Prado Attractions
Prado
The bathing resort of Prado (pop. 25,000), 26km/16mi from Alcobaça, is reached on a bumpy road running at some distance from the coast. Its principal tourist sight is the 17th century church of Nossa Senhora da Purificação. The most interesting beaches are to the north of the town, on the 26km/16mi stretch of coast between Prado and Cumuruxatiba (road suitable only for four-wheel-drive vehicles): Farol (6km/4mi; high cliffs and reefs), Viáosa (8km/5mi), Paixão (12km/7.5mi), Tororão (14km/8.7mi), Ostras (16km/10mi) and Areia Preta (26km/16mi; monazite sand). Other vehicles can take the Prado-Itamarajú road and at km9/mi6 turn right into a road which comes in 27km/17mi to Cumuruxatiba, which has a beach with radioactive sand and a remnant of mata atlântica, now protected by the Fundação Ecológica Cumuruxatiba. Farther north is the Monte Pascoal National Park.
The bathing resort of Prado (pop. 25,000), 26km/16mi from Alcobaça, is reached on a bumpy road running at some distance from the coast. Its principal tourist sight is the 17th century church of Nossa Senhora da Purificação. The most interesting beaches are to the north of the town, on the 26km/16mi stretch of coast between Prado and Cumuruxatiba (road suitable only for four-wheel-drive vehicles): Farol (6km/4mi; high cliffs and reefs), Viáosa (8km/5mi), Paixão (12km/7.5mi), Tororão (14km/8.7mi), Ostras (16km/10mi) and Areia Preta (26km/16mi; monazite sand). Other vehicles can take the Prado-Itamarajú road and at km9/mi6 turn right into a road which comes in 27km/17mi to Cumuruxatiba, which has a beach with radioactive sand and a remnant of mata atlântica, now protected by the Fundação Ecológica Cumuruxatiba. Farther north is the Monte Pascoal National Park.
