Porto Seguro is a beautiful town in the south of Bahia state.
The first spot of Brazilian mainland to be seen by the Portuguese was Santa Cruz de Cabrália, named after Pedro Álvares Cabral, the captain of the fleet which discovered Brazil.
Cabral sailed about 30 km southwards, until he found a bay where the waters were particularly tranquil. He called the bay Porto Seguro, which means Safe Harbour.
Then Porto Seguro was the site where the Portuguese first set foot on Brazilian soil on April 22, 1500. It was the busiest port of the developing Portuguese colonies from 1500 into the early 1800s and no one could guess that, 500 years later, that landmark of Brazilian “discovery” would become one of the most important tourism centers in the country. Not only due to its beautiful beaches and vestiges of its colonial past with historical churches, but specially due to the city’s ability to offer music, dancing and great fun to all visitors. Shops open at peculiar hours in Porto Seguro: many outlets and handcrafts stores are open until midnight. The celebration goes on along the city’s coastline with lots of reggae, fun parties and live music. Many beach-side dance floors, offer great music shows with national and foreign attractions playing Bahia’s popular music, known as “Axé”.
Tourism has expanded fast in recent years and there is highly visible growth in Porto Seguro. What was once a small town of fewer than 10,000 people in the 1970s has become a city of over 100,000 people.
The city offers one of the most famous Carnival parties in Bahia. “Electric Trios” (trucks carrying sound systems and live bands), dancing “blocos” and “cordões” (street dancing groups) drag thousands of tourists along the “Passarela do Álcool” Alcohol Passageway (the traditional local avenue) and to beach bars.
With an agitated night, Porto Seguro is one of the most looked point for young people in Brazil and foreigners who come for the beaches and the almost non-stop parties.. The Passarela do Álcool lined with bars which stay open all through the night. is a famous spot in the city. Here, visitors find the famous “Capeta” drink, can have dinner with live music and buy gifts made in the region; or visitors may go to Capitania dos Peixes, on Pacu Island, with ecological landscapes and an assorted variety of music genres and ambiences, near giant aquariums.
Despite all that energy, Porto Seguro still offers untouched landscapes, with calm beautiful beaches, the city has some 90 km of coastline taken by coral reefs, including also coves, rivers and creeks, coconut tree plantations and the gorgeous Atlantic Forest. Receptive tourism agencies organize ecological tours that may take from 3 hours to a whole day or even longer. For those who love free flying, the local “Clube de Ultraleves” (Hang Gliders Club) offer visitors the chance to see, by hang glider or helicopter, the beauties found along the Brazilian “Discovery Coast”.
