"Capixaba Beaches"

Upon leaving Vitória in the direction of the south coast (only the capital is an island, the rest of the state is on the mainland), there are 113 kilometres of beaches, including Sepetiba, Três Praias, Itaoca, Marataizes and Guarapari, the best known holiday resort in the state. This stretch of the Capixaba coastline is punctuated by hills, cliffs and reefs, and the sea is crystalline and green in colour. The monazitic sand, which is considered to have medicinal properties, attracts thousands of bathers. In Guarapari, the beach at Castanheiras affords a marvellous spectacle from the end of the summer, the return of thousands of swallows en masse to sleep in the trees of the coast road. And in Anchieta, 80 kilometres from Vitória, the end of the afternoon is marked by herons flying back to sleep in the trees along the Beneventes river.

To the north of Vitória, the beaches are rockier and there are places where rivers meet the sea, as happens with the Doce river, the largest of Espírito Santo, which crosses the state to pour out into the Atlantic. From Vitória to Itaúnas, the last town in the state, there are 253 kilometres of coastline with beaches hidden in small bays or with long strips of sand. On the way there is the little fishing village of Nova Almeida, 30 kilometres from the capital, where there is the church of Reis Magos, a Jesuit building of the sixteenth century listed by the National Heritage Institute.

Continuing in the direction of Itaúnas, the road passes through Regência, site of the Comboios Biological Reserve, internationally recognised for its work in conserving sea turtles, and then through São Mateus, noteworthy for the ruins of the Jesuit church. Thirteen kilometres from São Mateus is Guriri Island, followed by Conceição da Barra and, finally, Itaúnas with its sand dunes, some of them over 30 metres high.

Nature is the great attraction in Itaúnas. The State Park possesses a rich ecosystem, with mangrove glades, sandbanks, rivers, lagoons, beaches and forest. Here is also one of the main locations of the Tamar project, a centre for the study of sea turtles where, from September to March, the visitor can watch the turtles laying their eggs. Only 20 minutes by car from Itaúnas is the last and one of the most beautiful beaches of the north coast, Riacho Doce.