Itapuã, Stella Maris & Praia do Flamengo Guide: Salvador's North Beaches

Immortalised by composer Vinícius de Moraes and guitarist Toquinho in their 1971 bossa nova classic "Tarde em Itapuã" ("To spend an afternoon in Itapuã, in the sun that glows in Itapuã..."), the northern Atlantic coastline of Salvador stretches for twelve kilometres from the fishing coves of Itapuã through the wide golden sands of Stella Maris and Praia do Flamengo right up to the border of Lauro de Freitas.

1. Praia de Itapuã, the 1873 Lighthouse & Vinícius de Moraes Square

Located 20 kilometres northeast of the Historic Centre (and only 10 minutes south of Salvador Airport), Itapuã (meaning "round stone" in Old Tupi) was for centuries a summer whaling and fishing village shaded by tall coconut groves. Walk the beachfront promenade past the bronze statue of the mythical siren of the lagoon to the Farol de Itapuã, a 21-metre cast-iron lighthouse erected on the intertidal rocks in 1873 and painted in horizontal red-and-white bands. At low tide, the natural coral and sandstone barrier reef breaks the Atlantic swell to create calm, emerald-green tide pools ideal for families.

• Praça Vinícius de Moraes: Just south of the lighthouse at Rua Rua Maestro Perini, a bronze sculpture by Juarez Paraíso honours the poet on the site of the beach house where he lived with Bahian actress Gessy Gesse in the early 1970s.
• Acarajé da Cira in Itapuã: At Largo de Itapuã (Largo da Sereia), the original flagship stall of the late Dona Cira serves what many locals consider the finest acarajé and abará in northern Salvador.

2. Parque Metropolitano da Lagoa do Abaeté

Five minutes inland from Itapuã beach lies the protected Parque Metropolitano do Abaeté, where a deep, dark rainwater lagoon stained the colour of black tea by decomposing organic tannins contrasts sharply with hills of bright white quartz sand dunes, coastal restinga orchids, and dwarf cashew trees.

3. Stella Maris and Praia do Flamengo: Beach Clubs & Low-Tide Reef Pools

Continuing north from the Itapuã lighthouse, the coastline opens into the wide, uncrowded beaches of Stella Maris and Praia do Flamengo (including the northern stretch known as Aleluia). While high tide brings consistent Atlantic rollers for surfers and bodyboarders, low tide exposes long volcanic and coral rock shelves that form warm natural swimming pools right in front of palm-thatched beach clubs serving chilled green coconuts, grilled lobster, and clay-pot fish moqueca.