Itacaré Things to Do

If you go to Bahia for surf then this is the place. Beaches of Itacare receive good waves all year round reaching the biggest (up to 3 meters) between June and September. It is suitable to anybody from serious surfers to beginners. Most of the surf schools which give lessons are located along Pituba (the main street). You can also buy or rent a surfboard there.

A little off the tourist path, the bookshop in Itacaré was a gem of a find and well worth a visit. It's a cute space where you can drink coffee and read, right in front of where all the boats come in. It's on the strip in the old centre of town. The best part for me was that after travelling around Brazil for 5 months this was the ONLY place I found with really good books in English.

It's one of the paradisiacal beaches of Itacare. The most easy way to get there is by car. There are also buses from Itacare which stop on the main road and there is only a short walk down to the beach.

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Among the excursions offered by local operators, my favourite was to Peninsula de Marau. It has beautiful untouched beaches, tropical forest, rivers, waterfalls and preserved nature. The main village of the Peninsula is Barra Grande.

We made stops at Lagoa Azul and Praia Taipus de Fora which is considered as one of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil. Its greatest attraction is a huge natural swimming pool surrounded by corals and rich submarine fauna. It is an excellent place for snorkeling and diving.

Itacare is a cool place to hang around, in the center there are many shops and restaurants. Most of the tourists are surfers and the atmosphere is very relaxed. Bring enough money for your stay in Itacare, it may not be very easy to find a bank and the ATM did not accept our Maestro-Cards.

The village Itacare is surrounded by beautiful beaches. The nearest to the town is Concha Beach, there is also a lighthouse and some restaurants, the sea there is very calm. If you walk a bit more south along the street you will find nicer beaches with a lot of palm trees. The last beach at the end of the street is Ribeira, but I suggest to visit also Prainha Beach. To get there you have to follow a path about 30 minutes through the forrest, but it is really worth it.

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There many beaches with good waves in ItacarE. The best ones are Resende, Tiririca and Ribeira.
The surf shops are at the end of Pituba street.
You can arrange surf classes for 70-40 $r per person, depending on the number of people, the weather and the classes you want to have.
You can also rent a surfboard for 15$R.

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Capoeira is a mixture between martial arts and dance. The histori says that it was practiced by the slaves but it was pohibited. After that they started doing it in the jungle, where the white men couldn?t see them. It continued being illegal until 1930. Two men stood out in their fight to have Capoeira recognised as an honourable and respected entity. These men were Mestre Bimba and Mestre Pastinha. Together they gained Capoeira the support of the public and made Capoeira a household name in Brasil.
As we said Capoeira is a mixture between dance and martial arts, and there are some musical instruments involved in the movement. Timbals, pandeiro and berimbao are most comon.
There are many Capoeria schools in Itacere, but I only went to Escola Tribu, whose Mestre (teacher/master) is Maestre Jamaica. His classes are full of young locals and tourists, the people is nice and the classes are really enjoyng.
There are two classes per day, the first one is in Rezende beach, specially for beginners at 11:00am and the second one is in Cinema at 7:00pm. You can go to both of them for 5$R but if you are going for a longer time you can arrange a better prize with Mr Jamaica.
If you are only interested in whatch the show you can go at 19:00 to Cinema and watch it for 5$R, but I recomend to try it by yourself!! ;-P