Natural pools
At low tide.
Ben Tavener from Curitiba, Brazil — CC BY 2.0 · Hermann Luyken — CC0 · Rulphus — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Turismo Bahia — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Arembepe — CC BY 3.0
Arembepe is a fishing village on the coast north of Salvador, in Camaçari municipality, on the «Coconut Coast» road that runs up towards Praia do Forte. Its broad beach is lined with coconut palms, and at low tide warm natural pools appear among the reefs close to shore, where visitors swim. In the 1960s and 1970s Arembepe became famous for its «Hippie Village», a small community of thatch and timber huts between the dunes and the river that drew travellers and artists from Brazil and abroad, and it still stands with its huts and handicrafts. The village also has a unit of the Tamar sea-turtle project, where visitors learn about the turtles that nest on this coast. Arembepe's history goes back further: off its beach in 1574 the Portuguese ship Santa Clara, sailing home to Lisbon, struck the reef and sank around midnight with its cargo of gold and spices and some 300 people. The village is about an hour's drive from Salvador and makes a quiet day trip, with simple fish restaurants on the sand.
At low tide.
Huts and crafts.
Sea turtles.
Arembepe village, Camaçari, northern Bahia coast
About an hour's drive north along the Coconut Coast; it makes a good day trip.