Itacaré: Beaches, Trails, and Waterfalls

Itacaré, located in southern Bahia, is a coastal town where the beaches split into two categories: urban beaches and rural beaches. Most of the excursions we did were to the rural ones, more remote and empty, though every single one is beautiful.

If you’re into surfing, you’ll probably love Itacaré, since at most of the beaches we visited, the surf is strong, and every one had surfers out riding it.

With Atlantic Forest vegetation everywhere and mountainous terrain, the region rewards visitors with incredible waterfalls, rivers, and trails, opening up plenty of things to do beyond the ocean.

Where to stay in Itacaré

We stayed at Hotel Pedra Torta, which is what “Itacaré” actually means, and we found it genuinely beautiful, with a great shared area and pool, spacious rooms, and a really complete breakfast — but unfortunately it wasn’t a great place to actually sleep, since that night, I got attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes!

Parking is easy here, but even with all these upsides, I think it’s worth staying somewhere else because of the mosquitoes, or at least bringing a lot of repellent.

What to do in Itacaré

Just like I did with the Barra Grande–Maraú post, I’ll break this down day by day to make it easier to follow. We came from Barra Grande, where we spent the morning, and then headed to Itacaré.

So our first stop of the trip started in the afternoon, with a boat tour.

Boat Through the Mangrove + Cachoeira do Cleandro + Sunset at Praia do Pontal

The boat tour starts at Praia de Conchas, then continues up the Rio das Contas for about thirty minutes, through the mangroves, where the scenery is wonderful and romantic, all the way to Cachoeira do Cleandro.

The waterfall has three levels, the last one forming a natural pool, a really nice spot to relax and enjoy the water, though it’s quite cold. The entry fee for the waterfall is R$15 per person.

To climb up, there’s a set of dirt-and-rock steps leading to the top level, with a rope along the side that works like a handrail for support.

From there, you continue on to Praia do Pontal to wait for the sunset. This spot is a small sandbar dividing the ocean from the mangrove river — once you step into the water, the sand feels a bit odd underfoot, since it’s really mangrove mud.

From the beach, you can see Farol da Concha, marking the entrance to the port of Itacaré, and, as we were told, it can be reached on foot over the rocks at low tide.

After sunset, the boat captain comes back to pick you up and take you back to where you started. The tour costs R$50 per person, plus the waterfall entry fee.

Trilha das Quatro Praias in Itacaré + Cachoeira do Tijuipe

To start, Trilha das Quatro Praias is a genuinely simple trail, about 4.5 km total, that you spread out over the day. The beaches are: Itacarezinho, Camboinha, Havaizinho, and finally, Engenhoca.

To do this trail, we hired a guide named Adeilton. We rarely hire guides, but we made an exception here, since we’d read accounts of people getting lost and even robbed, and we didn’t want to risk it.

The guide is excellent and trustworthy, so we’ll leave his contact here: (73) 99154-4207 — he can offer you the tour directly, or you can request whatever setup works best and negotiate the price with him.

We left our car at Engenhoca, our planned last beach, and walked up the road to Itacarezinho to start the hike, so the return trip to the car would be shorter and quicker.

Itacarezinho

The largest beach by length, 8 km, gorgeous with its white sand, palm trees lining the whole stretch, and crystal-clear water — though the ocean here has a strong current, and the waves require swimmers to be careful.

There’s a beach club here that costs R$350 per person to enter, and we chose not to go, though it’s beautiful to see from the beach — we didn’t really have the time to enjoy it anyway, since we still had all four beaches ahead of us, but it’s worth mentioning for anyone who’s not into hiking.

If you’d rather not leave your car on the road, there’s also the option of parking in a lot near the beach, on private property, for R$100.

Praia de Camboinha

This is the only beach that’s more of a pass-through, with no beach kiosks to settle in, and according to our guide, it also has the strongest current — but it’s beautiful to see along the trail.

Praia do Havaizinho

There are beach tents, tables, and chairs here, so this is the spot we’d recommend for lunch during the hike, and there’s a really great cacao-based drink, delicious and well worth ordering.

Read more about our lunch in Where to Eat in Itacaré.

Praia da Engenhoca

The last beach on our route, and I thought it was genuinely beautiful, since crossing over to it means wading through a river — it also has facilities to relax at, with kiosks available.

Download the GPX for the Trilha das Quatro Praias in Itacaré.

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After this, we took the trail back to the car and drove about ten minutes further to Cachoeira do Tijuipe.

Cachoeira do Tijuipe

It has a large sign, making it easy to spot from the road — it’s a protected private nature reserve (RPPN), and admission costs R$20 per person.

The site is really well maintained, and the waterfall is genuinely beautiful!!! The water isn’t cold like a typical waterfall — it’s deep, so there’s a rope in place to help you move around safely in the water.

A great spot to relax on the rocks or in the natural pools that form right in front of the waterfall.

About 400 meters up, there’s a second, smaller waterfall, equally beautiful.

Cachoeira da Usina + Praia de Jeribucaçu + Praia do Arruda

We did another day of hiking with Adeilton, and this time we started at the waterfall.

Cachoeira da Usina

An old hydroelectric plant that once powered the town, no longer operating today, since its maintenance costs became too high compared to newer forms of power generation. The waterfall is beautiful, and the trail takes about 15 minutes to reach it.

And you won’t believe this, but the water at this waterfall is warm — and we got there at 9 in the morning.

Unlike the other waterfalls, this one is free.

Trail Through the Mangrove

Anyone who follows us knows we love a good trail, so we continued from the plant, through the mangrove.

We really enjoyed getting to know the area and its vegetation better, though this stretch was optional — you could just as easily head back to the car and go straight to the beach.

Praia de Jeribucaçu in Itacaré

The beach is beautiful, and the ocean wraps around it almost like a river — in the morning, when you cross it, the tide is very low, and by the afternoon it starts filling back in, making it genuinely pleasant to sit in the water and cool off under the sun.

For the waves, it’s well worth it if you surf, since they’re quite strong — you’ll mostly spot just the surfboards out in the water.

Praia do Arruda in Itacaré

Via an easy, 700-meter packed-dirt trail, taking about 10 minutes, you get from one beach to the other, and it’s well worth it, since Praia do Arruda is where you’ll find the natural pools — no waves here, and while the area is small, it’s beautiful.

Download the GPX for the Cachoeira da Usina + Praia de Jeribucaçu + Praia do Arruda trail.

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São José Beach Club + Prainha + Sunset at Mirante do Xaréu

São José Beach Club in Itacaré

A great spot for a day pass to enjoy the day, open from 10 AM to 5 PM, with either a table or a covered lounge area available to rent.

There’s also a massage service, priced separately, with the pool included in the day pass. It effectively gives you access to a nearly private São José beach.

Price: R$150 per person for a table, R$50 of which covers the space and R$100 goes toward food and drink credit — though prices shift depending on the day and time of year, and whether you go with a table or a lounge area.

From there, you can take a roughly 1 km trail to Prainha, a nearby, equally beautiful beach.

Prainha

A really easy trail, just following the main dirt road, brings you to Prainha. A long stretch of sand, with good surf conditions.

Download the GPX for the São José to Prainha trail in Itacaré.

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Sunset at Mirante do Xaréu

A beautiful sunset, though we liked the one at Praia do Pontal even more — the best move is to check out both and decide your favorite.

Urban Beaches in Itacaré

These are beaches close to downtown, easy to reach, and here’s a rundown of the ones we visited.

Praia de Resende

The closest to downtown — I thought it was the most beautiful of them all, and it has facilities for spending the whole day!

Praia da Tiririca

From what we saw, this looks like a great beach to hang out at, with surf lessons and a skate spot nearby.

There’s good infrastructure here, though it’s a bit farther from the beach itself, and we thought the spot was cool.

Praia do Costa

A small strip of sand with no real facilities to speak of, and there were a lot of vultures on the beach, plus an unpleasant smell from trash along the road.

Praia da Ribeira

This beach has the best facilities of them all, but its look is cluttered with beach umbrellas, and personally, we weren’t fans — though that’s not a hard rule for everyone. It also kept that same unpleasant smell.

Praia da Coroa

A pretty beach with good facilities, but it’s also where boats depart from, so the water isn’t suitable for swimming.

Praia da Concha

Good for swimming and very close to downtown, home to the Farol das Conchas lighthouse and its best access point, with good beach facilities — we’d recommend it.

Learn more about our trip in Maraú.