Salvador Day Trips: Chapada Diamantina, Whale Sharks at Praia do Forte, Morro de Sao Paulo, and the Irmandade da Boa Morte
The destinations accessible from Salvador extend from the trekking canyons and waterfalls of Chapada Diamantina to the whale shark aggregations offshore from Praia do Forte, the car-free beach island of Morro de Sao Paulo, and the ancient Afro-Brazilian sisterhood at Cachoeira.
- 1
Chapada Diamantina: The Diamond Highlands
Chapada Diamantina, the national park in the Bahia interior 450 kilometers west of Salvador accessible by bus or flight to Lencois, is a landscape of flat-topped tabletop mountains, river canyon systems, waterfalls, caves, and the endemic cerrado and campo rupestre vegetation that represents one of the most diverse ecosystems in Brazil. The park is the finest multi-day trekking destination in northeast Brazil.
- 2
Praia do Forte and the Whale Shark Season
Praia do Forte, the upscale beach resort 85 kilometers north of Salvador on the Estrada do Coco coast, is best known as the location of the Tamar sea turtle conservation project headquarters and as the primary access point for the whale shark aggregations that occur 20 kilometers offshore from Agosto to November at the Atoleiro shoal. The whale shark snorkeling from Praia do Forte is one of the finest marine wildlife experiences in Brazil.
- 3
Morro de Sao Paulo: The Car-Free Island
Morro de Sao Paulo on the Tinhare Island archipelago, accessible from Salvador by catamaran or speedboat, is a car-free beach destination of four numbered beaches of increasing tranquility, from the busy party beach at Segunda Praia to the completely quiet and undeveloped Quinta Praia. The combination of the historic fort on the headland, the mangrove-lined harbor, and the beach circuit makes Morro de Sao Paulo the most varied beach destination accessible from Salvador.
- 4
Cachoeira and the Irmandade da Boa Morte
Cachoeira in the Reconcavo Baiano interior 115 kilometers from Salvador is the site of the Irmandade da Boa Morte, the sisterhood of elderly black women who maintain the most ancient continuous Afro-Brazilian religious tradition in Brazil, celebrating their festival in August with a mixture of Candomble ceremony and Catholic procession that is one of the most profound encounters with living African heritage in the Americas.
- 5
Boipeba: The Undiscovered Alternative
Boipeba, the island south of Morro de Sao Paulo accessible by boat and significantly less developed, has quieter beaches, coral reef snorkeling in the tidal pools, and a village character that approximates the Morro de Sao Paulo experience of twenty years ago before the commercial development accelerated. The journey by boat from Morro de Sao Paulo to Boipeba through the mangrove channels is itself a significant part of the destination experience.
- 6
Lencois and the Diamond History
Lencois, the gateway town for Chapada Diamantina national park, was founded in the 1840s diamond rush that brought thousands of garimpeiro prospectors to the Bahia highlands; the colonial townscape of Lencois preserves the architecture of the diamond boom era and the streets of the artisanal jewelry workshops that are the contemporary expression of the diamond craft tradition. The town is one of the most pleasant small colonial towns in the Brazilian interior.