The Discovery and Whale CoastThe Discovery and Whale Coast in Brazil

The beaches of the far south of Bahia are among the finest in Brazil - long strands of fine white sand washed by bath-warm sea, or pounded by bottle-green surf and backed by swaying rows of coconut palms. Some are remote and completely deserted, others are watched over by busy resorts and party towns like Porto Seguro and Arraial d'Ajuda, or forgotten little villages like Caraíva, Corumbau and Curumuxatiba with only a handful of simple pousadas. Pretty Trancoso is perhaps the chicest beach destination north of Punta del Este in Uruguay, with a ream of gorgeous beach boutiques of the kind that grace the pages of Departures magazine or Taschen coffee-table books. Offshore, in the far south, are the Abrolhos: an archipelago of rocky coral islands fringed with reef. The islands form part of one of Brazil's most carefully protected marine reserves and are one of the best places in South America for seeing humpback whales. Back on the mainland, Bahia's far south is dotted with indigenous Pataxó villages and has extensive areas of Mata Atlântica rainforest This area, around the pyramidal mountain at Monte Paschoal, is under threat from eucalyptus plantations used to produce toilet paper.