At the far north of Espírito Santo, almost in Bahia, there is a village that dances on top of its own history: Itaúnas, where the dunes of up to 30 meters that swallowed the original settlement have become a sunset stage — and the forró pé de serra played on the porches has become national heritage. Raw nature and living culture in the same embrace of sand.
Getting there
Itaúnas is a district of Conceição da Barra, about 260 km from Vitória (the BR-101 to the north of the state, then a local road). The village is small, with sand streets — park and get around on foot. Simple, charming guesthouses are scattered among the houses; in July (festival time), book months ahead.
What to do
- Dunes at sunset — the village’s daily ritual, with the story of the buried church beneath your feet (we tell it all in the article on the village under the dunes).
- Praia de Itaúnas — 25 km of wild sand protected by the state park, with turtle nesting monitored by Tamar in season.
- Rio Itaúnas — dark, gentle water for swimming, kayaking and the classic lazy float downstream.
- Riacho Doce — an outing to the ES-BA border, where the stream meets the sea among coconut groves.
- Forró — classes, circles and dances all year; in July the FENFIT turns the village into the national capital of roots forró.
When to go
July means festival (and a full house); September to March balances sun, a quiet village and nesting turtles. The rains concentrate at the end of the year, and pass quickly. Whatever the season, sunset on the dunes is a non-negotiable appointment.
🥾 Who is it for?
Effort: easy — the only sweat is climbing the dune (soft sand, 10-15 minutes). Children: paradise — a gentle river, dunes to slide down and a village with no traffic (all ages). Seniors and reduced mobility: the flat village and the river are accessible; the dune climb takes effort in soft sand — taken slowly and with support, many manage it, and the view from the top repays every step. Forró, of course, is for any age the heart can take.