Trancoso, the hidden jewel of Brazilian beaches
A former fishing town became the promised land of hippies, artists and alternative travelers — though today, it is also an exclusive destination for celebrities
Rumor has it that Trancoso is the best-kept secret in Brazil. There are those who compare it to José Ignacio, the pearl of Uruguay. Others find similarities between it and Comporta, in Portugal. Many speak of the celebrities who perfect their tans on its paradisiacal beaches, of how it is now the domain of the cosmopolitan elite. To see for oneself, it is necessary to fly from the city of Porto Seguro, in the southern part of the state of Bahia, to arrive on the beaches where the sun shines year-round.
The district has 20,000 inhabitants according to the 2021 census, and a long history. In April of 1500, the Portuguese docked on the Bahian coast and first encountered the Pataxó, an Indigenous people who lived in harmony with the Atlantic jungle. In 1586, the Jesuit missionaries founded a town here by the name of Trancoso. Over the centuries that followed, the community remained isolated and rural, dedicated to fishing and agriculture, disconnected from the rest of the country until well into the 20th century. Thanks to this isolation, the town preserved its colonial architecture, its urbanist leanings and many of its cultural traditions. Beginning in 1970, Trancoso became a promised land for hippies, artists and alternative travelers from around the world, who came to its shores in search of nature and authenticity.
At this point, Trancoso began to grow out from its small, pedestrian-only center, the quadrado, site of a white church named São João Batista, one of Brazil’s oldest, which looks incandescent at sunset. It is surrounded by small houses in Bahian colors: parrot green, watermelon pink, deep blue. Their palette conjures that of coral reefs. The buildings have transitioned from being dwellings to stores and restaurants, flanked by towering trees and bedecked with lights that illuminate a bright, music-filled promenade by night. Rounding out the unique scene are extensive beaches lined with Atlantic coast forests, palm trees and of course, the turquoise waters of the ocean.
As time has passed, Trancoso has managed to preserve its bohemian nature, but it has also become an exclusive destination, frequented by celebrities from the rest of the country and beyond. Brazilian chef Morena Leite, owner of the Alma Ninho hotel, had the luck to grow up in this diminutive, luminous town. “At the end of the 1970s, my parents had a cousin who had come from a kibbutz in Israel and wanted to start a hippie community. My parents joined his project. My mother, a recent architecture graduate. My father, a business administrator. They traded an old car for a property that is now the site of the Capim Santo [her parents’ current-day hotel]. They planted a lot of fruit, started a farm and a beautiful garden. I was young when we arrived, I learned to walk here, to talk, to drink. I consider myself Bahian, Trancosan, your average local,” she explains.
The house and garden, in whose kitchen her mother cooked, was Trancoso’s first restaurant, later becoming the Capim Santo, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The Leite family, one of the first outsiders to bet on the area, was part of the transformation that led this paradise to become what it is today. “Growing up in Trancoso is special, it brings a freedom and cultural richness that comes from that mix of different people,” the chef says, proudly.
Every room at the Capim Santo stands so far apart from the others that at night, one hears only crickets. Its restaurant, which is open to the public, serves local food, the harvest from the sea brought in by fishermen, ingredients from small producers, and its own farm.
During the pandemic, Morena Leite moved into the family home, which is located a few feet from the Capim. There, she was reminded of her childhood, when her mother cooked in the kitchen for eight people. With that free-spirited memory in mind, she built out Alma Ninho, whose name translates to “spirit of the nest.” “I’m a nomad, I travel a lot around the world, and I wanted to express everything I’ve seen through our menus, gastronomic journeys,” she says.
The result is a place that wraps one up in its embrace: five rooms and a shared terrace that has views of the sea and a homey ambiance. It features personalized services, a breakfast of tropical fruits and delicacies made of coconut, tapioca and fresh cheese. On the weekend, the Alma Ninho restaurant welcomes people from around the world, who come to taste the food made by Leite and guest chefs.
It is overseen by Maria, who came from São Paulo to Trancoso to help get the project off the ground. She says she wouldn’t trade this life for anything, its mornings of waking up and seeing monkeys. With a smile and boundless enthusiasm, she prepares recommendations for each guest, lining up everything from taxis to reservations and everything else one might need for a carefree visit. Leite is as inspired by Alma Ninho as her parents are by Capim. There are many beautiful places in the world, but what makes Trancoso different are the families who came here, families like the Leites.
To enjoy one’s stay in Trancoso, a car comes in handy, or you can request taxis and drivers to get from place to place. Beach clubs can be one’s best friend, because the sun is powerful in this paradise, and it’s hard to spend a day on the shore without an umbrella, drinks, and other accessories to the main event: the bright blue ocean, white sands as soft as baby powder, palm trees, and blooming fruit trees.
The Dos Coqueiros beach, which is a 10-minute walk from the quadrado, features a beach club with a restaurant named Almar, one of the branches of a sustainable project by the same name that looks to protect Trancoso’s marine biome and support the care of its environment. The space has elegant sunshades, tatami-style rattan chairs, cushions on the sand, and beach service of drinks, fresh coconut water, and a restaurant with an immense bone-colored lounge, wooden tables and a brief menu full of vegetables, fresh fish and roasted meat.
Trancoso went through its first explosion of tourism in the 2000s, when access roads were finally built connecting the town with the outside world. Before that, locals got around on foot or arrived by boat. With the construction of domestic airports — boom! The community filled up with magnates who came by private jet.
The Itapororoca beach has endless sands and shallow waters that have attracted several hotels that decided on the location in order to cater to the highly hedonistic. Such was the motivation behind the arrival of grandiose lodgings like Fasano, located right on the beach, a 20-minute drive from the quadrado. This Brazilian chain of luxury hotels offers small houses with ocean views and cinematic terraces, two restaurants, one of them right on the Itapororoca beach, with shaded hammocks. It also offers day passes for those not staying at the hotel, allowing them to enjoy its pools, spa, eat at its restaurants and enjoy its beach club with its paddle boards, kayaks and beach volleyball courts. Tamara Siqueira, a Brazilian who moved to Trancoso and now works in public relations for the hotel, explains that its guests can also enjoy the Fasano ecological reserve, where they have designed hikes at all levels of difficulty. “The best part of Trancoso is coming to connect with nature,” she says.
Another option on the sands of Itapororoca is Tutabar, where one gets the sensation of being a bird spying on the paradisiacal beach, with its miles of untrammeled sand. It includes a small hotel and a beach restaurant, with a menu rife with local flora and fauna. The gastronomy on offer comes accompanied by architecture and design inspired by organic shapes. Built with renewable and sustainable materials like bamboo, in a construction process that included training for local workers, as well as regenerative landscaping, the project connects visitors with nature and regional culture. Its bar was designed with three areas that offer different experiences: nests, tents and cabins. It is the ideal place to try fresh fish and organic vegetables harvested on the property, grilled to perfection.
Located even further away, by more than an hour, lies the most surprising beach in the region, which is considered one of the best in Brazil: Praia do Espelho. It owes its name to the mirrored pools that form at low tide, which reflect the sky and sea in a wonderful spectacle best seen by day and at sunset. The beach extends for more than seven miles, allowing one to walk all the way to Caraiva. Its Cala & Divino restaurant offers fresh food from the sea and refreshments to enjoy all day long on the beach.
Another marvelous enclave is that of Praia de Tartarugas, which has a restaurant located atop a cliff that sets it apart. Its tables are on individual covered decks, allowing for a view of the sea that conjures box seats at the opera. A tunnel in the rock leads to the beach, where one can enjoy cocktails at the bar.
In Trancoso, Mother Nature got creative, imprinting each beach with a unique character. That spirit was echoed in the people who have helped to build the town: its Indigenous community, colonizers, hippies and artists all brought something to its mosaic of cultures, personalities and tastes — and their modern-day counterparts are committed to protecting the area’s identity in the years to come.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition