Quality tourism, from rustic to sophisticated

Located on Bahia’s north shore, the Coconut Coast stretches for 193 kilometers of beaches, sun, natural beauty, and has a wealth of cultural manifestations and a mysticism all its own.

It encompasses seven municipalities – Lauro de Freitas, Camaçari, Mata de São João, Entre Rios, Esplanada, Conde, Jandaíra – and offers a vast tourism infrastructure with a range of options from rustic, mystical communities such as the hippie village in Arembepe, which is also home to a sea turtle preservation station, to sophisticated resorts such as Costa do Sauípe on the Green Line ecological highway.

The access couldn’t be easier. Salvador’s international airport is located at the southernmost point of this tourism region. This gives both domestic and overseas visitors a range of options for accommodations, leisure, sports and adventure for all tastes and budgets.

Throughout the year there are competitions in a range of sports including surfing, windsurfing, volleyball, beach soccer, sailing and skateboarding. Other sport options are diving, fishing, horseback riding and hiking. The area is perfect for ecotourism, water and radical sports.

Today, the Coconut Coast is taking on an international flair, thanks to the substantial number of international hotels and resorts being built there. Besides Costa do Sauípe, with its five 5-star hotels and six theme inns, several new projects will be implemented by the beginning of 2005: the Spanish-owned Iberostar in Praia do Forte, with 500 apartments, the Portuguese Vila Galé, with 400 units plus spa and convention center in Guarajuba on the Coconut Road, and in Imbassaí, another Portuguese group, Reta Atlântico, is buildings a resort with 850 rooms.

In Praia do Forte, visitors can tour the headquarters of the Tamar Sea Turtle Preservation Project, where there are tanks with turtles of various ages and several small aquariums.  The center even has an exhibit of shells and skeletons of the five species of sea turtles that breed on the Brazilian coast.

In Imbassaí it’s possible to raft or canoe through freshwater rapids and waterways that run parallel to the dunes. Visitors can enjoy the comfort of quaint thatched roof beach huts located between the river and the sea and an excellent variety of restaurants, hotels and inns.