Travessia da Vitória 2026

Travessia da Vitória is an open water sea swimming race held off Praia de Camburi in the capital city of Vitória, in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. The event takes its name from the traditional maritime passage between the neighboring coastal cities of Vila Velha and Vitória. Organized by Vibe Positiva Sports, a company that promotes sports events, the competition has become a regional fixture, celebrating its tenth anniversary in a past edition. Staged in the sea in April, the event features courses of 1,000, 3,000, and 7,000 meters centered around the calm, transparent waters of Ilha do Socó. This rocky outpost, positioned between Vitória and Vila Velha, serves as the emblematic focal point of the race courses, offering clear conditions for swimmers to connect with open water.

In past editions, the 1 km course was designed as a direct loop around Ilha do Socó. Swimmers tackling the 3 km route set off from the sands of Praia de Camburi, navigated past Ilha do Socó and the pier, and returned across the bay to cross the finish line inside the event arena. The geographical setting of the race is shaped by the colonial roots of the region, where Portuguese navigator Vasco Fernandes Coutinho landed his ship Glória at Prainha, about six kilometres away, on May 23, 1535.

Baía das Tartarugas: green turtles and sheltered bay waters

The Baía das Tartarugas Environmental Protection Area was established in 2018 as the first marine protected reserve in Vitória. Vitória stands out as one of the Brazilian coastal cities with the highest concentration of green sea turtles. The protected bay is also inhabited by schools of rays, pods of dolphins, and visiting whales that seek out these sheltered shallows for reproduction. Along the edges of the bay, the city's coastal ecosystem weaves together tropical forests, tidal mangroves, sandbanks, and dune vegetation.

Praia de Camburi: the mainland beach and Iemanjá Pier

Praia de Camburi stretches for six kilometers as the only beach situated on the mainland of Vitória. Its broad strip of sand provides ample space for the start line, athlete briefings, and warm-ups before entering the sea. Along the beach stands the Iemanjá Pier, crowned by a statue of the Queen of the Sea that was inaugurated on February 2, 1988. At the northern end of Camburi beach, visitors and spectators find Atlântica Parque, a recreational park inaugurated in 2019. After the race, the calm beachfront provides an easy gathering area to unwind and enjoy the Atlantic breeze.

Morro do Moreno and Penedo: defending the bay from Cavendish

Looking across the entrance of the bay roughly five kilometres from the race course stands Morro do Moreno, a prominent hill composed predominantly of granitoids with mafic enclaves and home to a natural mineral water spring. Depicted on a 1590 map by Portuguese cartographer Luis Teixeira under the name Monte de João Moreno, the hill borders the sea on one side, flanking the deep-water passage toward the Port of Vitória. To fend off attacks from foreign powers, colonial authorities built several fortresses across the coastal lowlands to protect the settlement. During one historical colonial defense, defenders set Morro do Moreno on fire to warn the bay and discourage the English privateer Thomas Cavendish from attempting to navigate inland.

The shallow depth of the channel entrance, combined with Cavendish's fears of submerged traps, prevented his ships from entering the passage. In another confrontation in the bay, Cavendish was defeated and imprisoned near Penedo, losing approximately eighty men in the fighting. About seven kilometres from the race area, Penedo itself rises as a sheer 135-meter-high granite mountain-island at the mouth of the Aribiri River. When chronicler Gabriel Soares de Souza described the massive rock formation in 1587, he observed that the waters along its base had no measurable depth. During the colonial era, a heavy iron defense chain was stretched across the sea passage between Penedo and Forte de São João to physically bar enemy ships from entering the harbor.

Guarding the southern entrance of the bay about five kilometres from Camburi, the Fort of São Francisco Xavier de Piratininga, also known as Piratininga Fort, was erected at the base of Penha Hill within the Prainha area. English and Dutch privateers attacked the fortification in 1705 while construction was still underway. A military report from 1724 recorded nine pieces of artillery behind a badly damaged defensive wall. By 1726, engineers rebuilt the stronghold with a circular layout armed with fifteen artillery pieces, positioned on a bright coastal rock shelf where the breaking sea could not breach its walls.

Ilha do Boi: reefs, shallows and historic wrecks

About three kilometres from the race area lies Ilha do Boi, an island wrapped by living rock with only small, scattered spots suitable for boat landings. Historically cut off from the mainland, the island is now linked to Vitória Island by modern land reclamation projects, mirroring the 1970 landfills that expanded the shoreline into the Bay of Vitória around Prainha. Ilha do Boi is covered in native woods and features natural springs, including the Bonecas spring that dries out only during severe periods of drought. Between the islands lies an underwater sandbank called Restinga R, which sits dry at the foot of Ilha do Boi while dropping to a depth of five palms in the middle, historically allowing people to wade across the water toward Suá beach.