

The marvelous sunset at The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

The marvelous sunset at The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

The marvelous sunset at The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

The marvelous sunset at The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

The marvelous sunset at The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

The Barra Grande Beach at Maraú Peninsula (Bahia, Brazil)

The Barra Grande Beach at Maraú Peninsula (Bahia, Brazil)

The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

The Maraú Peninsula, as all peninsulas, forms two kinds of beaches: the ones in front of the open sea, and the others in front to the loch. The Barra Grande beach is one of those in front of the loch, and hosts the touristic village inside the peninsula. Its where most of the inns, hostels, bars and restaurantes are located.  

Sculpture in one of the restaurantes in front of Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

The Barra Grande village is, thus, where most people are, and if you want a bit of social life, it is the place to be in the peninsula. Night bars provide nice parties with brazillian and international music, some of then in front of the beach. 

The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

As this beach is in front of the loch, waters here are very calm, almost without waves, forming a huge, natural, salty swimming pool. 

Walking "over" tthe waters at the Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

At some points, the depth is so low that you can walk over the waters, at some points forming an incredible wet-sand mirror reflecting the clouds. 

The natural, wet-sand mirrors at The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

The natural, wet- sand mirrors at The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

The natural, wet-sand mirrors at The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

Young people chilling at The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

Young people chill out in the Barra Grande beach, practicing sports, dancing and drinking. 

The marvelous sunset at The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

If your are far away from the boats and from people´s noise, you can have the chance of seeing a sea turtle or swimming with then. They love the calm waters of the loch. 

The marvelous sunset at The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

The marvelous sunset at The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

The marvelous sunset at The Barra Grande beach, Peninsula do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil

Península do Maraú

Península do Maraú

View of Barra Grande beach, inside the Península do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil 

The Maraú Peninsula, located in the south coastline of Bahia State, is one of the most beautiful places in this state at the northeast of Brazil.

View of Barra Grande beach, inside the Península do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil 

A still hidden spot from massive tourism, it is best known by locals and some foreigners who decided to open some business there. 

View of Barra Grande beach, inside the Península do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil 

A funny thing about northeast coastline in Brazil is the large presence of europeans owning hotels, b&b´s, inns and restaurants. They all seem to have given up a stressful life in big economic centres of Europe in exchange of endless beaches, palmtrees, sun and heat. The Península do Maraú isn´t different. 

View of Barra Grande beach, inside the Península do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil 

Even Brazillians don´t know the place, a kind of paradise for the wealthy people in Bahia. Maybe due to the the difficulties to access it, and the distance from the nearest airport, it is still a place out of the mainstream.

Nevertheless, there are options of accommodation for every pocket. 

View of Barra Grande beach, inside the Península do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil 

In fact, the nearest airport is the Airport of Ilhéus (Jorge Amado Airport, IATA - IOS), 129 km south, distance made in 2h13 minutes, according to googlemaps. But inside the peninsula there are about 30 km in a dirty road untill the Ponta do Mutá (the extreme point of the peninsula), with lots of sand, what makes this part of this trip harder. So, the best would be to get an off-road transportation, or a higher SUV, in order to do well at this track. 

View of Barra Grande beach, inside the Península do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil 

Salvador isn´t the best option for reaching the Peninsula do Maraú, unless you have lots of time and you enjoy driving or staying in a shuttle watching the landscape. Googlemaps informs it would take more than 5 hours to reach the Peninsula, by taking the ferryboat at Salvador to cross the Bahia de Todos os Santos ("All Saints" Bay). And, more than 6 hours if you get  the highways to turn around the bay. But this estimated time works only in regular days, because during holidays traffic jams and lots of people trying to cross the bay at the same time can make this trip a true hell. 

View of Barra Grande beach, inside the Península do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil 

Of course, if money is not a problem, going by helicopter is also an option. Some inns have heliports.

The only problem of coming through Ilhéus is that this airport has fewer flights than Salvador, and most of them, if not all, are domestic flights. But flights to Ilheus are avilable from the main cities of Brazil.  

View of Barra Grande beach, inside the Península do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil 

But all effort is valid to get there, as the next posts will show. 

View of Barra Grande beach, inside the Península do Maraú, Bahia, Brazil 

Fortaleza (Ceará)

Fortaleza (Ceará)

 Fortaleza, Ceará state capital, is the gateway for wonderful beaches in the same state. Basically, Ceará has an East and an West Coast, as its shores faces north, in the direction of the North Atlantic. Almost in Equator´s line, Ceará is all-year-round hot. But the wind is constant on its shores, making heat affordable. Beacause of that, wind power mills are a constant presence in Ceará state.  

Wind power mills in Fortaleza

Seawater is allways warm, an advantage related to southern Brazillian states. 

The airport in Fortaleza is very well located and very close to downtown, and there are many hotels in the city. To get to the beaches outside Fortaleza, many tour operators work directly with these hotels, so it is easy to hire a ride to one of them. 

To the closest ones, a daytour is possible, departing early in the morning and comming back late afternoon. But some are worth staying one or two nights. Jericoacora, the state´s most famous beach, however, is about 3h30 away, so to getting there and enjoying the place, a daytrip won´t be enough. 

Fortaleza has a big cultural centre, called Dragão do Mar (Sea Dragon). Theaters and exhibitions, as well some fokloric presentations of local groups are common there. By night, nearby bars get crowded.  

The statue of Irace, at Iracema´s beach, in Fortaleza

It is close to Iracema beach, a very central beach. Iracema beach hosts the statue of Iracema, the indian who was the main character of José de Alencar, on his most famous novel called also Iracema, first published in 1865. He is the most famous writer from Ceará, and one among the most read in Brazil. 

Some historical buildings, such as the cathedral are worth visiting:

For a beautiful view of Fortaleza´s skyline, you can do a boat ride along its shoreline. If you´re lucky, you can take a nice picture in the sunset:

Sunset in Fortaleza

Fortaleza´s skyline after the sunset