Circuito TH5 Travessia 2026 — Etapa 3 (Bertioga)

The Circuito TH5 Travessia stages its Draco event in the sea waters off Praia do Indaiá, on the coast of Bertioga in São Paulo, Brazil. Held in late autumn, the crossing is organized by TH5 Eventos as part of their long-running regional circuit. Competitors navigate marked open water courses with options suited to both sprinters and distance enthusiasts. The event offers a short 700-metre sprint, a classic 1,200-metre crossing, and a longer 2,200-metre challenge across the sheltered bay. Younger swimmers can take part in a 150-metre Kids Swim along the shoreline, while multi-sport competitors can enter an aquathlon combining a 700-metre swim with a four-kilometre beach run. Sighting is clear and intuitive, with bright turn buoys.

The competition village and start line are set up directly along the beachfront in front of the Jolly Roger Bar at Canto do Indaiá. After negotiating the course and rounding the final turn, swimmers surf the gentle shorebreak onto the sand and sprint up the beach. The race clock stops the moment you leave the water and cross under the finish gantry on dry land. The waters of Cantão do Indaiá have served as a welcoming home for TH5 events across stages spanning from early summer through late in the year. In previous editions, stages at the bay have attracted roughly two hundred swimmers, with course distances over the years ranging from 600, 750, and 1,000 metres up to 2,000 and 2,400 metres.

Forte de São João and the Bertioga Channel

About ten kilometres down the coast from the race beach, the mainland narrows toward the Bertioga channel bar facing Santo Amaro Island. Here stands the historic Forte de São João da Bertioga, built to protect the strategic maritime entrance to the canal. The waters here witnessed early colonial conflict: in 1551, a fortified palisade settlement established by Diogo de Braga and his sons was completely destroyed during an attack by the indigenous Tupinambá people. The destroyed palisade was subsequently replaced by a permanent stone bastion featuring angular sentry boxes projecting over the tides. In 1563, Jesuit priests Manuel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta stopped at the fort to celebrate mass before embarking on their journey to Iperoig.

In 1710, the fortress was extensively rebuilt using stone and lime masonry and outfitted with eleven artillery pieces to secure the shoreline. Throughout the 18th century, it operated as a mandatory maritime inspection point where all incoming ships bound for the port of Santos were registered.

Restinga de Bertioga: Ancient Shell Mounds and Trails

Just beyond the coastal fringe, about fourteen kilometres from the race area, lies Restinga de Bertioga State Park. Hidden beneath the canopy are ancient sambaquis, or shell and bone mounds, piled up by fisher-hunter-gatherer peoples some five thousand years ago. These prehistoric mounds illustrate how human life and sustenance have depended on these coastal waters and estuaries for millennia. The state park plays a vital role in regional conservation, protecting roughly 98 percent of the surviving restinga coastal forest in the Baixada Santista. Because of its pristine habitats and remarkable biodiversity, BirdLife International has designated the reserve an Important Bird Area. Exploring the park on foot provides an ideal cooldown after a morning of competitive swimming.

Praia de Itaguaré and the Preserved Atlantic Coast

Protected by the state park, seven kilometres of undisturbed shoreline encompass Praia de Itaguaré as well as the adjacent beaches of Itaguá and Boracéia. Praia de Itaguaré holds a rare status in an otherwise heavily urbanized region: it is the very last beach in the entire Baixada Santista that remains completely preserved. What makes Itaguaré truly extraordinary is that its native vegetation extends continuously from the breaking ocean surf all the way up into the Serra do Mar without any interruption. Gazing down the long, empty sweep of sand, you see the coast as it looked before modern settlements took root. Along the shoreline, pristine tracts of Atlantic forest interlace with brackish mangrove wetlands where the river meets the tide. These tangled estuaries and open ocean waters provide a vivid reminder of untamed natural beauty.