Schooner Cruise to Frades & Itaparica: Day Sail in Baía de Todos os Santos

The schooner slips away from Salvador’s harbor with the city’s red-tiled roofs and the squat silhouette of Forte de São Marcelo shrinking behind you. Salt air threads through the rigging, the deck hums with easy conversation, and the bay ahead widens into a palette of turquoise and emerald. On a clear morning the water is translucent enough to read the shapes of reefs and schools of fish; on the horizon, two islands—Ilha dos Frades and Itaparica—announce themselves as stops for swimming, snorkeling and a slow Bahian afternoon.