Salvador de Bahia - General Info
Where is Salvador de Bahia?
Salvador de Bahia is situated in a large bay (Baia de Todos os Santos) which offers a multitude of marinas and anchorages.
This is a port of entry and has a one-stop-shop for clearance which greatly simplifies the procedure. Find out more in Clearance.
Salvador de Bahia Entrance Notes and Cautions
The approach is straight forward and deep, but with surprisingly strong currents in the middle of the bay and also at the northern end. The night approaches are well marked to all the marinas. Beware of wrecks off the cape on the eastern side of the entrance to the bay and watch out for ferries to/from Itaparica, fishing boats and tourist vessels around Sao Marcelo Fort.
Salvador de Bahia Cruiser Highlights
The enormous Bay of All Saints is a dream for cruisers, with countless opportunities to explore. Excellent protection and countless anchorage options among the 91 islands.
Position:
12°58.48’S, 38°31.23’W (Bahia Marina entrance)
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Related to following destinations: Brazil, Eastern coast (north of Rio de Janeiro), Salvador de Bahia
Port Navigation
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In January 2019 we stayed at SOCICAM for a few days. When we arrived there was someone to help us mooring which was quite convenient after 2 weeks at sea! As Salvador was our port of entry in Brazil, we had to do all the formalities here. With help of Dominique we were finished within 3 hours! We loved our stay here and felt immediately welcome in Brazil. Dominique was there to answer all our questions (which were a lot!) and gave us a lot of inside information about good restaurants etc. Thank you Dominique for making us feel welcome in Brazil. We would recommend everyone to stay in this marina when in Salvador. The only minor downside was that it could be little bit choppy with all the boats leaving / entering from the terminal. The inner side of the pontoon (closest to the city) is the best side to be moored we figured.
We stayed at Socicam – Terminal Nautico for nine days in July 2018. Harbourmaster Dominique was most helpful: he explained where we could get groceries (Perini on Vasco da Gama Avenue has a great selection, upmarket), where it was save to walk (basically where there are other people around) and what we should be aware of (no walking to and from the elevator after dark). When we needed to have our mast taken off, he was instrumental in getting everything organised, so we could get a crane to the marina and a welder to get the repairs done in the parking area of the marina. Be sure to agree to everything (work and price) with the repairmen beforehand.
As we gone through immigration in Fernando de Noronha, we only had to visit the Receita Federal (300m to the left of Terminal Nautico when exiting the premises), where we were assisted by a young woman who spoke some English and guided us through a computer program. Next up was the Capitania, 300m to the right of the TN gates. The “Capitania” building is one of many buildings on the Navy premises and inside it are many different counters. Go to “F” “1” counter, on the very right after entering.
A local sim-card can be bought (and registered with your passport) at the TIM shop inside “Shopping Lapa”, a large shopping center in the “Lapa” area. We found it safe to walk there from the elevator (towards the right upon exiting the elevator, along a street lined with shops and street vendors). The area is well worth visiting to get a flair of city life outside the renovated old town.
Posted on behalf of Dan Stroud
As per usual no response to VHF call in. Went to Termino Náutico (TN) just by the ferry port and close to the old quarter of the city.
The guy that runs it, Dominique, is very helpful, speaks English, French and Portuguese. There’s also a guy called Marcelo who I think would be very helpful for repairs etc.
The floating pontoon is old and noisy but perfectly adequate. Stern to the mooring.
The police office is tricky to find and I’m sorry to say I forgot the exact location but I left details with Dominique at TN.
Customs: no English is spoken but they are happy to use google translate.
Dos capitanía: no English is spoken but helpful and friendly.
I left my boat in TN Salvador and flew to Argentina. I had to visit the Customs and dos Capitanía to leave the boat, and then Customs again upon my return.
Fairly straightforward, if convoluted!
Most people seem to think that Salvador is dodgy, but I disagree. It’s a busy hot and intense city, but keep eyes open and all is fine.
Cost at TN was about 13 euros per night. there’s a small Walmart near the hotel Sheraton.
On the way back from Itaparica we did not want to go to the bustling places in Salvador. A friend told us to go to Itapagipe peninsular to the marina Angra dos Veleiros.
It is a sailor-owned place with visitors spaces. Located at S12 deg 54,689 ´/ W 038deg 29,564´.
It is located on Av. Largo da Ribeira – Ribeira, Salvador – BA, 40420-260, Brazil, Tel: +55 71 3316-5626
They have some 35 slips and a workshop also that visitors can use. Nearby are two ship chandlers and tools and equipment alley where you can get almost everything. There is also a bom pressio (Walmart) nearby, so ideal to stock up the boat for a longer journey.
The entrance to the marina is easy for catamarans yet tides to have to be watched for keelboats as there are shallow depths near the entrance. The marina is exposed to waves and NE winds stronger than 20 knots. We stayed for five days and got everything done that we needed to take care of.
A visitors slip with 110V/220V shore power and free water costs BRL 1,50 per foot per day. There is a restaurant that opens for lunch. The internet works well. All in all a nice quiet place to be.
SY Coral Trekker
We stayed at Pier Salvador for more than two months. While the price for the marina is quite reasonable, the service we received was not quite as good as we had hoped. Several repairs had to be done and almost none were performed to our satisfaction.
Ok, Brazil is not Europa, but nevertheless, you’d expect a craftsman to at least admit that they don’t have any experience. At one time I just had to ask the carpenter to leave the boat and it took me three days of work to repair the damage he had done.
The more frustrating is, that when we came back from our home vacation in Germany we had to find a big dent in the rigging screw cover and also a line missing. We had secured our boat the boat next to us and they obviously left with our line and in the process damage our boat.
Nobody in the marina claimed to have seen anything. No help or reimbursement for the damage and loss. So be careful leaving your boat at this marina unattended!
I am in process of buying a boat under a foreign flag while it stays in Brazil and would like to reflect on my experience so far.
The boat arrived from Cape Town via St.Helena to Salvador and anchored in the Bahia Marina. The people are very helpful. Julia, one of the receptionists, even speaks French, Portugese and English.
If you want to leave the boat in Brazil and leave the country, even for a short trip, you can not stay at Bahia Marina. In Salvador there are only three marinas licensed to keep foreign boats when the owner does not stay in Brazil. These are Terminal Nautico, Pier Marina and Aratu Iate Clube. I neither wanted to leave my future boat in either Terminal Nautico nor Pier. Aratu is a good place to leave the boat.
The owner had to fill in a form, confirm it with the Aratu I.C. and the capitania dos portos. Then with this we went to the Receite (Customs) to get an extension of the existing 90 day permit for as long as we wanted (within a two year period) without being in the country.
The AIC asks for a local person to take care of the boat. I had the pleasure of being introduced to the manufacturer’s representative in SSA that made things much easier.
The costs at AIC are 1 BRL per foot per day.
After returning to Brazil I will have 90 days to stay from my date of entry, for me and the boat.
AIC is a tangential drive around SSA to the airport. So convenient if leaving or arriving in the country. My suggestion if you want to leave Brazil while you boat stays in Brazil, move staight to Aratu. Make sure you arrive during daylight. The channel is narrow and the yacht club is not well marked on the chart plotter. Furthermore there are some small marinas that are not charted at all that can be quite confusing at night.
Marina Pier Salvador ia a helpful place. They repair my Volvo MD50 motor. It was a really dificult reparation. The moorings and the restaurant are in good conditions. M congratulations Sandoval.
Bahia Marina is, as stated, very helpful and with good facilities. However as of March 2016 it has no laundry, and no swimming-pool (and seemingly never has had one). It currently has rather few spaces for visitors being nearly full of very large motor-yachts.