Itacaré or Morro de São Paulo? Choosing between them
The two names everyone weighs up on this coast, and they are less alike than the photographs suggest. What each one is actually for, and why doing both is harder than it looks on a map.
Guides
Everything we have written about Itacaré, in the order the questions tend to come up.
Before you book
The questions that decide whether you come at all
Is Itacaré safe? An honest answer
The question everyone asks about Brazil and nobody answers straight. What the real risks here are, which ones are overstated, and the one that actually hurts people.
How many days in Itacaré, and what to do with them
Three days is enough to see why people stay longer. A week is the number the town is built around. What each length of trip actually gets you.
The best time to visit Itacaré, month by month
There is no bad month here, but there is a real difference between a quiet town in the rain and a full one at New Year. What each season actually feels like, and which one is yours.
Getting here and getting around
Arriving, and moving once you have
How to get to Itacaré
Salvador for international flights, Ilhéus for domestic ones, and why that split is not as clean as it sounds. What each route really costs you in time and money, and how to get from the bus stop to your bed once you are here.
Getting around Itacaré without a car
The town is walkable and the good beaches are not. What moves people here, when a car earns its keep, and the one form of transport worth thinking twice about.
Once you are here
The beaches, the water, the forest and the nights
The beaches of Itacaré, from town beach to trail beach
Itacaré's beaches split into two kinds: the ones you walk to in flip flops, and the ones that cost you a trail through the Atlantic forest. Which is which, and which one suits the day you are having.
Activities in Itacaré: sport, dance, yoga and adventure beyond the beach
Capoeira on a Monday night, a canoe up the river at sunset, footvolley on Concha, a horse that wades into the sea. The things to do in Itacaré once you have seen the beaches, and where to find each one.
Surfing in Itacaré: every break, by season and by level
A dozen waves inside twenty kilometres, from a bay where you stand up for the first time to reef that only locals paddle out on. Which one is yours, when it works, and what a board costs.
Waterfalls, river and forest around Itacaré
Half of what makes this coast unusual is behind the beach, not on it. Atlantic forest, cacao under the canopy, and the falls people come inland for.
Nights out in Itacaré, and the week they follow
The town runs on a weekly clock rather than a nightly one. Which nights are worth staying up for, what the music actually is, and where it all happens.
Itacaré with children: what works and what does not
A surf town in the forest is not the obvious family choice, and it works better than it sounds. Which beach, which base, and the two things that catch families out.