Praia do Forte

The Tupinambá lived along this coast when the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century. Garcia d'Ávila, who had come to Bahia with the first governor-general Tomé de Sousa, and his heirs built a fortified house with a chapel on a hill a few kilometres from the shore, the seat of lands that became one of the largest estates in colonial Brazil, stretching far up the coast and into the sertão. The beach below it became known as the beach of the fort, and the ruins of the house, abandoned in the 19th century, still stand above the village.

For most of its history Praia do Forte was a small fishing village. That changed in 1970, when Klaus Peters, a businessman of German descent, and a friend bought some 30,000 hectares of forest, coconut groves, rivers and beaches around the village, including the castle ruins, with the aim of creating a tourist destination. The first pousada and hotel followed.

Projeto Tamar, the sea-turtle conservation programme founded in 1980, set up a base here that became its national headquarters and the village's main attraction alongside the beach. Later the Linha Verde road and the Costa do Sauípe resort complex to the north drew more visitors to the Coconut Coast, and the village's lanes filled with pousadas and restaurants.

Praia do Forte's identity is a blend of its fishing past and its conservation present. The boats still go out from the beach and the small church near the shore marks the old village, while the turtle project has given the place a theme that runs through shops, murals and the Tamar centre. Hatchling releases on the sand draw crowds in season, and the village prides itself on an environmental reputation rare for a Brazilian resort.

The wider culture is Bahian. Forró and axé play in the bars on the Alameda do Sol, capoeira groups train on the beach, and the Catholic feasts of the calendar are kept at the small church. Many of the people who work in the pousadas and restaurants come from Mata de São João and the villages inland, and the Afro-Brazilian traditions of the Recôncavo, from Candomblé to samba de roda, are present without being on display for visitors.

The resort has drawn a cosmopolitan population too: Europeans and southern Brazilians who opened restaurants and guesthouses, and weekenders from Salvador with houses on the strip. Visitors are expected to follow the easy manners of the coast — a greeting on entering a shop, patience with slow service, and respect for the rules of the turtle beaches.

A small population lives in the village and the surrounding settlements of Mata de São João, a municipality whose economy has turned from coconuts and sugar to tourism. Almost everything in Praia do Forte depends on visitors: the pousadas, restaurants, surf and craft shops, boat owners and guides, the large hotels and condominiums to the south, and the Tamar centre with its staff and volunteers. Fishing continues on a small scale, and the catch goes to the beach bars.

Housing is the local strain. The village core has been largely given over to tourism, and many workers live in newer, cheaper districts along the road inland or commute from Mata de São João and the towns of the coast. The gap between the resort strip and the ordinary neighbourhoods behind it is visible, and the environmental limits of the planned development — water, sewage, the forest reserves — are tested by each new condominium.

The day begins early with fishermen and the first dog walkers on the beach, quietens in the heat of the afternoon, and comes alive on the Alameda after dark, when families stroll, musicians play and the restaurants fill. Low tide sets the timetable for the reef pools, and the turtle project's work sets it for the beach in nesting season.

The food of Praia do Forte is the seafood of the Bahian coast. Moqueca, fish or shrimp stewed in coconut milk, dendê palm oil, tomatoes, peppers and coriander and served in a clay pot with rice, farofa and pirão, is the dish every restaurant on the Alameda makes. Bobó de camarão, shrimp in a creamy cassava purée with dendê, and casquinha de siri, seasoned crab meat served in the shell, come alongside. The beach barracas fry whole fish and serve lobster and shrimp grilled with garlic in season.

Street food follows Salvador: acarajé, the black-eyed-pea fritter fried in dendê and split and filled with vatapá, shrimp and salad, is sold in the village, and tapioca pancakes, coconut sweets and fresh fruit juices are everywhere. Coconuts from the groves that gave the coast its name are opened on the beach for their water.

Drinks are caipirinhas and their fruit variations with cashew, passion fruit or cajá, cold lager, and coconut water. The village's restaurants also cover the tastes of its visitors — pizza, pasta, crêpes and Argentine grills — and the Sunday lunch of choice for many families is a long moqueca at a table on the sand.