Itacaré in four days, unhurried
If you came for the landscape and the table
One thing a day, and the afternoon back up the hill. Lists of what to do in Itacaré run to twenty items, and twenty items in four days is logistics. This pace works best in April, May, September and October, with heat without the summer peak and the village left to the people who live here.
- How many nights
- 4 to 5 nights
- When it works
- April, May, September and October
- What it asks of you
- A car or a transfer, and the will to do just one thing a day
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Photo: Márcio Filho/MTur. Day 1
Arrive, and do very little
From Ilhéus it is about 70 km on the BA-001, an hour and a half to two hours by car, and that is already half a day.
In the afternoon, Concha beach, 1.8 km from the hotel: a sheltered cove, a sea that barely breaks, a bar on the sand, paddleboards and kayaks. At the end of the day, Ponta do Xaréu, above Concha, with the line of beaches and the river bar in front of you. Dinner in the village or at Nibs.
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Photo: Otávio Nogueira, CC BY 2.0. Day 2
Itacarezinho all day
The southern beach that justifies taking the car and staying: pale sand, coconut palms, a green sea with waves and room to walk for half an hour without meeting anyone. It has a restaurant and parking on the beach itself.
For something more secluded, swap it for Engenhoca, Havaizinho or Camboinha, on the same stretch, about twenty minutes’ easy walk from the road. At low tide, water is trapped between the rocks.
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Photo: Marinelson Almeida, CC BY 2.0. Day 3
Fresh water and forest
The Tijuípe waterfall is on the BA-001, between Itacaré and Serra Grande: a short, easy path, a fall about four metres high and fifteen wide, and a good pool for swimming. It is on private land, with an entrance fee and a restaurant.
Usina is the quieter alternative: fifteen minutes’ easy walk through the forest to a natural pool, and the same path carries on through mangrove to Jeribucaçu. The afternoon goes back up the hill.
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Photo: Lucrilhas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Day 4
The cocoa
On the Taboquinhas road, about half an hour away by car, farms take visitors and show the whole journey from fruit to bar: the cabruca, cocoa planted in the shade of the Atlantic Forest, fermentation in wooden boxes, drying in the sun and a tasting at the end.
Some have a trail, an orchard and a natural pool on the same land. Each farm has its own day, and reception books the visit.
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Photo: Otávio Nogueira, CC BY 2.0. Day 5, if you have it
Maraú, or the river
Two full-day options. The Maraú Peninsula, with the natural pools of Taipus de Fora, which only appear at low tide: by speedboat, the crossing to Barra Grande takes half an hour; by car, about two hours, much of it on dirt road.
Or the Contas river, by small motorboat or canoe up into the mangrove, home to crabs and egrets.
Before you go
A car
For the town beaches you do not need one: they are linked by a seafront path. For Itacarezinho, the waterfalls and the farms, you do, or the transfer that reception arranges.
Outside this pace
Treetop courses, ziplines and abseiling exist here and are good, and they do not fit a one-thing-a-day plan. From December to February all of this still exists, with twice the people.
The beaches, the seasons and how to get here are on What to do in Itacaré.