Bahia never disappoints. That’s the certainty we carried with us, me, my husband Guilherme, and our three-year-old daughter Catarina, as we headed to the Maraú Peninsula and Itacaré, two destinations that, each in its own way, redefined what “family luxury” can mean.

Getting there through Ilhéus 

For anyone coming from outside Bahia, Ilhéus is the best airport for reaching both Maraú and Itacaré; Salvador is an option too, but it adds a lot of travel time. 

Maraú Peninsula: the luxury of quiet.

Three hours from Ilhéus, the last 30 km on a dirt road, sits Pousada da Lagoa do Cassange. We arrived on a rainy late afternoon, with the road in full rally mode, and were welcomed with popcorn, cold coconut water, and a warmth you could feel right at the door. 

Worth noting: we strongly recommend arriving via the private transfer offered by the property, or, if renting a car, opting for something with higher clearance, like a compact SUV. 

Walking into the room, it told its own story: a spacious, beautifully made bed for us, and a little Montessori-style bed for Catarina, styled with the same arrangement of fresh flowers as ours. No TV, Cassange’s whole invitation is to truly disconnect. 

The days that followed unfolded on a deserted, calm-water beach (perfect for kids to play safely, always within sight of their parents), a beachfront bungalow with snacks made entirely in-house, and dinners that, from day two on, became a small celebration for Catarina: a simple plate of spaghetti served under a cloche and carefully presented to her by Helinho. 

Worth highlighting for bigger families: alongside 14 individual beachfront bungalows, Cassange has two houses (one with 2 suites, another with 5), each with a full kitchen, private access, and the option to hire a private chef, ideal for multigenerational families who want to be together without giving up privacy. 

The farm-to-table concept is taken seriously: fruit, vegetables, fish, bread, yogurt, and honey are all produced on-site. And sustainability shows up in every detail: solar energy, composting, in-house waste treatment, and minimal to virtually no use of plastic. 

Community-based tourism: The Power of Escola Mar a Mar.

If one moment sums up why we travel, it was visiting Escola Mar a Mar. The project started small, an initiative by Flávio and Janaína, the pousada’s owners, to support the children of their own staff. Today it reaches over 100 families in the community, offering not just early childhood education but also training for its own teaching staff, made up of people from the region.

Flávio said something, eyes lit up in a way that’s hard to put into words, that stuck with us: the hope is that a child from Cassange sees a real future within their own community, that she might one day become a teacher at the very school that raised her, and give back to her home what she received from it. 

It’s a simple but powerful reminder of something we, as travel professionals, sometimes risk forgetting: the most valuable thing we sell isn’t just scenery, it’s a living territory, full of people, history, and future. 

Hospitality that becomes education, tourism that becomes opportunity, a visitor who becomes a witness to a virtuous cycle. 

Before heading to Itacaré, two must-do stops tied to that same local economy: cacao ice cream made right there in the community, and açaí from Sítio do Outeiro, 10 minutes from the school, no exaggeration, one of the best in the Northeast. 

If luxury exists at Cassange, it lives in privacy, hospitality, and freedom: simplicity in the setting, greatness in family moments. 

Itacaré: Hospitality that anticipates. 

In Itacaré’s historic center, just steps from the sea, sits Oiti by Barracuda, a 9-suite guest house born in 2004 from the meeting of designer Juliana Ghiotto, surfer Daniel Lima, and a group of Swedish partners who fell for the place. The result is an aesthetic that blends Scandinavian refinement with Bahian soul. 

We arrived during the city’s gastronomy festival week, closed streets, music late into the night, and the hotel gave us a heads-up, kindly and in advance, about possible noise. 

Check-in, led by João, deserves its own chapter: genuine warmth showing in a wide, easy smile, a cereal bar made especially by the hotel’s kitchen, and the care he took to crouch down and greet Catarina at her level. That warmth, that smile, and that habit of anticipating any need kept showing up throughout the stay: on our last day, back from dinner, a kettle of hot water and Catarina’s already-washed baby bottle were waiting for us at reception, without us ever asking.

Oiti isn’t a hotel built for kids, there’s no children’s program or attractions, but the way it welcomes families is rare: attentiveness, communication tailored to each guest’s profile, and often, solutions created on the spot. 

We closed out our time in Itacaré with a day at Itacarezinho, a private beach 25-30 minutes by car, which delivers beautiful scenery, calm, and excellent service. Spacious bungalows, towels, full beach service, and a well put-together menu make the experience worth the higher price tag, a fitting way to close out a top-tier trip.

Two ways to live luxury.

We wrapped up the five-day holiday with one certainty: Maraú and Itacaré represent two distinct, complementary models of family luxury. At Cassange, luxury is silence, privacy, and time: the kind of place that’s already earned a permanent spot in our future family holidays. At Oiti, luxury is the lightness of hospitality: a team that welcomes, anticipates, and smiles, turning even the noise of a cultural festival into a good part of the memory. 

Bahia, once again, didn’t disappoint.

— Marina Gomes, Head of Product, Operations and Quality, Gondwana Brasil.