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Facing Camamu Bay, the Barra Grande beach is straight, with clear sands and warm, calm waters.
The former fishing village on the peninsula of Maraú, on the so-called Dendê Coast, south of Salvador, has been seducing visitors with its warm-water beaches, boat rides and, good to know, great food.
The village of Barra Grande is the port of entry to the peninsula for visitors arriving by boat via Camamu.
It has summer houses, several inns and the main bars and restaurants.
A place of difficult access, Barra Grande enchants those who step for the first time on the sand of its streets or experience the hospitality of its calm people, who love to take a nap after lunch.
Barra Grande - Reportagem
Praias imperdíveis em Barra Grande - Maraú
Barra Grande - Dicas
Barra Grande e Ponta do Mutá - Drone e Guia
Tourist Points of the Peninsula of Maraú
1. Peninsula of Maraú
The Maraú Peninsula is located at one of the ends of the Baia de Camamu, Lower South of Bahia.
It is a region that has recently emerged for tourism, especially ecological tourism. In the region there are more than 40 kilometers of little explored beaches, coral reef pools, coconut groves, waterfalls, islands and mangroves.
The natural potential of the municipality of Maraú has in the locality of Barra Grande the main tourist center.
2. Municipality
The municipality of Maraú is located on a peninsula, called the Maraú Peninsula, a physiographic zone called the cocoa region.
The municipality is rich in minerals, especially oil shale, gypsum and oil. As for oil, it has not yet been gushed, but its existence is known, according to reports by renowned geologists who visited the municipality, such as Dr. Luiz Gonzaga de Campos and others of various nationalities.
See the map of the Costa do Dendê
3. Tours
In the region the schedule of tours is very varied, in addition to the beautiful beaches and the Bay of Camamú with its islands, you will find more radical programs, such as Raffiting, Off-Road, Rappel, Diving etc….
Take a sea tour through the islands of Camamu Bay and a 4×4 tour through the trails, lagoons, beaches and viewpoints of the peninsula almost mandatory! So you are not restricted to the more than 40km of beautiful beaches.
History of the municipality of Maraú
The origin of the municipality was a village of Indians called “Mayrahú”, founded in 1705 by the Italian Capuchin friars. The existing indigenous tribe was called “Mayra”.
It is not known when it disappeared or to which branch it belonged.
By order of the Crown, the bandeirante João Gonçalves da Costa, built a road called “Estrada da Nação”.
The movement by this road, contributed to the smuggling of the “Quinto de Ouro”, which gave rise to the creation of the village of Funis, where the road forked towards Camamu and the village of Barra do Rio de Contas, today the city of Itacaré.
In order to hinder the smuggling that passed through the road that led to the hinterland of the Ressaca farm, the city of Vitória da Conquista was built in this place. Thus, Mayrahú had its “Tax Registry”, forced by the needs of collecting the “Quinto da Coroa”.
The district of Mayrahú, was created in 1717, and the chapel built by the friars, was elevated to the category of parish, with the name of “São Sebastião de Mayrahú”, by Archbishop D. Sebastião Monteiro da Vide. Sebastião Monteiro da Vide, in the same year.
The parish was elevated to the category of village, by order of the Provisional Government that followed that of D. Antonio de Almeida Soares and Portugal, 3rd Count of Avintes, on June 17, 1761, being installed by the Ombudsman General of Bahia, Dr. Luiz Greire Deveras on July 23 of the same year. On the same date, the village of Maraú was created.
By Decree-Law No. 10724 of March 30, 1938, the village was elevated to the category of city.
In the years 1860 to 1864, the United Kingdom of England won a competition for the installation of a kerosene distillation plant, extracted from peat from naphtha, and also for the extraction of oil shale, in Maraú.
The company was installed on the banks of the Maraú River. The popular version is that the plant was called “John Grant”, but the farmer, finding difficulties with pronunciation, abbreviated it to “João Branco”.
The João Branco mill, with all the requirements of a large refinery, cost the English Crown 600,000 pounds sterling. It employed about 500 workers and had an internal railroad, on which two locomotives ran.
They say that one of them is locomotive nº12, which is in front of DETRAN, in Ilhéus. The Ilhéus Hotel, they say, was built with refractory bricks from the five chimneys of João Branco’s factory.
Bahia Salvador Tourism and Travel Guide
Tourism and Travel Guide to Barra Grande in Camamu Bay
