Praia do Forte

Praia do Forte needs 1 day: visiting the TAMAR project, Brazil's sea turtle conservation program with display and breeding pools, in the morning, and touring the ruins of Castelo Garcia D'Ávila, a 16th-century castle that was the first great cattle ranch of the Americas, in the afternoon. September-March brings the driest weather. It's mid-to-upper priced for Bahia. The village grew up around the national headquarters of the TAMAR project, founded in 1980 to protect five species of sea turtles that nest on the Brazilian coast, and today it combines that conservationist mission with a beachfront resort scene.